The Prince Albert Raiders aren’t coming home from their three-game Alberta road swing empty handed after a 5-4 overtime win over the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday night.
“I liked the focus with our guys, they were determined.” Raider head coach Jeff Truitt said in a post-game interview. “It was a bit of a long night last night when it came to the mental part of the game. We didn’t play very well and everything was a little bit of our fault. Coming back here today and rebounding the way that we did with some of the performances that we had with Crocker, Hildebrand and Mrsic. The older guys drove the bus here tonight which was exactly what we needed out of our older group.
Tomas Mrsic would strike against his former club at the 11:43 mark of the first period as the St. Louis Blues prospect would be freed on a breakaway and he would make no mistake for his 30th goal of the campaign.
Just thirty seconds later, the Tigers would respond as Liam Ruck would bury a rebound for his 17th goal of the campaign. Twin brother Markus Ruck and Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll had the helpers.
After a slashing call on Medicine Hat’s Kadon McCann, Niall Crocker would tip home his 19th goal of the season on the power play to give the Raiders the lead. Lukas Dragicevic and Tomas Mrsic picked up the helpers.
Medicine Hat would knot things up just 0:31 in as Ryder Ritchie would tip a Tanner Molendyk slap pass past Hildebrand for his 20th goal of the season. Gavin McKenna had the secondary helper.
Misha Volotovskii would give the Tigers the lead with his fifth goal of the campaign at the 7:39 mark. After a Tanner Molendyk shot was blocked by a Raider, Volotovskii shot the loose puck and surprised Hildebrand glove side.
Niall Crocker would even things up again with a power play marker at the 18:48 mark. On a jam play, Crocker would muscle the puck through the five hole of Harrison Meneghin for his 20th goal of the season. Mrsic and Brayden Dube had the helpers.
Rilen Kovacevic would give the Raiders lead just thirty seconds later, wiring a wrist shot clean past Meneghin for his 26th goal of the campaign. Harrison Lodewyk and Vojtech Vochvest were credited with the assists.
Mathew Ward would tie the game for Medicine Hat at the 14:13 mark of the third period as the 20-year-old would bank a shot off of Max Hildebrand and into the back of the net for his 14th goal of the season. McKenna had the lone assist.
60 minutes wasn’t enough to decide a winner and the two teams would head to overtime for the second time this season.
Prince Albert would start the extra frame on the man advantage after Medicine Hat’s Mat Ward was called for a high stick in the dying seconds of regulation.
Lukas Dragicevic would call game 0:44 into the overtime period as the Seattle Kraken prospect would lean into a slap shot from the point and blast it past Harrison Meneghin for his 12th goal of the season to send the Raiders home with a happy bus and the extra point. Oiring and Mrsic provided the helpers on the game winner.
Special teams was a major factor in the game with the Raiders finishing three for five on the man advantage while the Tigers converted on one of their five chances.
“They’re very powerful. It’s very calculated on what the tendencies are with them. They make passes very quickly and very accurately. You’ve got to be in the right places at the right times with the stick or your body, blocking shots and things like that. You need a big save now and then. We certainly got that. Lots of credit to the penalty killers and Conor (Yawney) for this.”
Max Hildebrand made 29 stops to earn the win for Prince Albert while Harrison Meneghin made 17 stops for the Tigers.
The Raiders return home on Wednesday night when they welcome the Tigers to the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
