The Prince Albert Raiders ended a four-game losing streak thanks to a strong first period en route to a 5-1 over the defending WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings Saturday.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says getting the first win is crucial for the Raiders after some tough losses early in the season.
“Anytime you get that first one, it’s good. The belief and the confidence will go there knowing you can win. It’s been a little while where we’ve been through some hard games, different styles of games not getting rewarded, but the guys got rewarded here tonight.”
Cole Peardon started the Raider scoring frenzy with his first WHL goal at the 7:28 mark of the first period assisted by Harrison Lodewyk and Dallyn Peekeekoot.
Just over a minute later, the Raider offence struck again as Keaton Sorenson would make a backhand move and beat Oil King netminder Alex Worthington at the 8:36 mark
Just under a minute and twenty seconds later, Anton Yatsyshin would pick up his first goal as a Raider to extend the Prince Albert Raider lead to 3-0. The goal would temporarily chase Edmonton goaltender Alex Worthington from the game as Kolby Hay would remain in the crease for the remainder of the first period.
However, the goaltending change couldn’t stop the Raider attack. Keaton Sorenson struck again at the 17:39 mark to put the Raiders up 4-0 after 20 minutes of play, despite only outshooting the Oil Kings by one.
Edmonton would score the only goal in the second period as Marshall Finnie would beat Tikhon Chaika high blocker side to bring the Oil Kings closer to a 4-1 score.
Despite not scoring a goal in the second period, the Raiders were not done yet. Ryder Ritchie would notch his second goal of the season on the power play at the 5:20 mark of the third period to extend the Prince Albert lead to 5-1.
The Raiders finished the game 2/5 on the power play.
Truitt says the team played well on the power play, but need to find consistency on the man advantage.
“There was some hits and misses, we got the two power play goals but there was also times where we didn’t have control of the puck and we were throwing the puck around a little bit. I’m happy with the two power play goals, but you don’t want to give up easy clears for opponents.”
Prince Albert lead 4-0 after the first period and the lead was never once threatened by the Oil Kings.
Truitt says the hometown crowd played a big factor in the Raiders success
“They were into it early, we gave them a reason to give them into it early. It’s such a great fanbase with the noise and the passion they got. The guys feed off of that and it is an advantage.”
With the win, the Raiders improve to 1-3-1-0 on the season. The next game for the Prince Albert Raiders is Wednesday, Oct. 5 when they welcome the Lethbridge Hurricanes to the Art Hauser Centre.