Prince Albert Raiders forward Riley Boychuk didn’t get a Gordie Howe hat trick in his team’s 5-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
The second overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft accomplished the hardest part of the feat when put the Raiders up 3-2 with 12:25 to play in the third period. He aimed for the second hardest part with 3.6 seconds left when he came to the defence of teammate Jonah Sivertson, who went down after getting slugged by Brandon winger Luke Mistelbacher.
“Especially at the end of the game, right, you want to stick up for your teammates, and it’s not just me doing that,” Boychuk said with a grin during a post-game interview. “It’s everybody who came in. If anybody else was on the ice, it would be the same.”
It’s wasn’t an easy task for Boychuk, who had to fight off Wheat Kings defenceman Nigel Boehm to get to Mistelbacher. The Raider bench showed their appreciation by banging their sticks on the boards while the linesmen separated the combatants, and the referees handed out roughing minors and misconducts.
Head coach Ryan McDonald said he appreciated Boychuk’s willingness to step in.
“Coming to the aid of a teammate and mixing it up a little bit, again, that’s what our group does,” McDonald said. “They stick up for one another.”
The late third period scrum capped off an intense 60 minutes of hockey that saw Prince Albert ahead 2-1 after a dominating second period. Despite firing only eight shots on net entering the third, the Wheat Kings battled back to tie the game with 14:31 to play on a Grayson Burzynski wrist shot that beat Michal Orsulak blocker side.
The goal put Brandon in a position to earn their first victory over the Raiders this season, but Boychuk opened the flood gates when he found himself alone in the slot with the puck on his stick roughly two minutes later. After stickhandling around Brandon Wheat Kings starter Jayden Kraus, Boychuk turned to his backhand and stuffed the puck into an empty net.
Goals from Owen Corkish and Brayden Dube followed minutes later, and Prince Albert never looked back.
“We just continued to build all game—just a fantastic 60 minute effort from our group,” McDonald said. “The guys just stuck with it. They just kept inching forward and pushing forward and pushing and pushing until it finally broke. Again, Chucky with a fantastic, patient opportunity where he gets the puck and he’s able to work around the goaltender.”
Burzynski’s goal may have tied the game, but Kraus was the only reason the Wheat Kings were in it.
The Raiders pelted the former Prince Albert Minto with shots in the second period, and watched as he made a sliding pad save on Maddix McCagherty, a highlight reel glove save on Daxon Rudolph, and a stick save on Benett Kelly during a goalmouth scramble.
Raider defenceman Linden Burrett was the only Prince Albert player to get a puck past Kraus in the second period. His backhander slid under Kraus’ outstretch pad and across the goal line with 7:18 to go.
“If it wasn’t for Krauser we would have been down a lot,” Wheat Kings assistant coach Del Pedrick said afterwards. “Even in the first period, and especially in that second, I thought he was the best player on the ice. In the second period, PA threw a lot at him and he had a lot of answers. (I) feel bad for the guy. He puts in a night of work like that, he deserves a lot better.”
The Wheat Kings played Prince Albert tight for the first 20 minutes. The two teams entered the first intermission with an even shot count (7-7) and tie game (1-1). However, the Raiders pulled away in the second period, outshooting the Wheat Kings 20-1 in the process. Pedrick said the Brandon squad didn’t respond soon enough.
“You’ve got to be consistent over 60 minutes and our consistency wasn’t there,” he said. “I thought we started the game well. Then I thought PA took their game to another level and we stood around and watched for 20. At the end of the day, that may cost you a chance to win.”
Despite Boychuk’s third period goal the Wheat Kings had a chance to tie the game again when Jordan Gavin intercepted a Brock Cripps pass at the blue line. In alone on a breakaway, Gavin tried to slide the puck five-hole on Orsulak, but the Czech netminder closed the doors to preserve the one goal lead.
Two minutes later, Owen Corkish knocked in a rebound to make it 4-2. Four minutes later, Dube blew past the Brandon defence and beat Kraus low glove-side to make it 5-2.
“Even as late as six minutes left, it’s a one goal game,” Pedrick said. “We get some looks, we get Gavin in on a breakaway and weren’t able to finish, but … we weren’t good enough over the 60 minutes with that good of a hockey team on that side of the ice.”
The win gets the Raiders back on track following a 5-3 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday. Both Boychuk and McDonald said the vicotry was a confidence booster heading into a two-game Alberta road trip this weekend.
“The second, we have a lot of chances, and credit to their goalie,” Boychuk said. “He played really well. Credit to us though. We stuck with it.”
“This is a group where any time we leave points on the table, they’re not happy,” McDonald added. “It’s a very determined group. We had a really good practice yesterday (Monday). It was very snappy. It was very direct. We did some great learning and video, and guys went out there and applied it tonight.
“We got to our pace and got our skating legs in a real hurry and again, just kept pushing and kept wearing them down until it finally went. That’s the real power of our group. We don’t change. We don’t waver. We just continue to play the same way.”
News and Notes:
• Kraus had a busy second period, but his best save of the night might have come in the third when Orsulak made a heads up pass from just outside the goal crease to spring Justice Christensen on a partial breakaway. The Raider captain picked the puck up at the bottom of the circle, wheeled around the net, and tried to slide the puck into an empty goal, only for Kraus to dive back and deny it with his stick.
• Mistelbacher opened the scoring for Brandon 6:50 into the first period when he beat Orsulak blocker side on a breakaway. Rudolph tied the game at one with a wrist shot from the point on a five-on-three power play.
• Sivertson was back in the line-up after missing both games last weekend. He had an assist on Burrett’s second period goal.
• Defenceman Hubert Clarke and forward Alisher Sarkenov did not dress for Prince Albert.
• The announced attendance was 2,392.
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
