After trailing 3-1 in the series at one point, the Prince Albert Raiders are off to the second round.
Prince Albert punched their ticket in convincing fashion with a 5-0 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings in Game 7 in front of a capacity crowd of 3293 at the Art Hauser Centre.
Raider interim head coach Ryan McDonald says it was a group effort by the team in the win.
“What a performance by our group. PK was phenomenal. Power play stepped up when we needed them. (It was) just a real gutsy effort by everybody. Five on five, making sure that we are above pucks, getting pucks into the neutral zone and living to fight another day.”
Aiden Oiring would open the scoring with his sixth goal of the series at the 7:40 mark with a power play goal. Lukas Dragicevic and Rilen Kovacevic had the helpers.
Ty Meunier would double the Raider lead at the 13:43 mark as the 16-year-old forward would pick up a puck in the corner, cut to the slot and beat Simcoe over the shoulder for his first career WHL playoff goal.
Meunier says the playoffs have taken a while to get used to, but he’s loved the opportunity.
“It’s definitely different hockey compared to the regular season, but I think all of us young guys have stepped up and brought our game to another level. Obviously, we’re super grateful that the coaches have trusted us and put in the lineup for each game.”
Lukas Dragicevic would extend the Raider lead to three with his fifth goal of the playoffs at the 18:32 mark. Jackson Kostiuk and Aiden Oiring provided the helpers.
Just after the Dragicevic goal, the Oil Kings had their best opportunity to break the seal on the scoreboard.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Miroslav Holinka would strip the puck from Dragicevic on the power play and have a clear cut breakaway. Raider goaltender Max Hildebrand would stand tall on Holinka and also stopped St. Louis Blues prospect Adam Jecho on the rebound.
The Raider faithful would show their appreciation with a roaring round of applause.
“It was electric.” Hildebrand says. “I fed off that energy and I thought it was our best game of the series and saved it for last. Can’t thank these fans enough. That was the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in front of. We gave them nothing tonight and that was that.”
The Raider power play would put the game on ice with a pair of goals in the third period. Niall Crocker would tip home a Dragicevic point shot for his fifth goal of the series at the 10:44 mark.
Rilen Kovacevic would connect on a one-timer for his fourth goal of the playoffs at the 14:29 mark. Daxon Rudolph and Lukas Dragicevic had the helpers.
Dragicevic finished with second star honours in the contest with a goal and three helpers. The Seattle Kraken prospect attributes a lot of his success to the team around him.
“We play a full team game that’s been kind of our motto all year is depth and everybody contributes.” Dragicevic explained. “I’m an offensive guy, I have to put up points or else what am I doing out there right? I’m fortunate to play with great players that help me score goals and help me set up plays and stuff like that. It’s not me at all, it’s just the other guys that are contributing offensively and putting themselves in good spots for me to hit them and they’re burying it so it’s a lot to them as well.”
As the third period wore on, the sold out crowd at the Art Hauser Centre got more and more lively. Dragicevic says the atmosphere was something he will remember for a long time.
“The fans showed out. That’s the best atmosphere I’ve ever seen in sports. Every seat was full. The standing room was full. They were cheering so loud. I say it every time I have an interview, but we have the best fans in the league. I’ve been around for a few years, so I’ve seen a lot of rinks full, and that was the loudest I’ve ever seen.”
From the other side: end of the road for the Oil Kings
While it was jubilation on one side of the ice, it was heartbreak on the other. The Edmonton Oil Kings saw their season come to a close with the Game 7 loss.
Oil King head coach Luke Pierce says he thought his team played well early, but couldn’t outlast the Raiders.
“It was another really tight hockey game. Unfortunately, the score may not be as reflective. I thought we’d had some really good things early. A couple of posts that don’t go our way. But the credit has to go to Ryan (McDonald) and his staff and that team, a very resilient group. They played hard. They capitalized on the moments that they needed to capitalize.”
With a pair of 3-2 wins on home ice in Games 3 and 4, Edmonton held a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Oil Kings would find a way to put the finishing blow on the Raiders, who won in Games 5, 6 and 7 to punch their ticket to the second round.
Pierce says he hopes the series loss against Prince Albert is something that will help the returning Oil Kings moving forward in their WHL careers.
“It’s a great learning experience for them and I think just understanding when you have your opportunities, you have to take advantage of them. We had chances to finish it out and we let those slip away and you give teams life and now you never know. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation like today where it’s a bit of a coin toss. We had our chances overall like the way we played but for those guys to just learn next time you got a chance to finish teams off, you have to do it.”
Tuesday marked the final career WHL game for Edmonton’s three 20-year-old players in Rylen Roersma. Josh Mori and Marshall Finnie.
Roersma and Mori only donned the Oil King sweater for one season after being acquired via trade. Roersma was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings and Mori coming in from the Portland Winterhawks.
Pierce says both players were excellent with Edmonton.
“Rylen (Roersma) and Josh Mori coming in this year brought different elements to our group and we’ll leave lasting impressions on our young players. Rylen accepted a different role than maybe he’s been used to and showed up every day and put the work in. Josh, I just think, just a really solid leader that will (leave a) lasting impression on a lot of our young defencemen especially.”
The only homegrown 20-year-old on the Oil Kings roster was Marshall Finnie, who was listed by the club ahead of the 2022-23 season. Throughout the series, Finnie became a favourite for Raider fans to root against.
“I know Raider fans probably despise the guy, but I can guarantee you that if he was a Raider, he would be their all-time favourite.” Pierce explained. “He’s just an unbelievable person and means a ton to this organization and he’ll be sorely missed.”
The Oil Kings finished the regular season with a 37-27-2-2 record, good enough for seventh in the Eastern Conference standings.
Edmonton was only able to win a single game at the Art Hauser Centre with a 3-2 win in Game 1.
With a boisterous atmosphere in Game 7 with a sellout crowd, Pierce says it’s great to see the strong community support for the Raiders.
“It’s such a great thing for the city. I’ve had the pleasure of being here for a couple of amazing series. In 2018-19 playing the Eastern final, it was electric as well. Same thing today and all series long. These people should be very proud of how they represent the team and support them. (I’ll) certainly be cheering for them going into this next round.”
The Raiders will take on the Central Division champion Medicine Hat Tigers in the second round. Games 1 and 2 will go at Co-op Place before the series shifts back to the Art Hauser Centre.
