Raiders wrangle Rebels 5-1 on Wednesday night
Three point performances from Sloan Stanick and Niall Crocker helped the Prince Albert Raiders defeat the Red Deer Rebels on Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
Stanick scored his fourth goal in two games, giving the Raiders a 1-0 lead just 40 seconds into the game. From the left circle, Aiden Oiring dropped a pass to the slot for Stanick, who fired a one timer glove side past Rhett Stoesser. After scoring a hat trick on Saturday, Stanick’s early tally on Wednesday was his 28th goal of the season.
With 8:50 left in the first, Doogan Pederson doubled the lead for Prince Albert. After his first shot was blocked, the rookie defenceman located his own rebound, and fired a rocket on goal. His slapshot beat Stoesser high over the glove, giving the Raiders a 2-0 lead. Pederson collected his second goal of the season, with Crocker and Jacob Hoffrogge collecting assists.
In a period that saw no penalties called, the green and gold took their two goal lead into the second period, while also holding a 15-2 lead in shots.
Brayden Dube gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead with 10:43 left in the second period, scoring right after a faceoff in the Red Deer zone. A Rebels defenceman tried to clear the puck from the corner, but it hit Dube in the slot. The Raider forward knocked it down to his stick and sniped a shot glove side past Stoesser, scoring his 14th goal of the season to give the home side a three goal advantage.
Prince Albert survived a 5 on 3 penalty kill later in the middle frame, and went into the third period up 3-0.
After the Rebels took a penalty at the end of the second period, the Raiders wasted little time capitalizing, scoring 21 seconds into the third frame. A pretty display of passing saw Niall Crocker eventually feed Oiring in the slot. After all the puck movement in the offensive zone, Stoesser over committed to the centering pass, sliding too far to his left. That left Oiring with tons of net to shoot at, and he found the back of it for his 16th goal of the season to give Prince Albert a 4-0 lead.
The Rebels ruined Max Hildebrand’s shutout bid with 4:59 left in the third period, as Frantisek Formanek scored Red Deer’s first goal of the contest. With a bouncing puck in front of the net, Formanek tracked it down and buried his 19th goal of the season to make it a 4-1 game. That was the only blemish on an otherwise stellar night in goal for Hildebrand, who finished the game with 26 saves.
Prince Albert restored their four goal lead on a powerplay with 3:49 left in regulation, as Niall Crocker scored to nab his third point on the night. A point shot from Justice Christensen was tipped right in front of the net by Crocker, who picked up his 20th goal of the season to make it a 5-1 game.
That would end up being the final, as the Raiders picked up their second straight win, matching their win total from all of last season. With 60 points on the season, Prince Albert now has a three point edge on the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the seventh seed, and a four point lead over the Calgary Hitmen, who also won earlier today.
Prince Albert is back in action on Friday night when they head to Brandon for a meeting with the Wheat Kings. The club returns home on Saturday night for their final meeting of the season with the Hurricanes.
