The Edmonton Oil Kings erased a 1-0 deficit in the third period, scoring four goals in the final frame as they took down the Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 on Tuesday night at Rogers Place.
Tikhon Chaika did all he could in goal for Prince Albert, making 44 saves on 47 shots, but the high powered Oil Kings offense finally struck through in the final frame.
“I thought our guys played hard,” head coach Marc Habscheid said. “Edmonton has a lot of talent on their team, and they managed to find a way to win. We hung in there, and I was proud of our guys and how they played.”
After a scoreless first period, the opportunity for the Raiders to open the scoring presented itself on five powerplay chances. Ironically, it was a shorthanded goal that put Prince Albert on the board.
After going 0/5 with those man advantages, the Raiders had to kill off two penalties in a row in the final five minutes of the second period. After Landon Kosior came out of the box after serving an interference minor, Remy Aquilon was the next defenceman to head to the sin bin. A minor penalty for cross checking gave the Oil Kings their fourth powerplay of the game, and third in the period.
Reece Vitelli broke his stick on a faceoff in the defensive zone, and had to race to the bench to pick up a fresh one. Joining the play again, Kosior sent a flip pass to center ice for the overage forward to chase down. Vitelli was left all alone breaking in towards the goal and tried to beat Sebastian Cossa five hole. The Oil King goalie made the save, but Vitelli pounced on the rebound and chipped the puck over Cossa’s blocker, giving the Raiders the first goal of the game with 2:25 left in the second.
Prince Albert managed to hang on to their 1-0 lead despite being heavily outshot 35-18 after 40 minutes.
Chaika was perfect in the game up until 7:08 into the final frame. Former Raider Kaiden Guhle took a shot from the blueline that was tipped in front by Jake Neighbours. Chaika made the stop, but Dylan Guenther picked up the puck along the half wall, firing a shot past the netminder before he could recover.
Edmonton poured shot after shot at the Prince Albert goal and finally broke the deadlock. Luke Prokop made one of the nicest plays of the year, batting a loose puck out of midair five feet away from the crease. He had to use the entire length of his stick to reach the puck, and batted it past Chaika and in, putting the Oil Kings up 2-1.
Unsatisfied with only going up by one goal, Edmonton delivered another one just 17 seconds later. Jaxsen Wiebe was left all alone in the slot, and he ripped a shot top shelf on Chaika, placing the puck right between his mask and shoulder, a goal you can’t blame the goalie on. In a matter of six minutes, the Oil Kings scored three in a row, going up 3-1 in the third period.
Josh Williams sealed the deal with an empty net marker with 2:56 left on the clock, as Edmonton skated away with a 4-1 victory at home.
“(Chaika) played well,” Habscheid added. “I also thought our guys did a good job of defending as well. A lot of (Edmonton’s) shots weren’t in a danger area. Our goalie played good, but I thought defensively we played good too.”
The Raiders end their Alberta road trip with a 2-2 record. They return home on Friday night for a game against the Winnipeg ICE. Puck drop is at 7pm.
@kyle_kosowan•sports@paherald.sk.ca