Prince Albert Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald knew a fortunate bounce might decide Saturday night’s contest between the Raiders and Medicine Hat Tigers, given how evenly matched the two teams are.
However, the ending was still perplexing.
With less than two minutes to play and the two teams deadlocked, a centring pass hit Raiders defenceman Matyas Man and nearly bounced into the rafters before dropping behind goaltender Michal Orsulak and into the Prince Albert net.
Tigers centre Kadon McCann received credit for the goal, which came with 1:37 left in the third, and gave the Tigers a 3-2 win.
“It’s just one of those plays where the puck goes up in the air and you kind of lose sight of it,” McDonald said after the game. “It gets up there 10-12 feet and unfortunately it’s a bounce that ends up in the back of our net.
“Our guys battled. They worked hard all night. We knew (with) how tight it was (and) needing to get pucks to the net, something like that that was going to decide it. Unfortunately, it was on their side.”
The goal came after the Raiders dominated the Tigers for lengthy stretches of third period. Although the stats showed Medicine Hat outshot Prince Albert 8-7, the Raiders trapped the Tigers in their own end for most of the final 20 minutes, but couldn’t beat Medicine Hat starting goaltender Jordan Switzer.
At the other end, Raiders starter Michal Orsulak had another strong night, stopping 23 of 26 shots, but the ending left a bitter taste.
“Somebody shot from Medicine (Hat) into Matayas Man’s leg and bounced up and I don’t know where’s puck,” Orsulak said. “I looked down and after he tell me ‘up, up, up’ (I) just raise my hands. (The puck) hit my elbow and went in the net.”
The goal was one of the strangest of the WHL season, and an even bigger gut punch considering the Raiders were down 2-0 before roaring back to tie it.
“The boys played amazing,” Orsulak said. “In the second period, I don’t know, maybe (the) first seven minutes before the power play, Medicine (Hat) had one shot, so it’s like, amazing job for the boys, and it’s just my fault in this game.
“If I don’t count that last goal, I had some good saves, but what’s important is winning and we lost, so it’s hard.”
Medicine Hat pumped the Saskatoon Blades 9-3 on Friday, and the offence kept rolling on Saturday. The Tigers outshot the Raiders 11-6 in the first 20 minutes, and took a 2-0 lead on goals from Riley Steen and Jonas Woo.
The Raiders were coming off a win in Brandon the night before, but McDonald said the long bus ride home wasn’t a factor in falling behind to Medicine Hat.
“That’s a good team over there,” he said. “They play fast. They play hard. They capitalized on a couple of opportunities, and for us, it was sticking to the process.
“No matter how long we were on the bus for, our guys worked hard, they competed, they pushed the pace, they simplified, they kept pucks going north, and again, fought right until the bitter end.”
After a tough first, the Raiders turned things around in the second.
Forward Jonah Sivertson, fresh off a dazzling game winning goal on Friday against the Wheat Kings, added another highlight reel tally when he skated through a gaping hole in the Medicine Hat defence and stickhandled around Switzer to make it 2-1.
Daxon Rudolph tied the game less than three minutes later when he worked a perfect give-and-go with Aiden Oiring before firing the puck over Switzer’s outstretched glove.
While the bounces didn’t go their way in the end, McDonald was elated with how the Raiders responded in the second and third.
“Our guys, what an effort,” McDonald said. “We’re extremely proud of the way we played tonight. Ultimately we didn’t get the outcome, but again, the guys stuck to the process (and) the habits of success.
“You saw as the game continued to go on we were able to just tilt the ice, and stack some positive shifts up, play north, play behind, and really cause them some fits in the d-zone. Our guys, they played hard all night, every shift. They didn’t give an inch.”
News and Notes:
• With forwards Alisher Sarkenov and Ben Harvey out of the line-up the Raiders opted to dress seven defencemen on Saturday. As a result, rearguard Hubert Clarke took several shifts as a winger on a line with Ethan Bibeau and Connor Howe.
• A big part of Prince Albert’s second period surge could be attributed to Raiders defenceman Matyas Man. The Ostrava, Czechia product took on Riley Steen in one of the more entertaining fights of the season, then fired the fans up by spinning his helmet near centre ice before heading to the penalty box. Sivertson got the Raiders on the board less than three minutes later.
• The Raiders were 1/4 on the power play while the Tigers went 1/2.
• Prince Albert dominated Medicine Hat in the face-off circle, winning 35 draws compared to the Tigers’ 22. Max Heise was the most effective Raider, taking 11 face-offs and winning nine of them.
• The two teams are back at it again on Wednesday in Medicine Hat. Puck drop is 8 p.m. CST.
• Wednesday’s rematch is the first stop of a four-game Alberta road-trip. The Raiders visit the Calgary Hitmen on Dec. 5, the Red Deer Rebels on Dec. 6, and Edmonton Oil Kings on Dec. 7.
