Alberta bound

Prince Albert Raiders forward Simon Stranksy sprays Red Deer Rebels goalie Riley Lamb with ice during their last meeting at the Art Hauser Centre last Friday. The teams square off this Friday in Red Deer. (File photo)

Raiders play three games in three nights starting Friday in Red Deer

The Prince Albert Raiders are returning home from British Columbia, but they have a few stops to make along the way.

The Raiders (8-34-3-2) are set to face the Red Deer Rebels (20-19-4-3) on Friday, the Edmonton Oil Kings (18-22-3-1) on Saturday and the Calgary Hitmen (17-20-4-2) on Sunday. This is the second of three consecutive three-game weekends for the Raiders this month.

P.A. will be looking to bounce back from their Wednesday night match against the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C., a game in which the Raiders came out to a 2-0 lead and outshot the opposition 43-27 only to ultimately fall by a 6-3 score.

Ice rookie forward Peyton Krebs scored a goal and added three assists to help lead his team to victory, putting an end to Kootenay’s four-game losing streak. The Raiders are now winless in their last 11.

“(I’m) not happy. It’s a game we should have won,” Raiders coach Marc Habscheid said after the match.

Raiders rookie D-man Zack Hayes started the day learning that he was named the 152nd-ranked skater in North America by NHL Central Scouting. During the match he proved that praise prescient by giving P.A. the early lead, netting his first career WHL goal at the 1:48 mark of the first.

“He’s getting better every day,” Habscheid said.

The Raiders were quick to find the scoreboard early in the second period as well, as P.A. rookie winger Adam Kadlec beat Ice goalie Payton Lee after three minutes of play to extend the lead to 2-0.

However, that two-goal cushion didn’t last long. Less than one minute after the Kadlec marker Kootenay’s Brett Davis cut into the Raider lead on the power play and three-and-a-half minutes later Ice centreman Noah Philp tied the game 2-2.

With three minutes to go in the period Max Patterson gave the home side its first lead of the game. The Raiders went into intermission trailing 3-2.

After allowing three straight goals in the second period, Jordy Stallard brought P.A. back into the game early in the third, tying the score 3-3 with his third goal in five games as a Raider.

Mid-way through the final period the Ice scored twice in quick succession to put the game out of reach for the Raiders. First Krebs made it 4-3 with his first career WHL goal and then Kootenay’s leading scorer Colton Kroeker netted his eighth tally of the year to give the Ice a 5-3 lead.

The Raiders would pull netminder Ian Scott late in the game for the extra attacker but the effort proved unsuccessful as Patterson put the puck into the empty net for a final score of 6-3.

 

Game Summary

Kootenay 6, Prince Albert 3

First Period

  1. Prince Albert, Hayes 1 (Martin, Moe) 1:48

Second Period

  1. Prince Albert, Kadlec 4 (Johnson, Jerome) 3:04
  2. Kootenay, Davis 9 (Patterson, Krebs) 3:58 (pp)
  3. Kootenay, Philp 5 (Kroeker, Wellsby) 7:24
  4. Kootenay, Patterson 4 (Krebs, Rutledge) 16:59

Third Period

  1. Prince Albert, Stallard 11 (Martin, Fonstad) 2:40
  2. Kootenay, Krebs 1 (unassisted) 9:29
  3. Kootenay, Kroeker 8 (Wellsby) 10:20
  4. Kootenay, Patterson 5 (Davis, Krebs) 18:32 (pp)(en)

Goalies: Prince Albert –­ Ian Scott, 21 saves (L, 7-24-2-0); Kootenay – Payton Lee, 40 saves (W, 9-16-5-1).

Three Stars: 1. Peyton Krebs; 2. Colton Koeker; 3. Max Patterson.

 

Tale of the Tape

On Jan. 20 the Prince Albert Raiders travel to Red Deer to take on the Rebels. The game is the first of three in three nights for P.A.

Record: Prince Albert — 8-34-3-2; Red Deer — 20-19-4-3

Last 10: Prince Albert — 0-7-2-1; Red Deer — 4-5-0-1

Top scorers: Prince Albert — Jordy Stallard (31 points); Red Deer — Michael
Spacek (49 points)

Goals for/against: Prince Albert — 113/206; Red Deer — 148/169

Last meeting: The Rebels’ special teams scored two goals on the power play and added a shorthanded tally to lead Red Deer to a 4-3 victory over the Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre on Jan. 13, 2017.

 

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