The Prince Albert Raiders dropped the first game of their B.C. Division road trip 5-4 to the Prince George Cougars at the CN Centre on Saturday night.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says Prince Albert didn’t capitalize on some key opportunities and that cost them against a top team like Prince George.
“We seem to be one goal short and giving up one too many. We’ve played well with Hilty (Max Hildebrand), he’s done a tremendous job. We’ve got to find a way to generate and finish off opportunities, whether that’s going to be five-on-five or on the power play. We got a four minute power play and we’re making our own mistakes. We’re killing their penalties a little bit. You got to be way more efficient on the power play. It’s going to be the difference and it was a difference tonight.”
Doogan Pederson would open the scoring at the 5:00 mark of the opening frame with his second goal of the season. Brayden Dube would force a Prince George turnover on the forecheck and feed Pederson in the slot. Luke Moroz picked up the secondary assist.
Minnesota Wild prospect Riley Heidt would answer for the Cougars at the 7:07 mark with a breakaway goal that went between the legs of Max Hildebrand for his second goal of the campaign. Villiam Kmec and Borya Valis assisted on the play.
The Cougars outshot the Raiders 11-6 in the opening twenty minutes.
After the Cougars failed to break out of their own zone, Aiden Oiring would take advantage, striking for his second goal of the season just 2:42 into the second period. Cougars netminder Joshua Ravensbergen would make the initial stop, but the puck would sneak through the draft eligible netminder and across the goal line. Niall Crocker would pick up the lone assist.
A Raider turnover at the blue line would lead to a two-on-one the other way for Prince George and the Cougars would capitalize on the turnover at the 7:19 mark of the middle frame. Borya Valis would fire home his fourth goal of the campaign off a one-time feed from Jett Lajoie.
Heidt would give the Cougars their first lead of the night with a power play marker less than a minute later. Koehn Ziemmer and Lee Shurgot assisted on the play.
Niall Crocker would draw Prince Albert even at the 14:01 mark as the 20-year-old would tip home a pass from Aiden Oiring for his second goal of the season on the power play. Tomas Mrsic picked up a secondary helper on the play.
After a cross checking call against Brayden Dube, Riley Heidt would complete the hat trick at the 18:36 mark of the middle stanza on the power play to restore the Cougar lead. Valis and Ziemmer provided the assists.
In the third period, Bauer Dumanski would double the Cougar lead with a short handed goal at the 5:29 mark off a point shot following a faceoff win in the offensive zone for Prince George. Matteo Danis had the lone assist.
Brayden Dube would pull the Raiders within one at the 13:01 mark with his first goal of the campaign. Lukas Dragicevic had the lone helper.
THat would be as close as Prince Albert would get as Joshua Ravensbergen made 15 stops to earn the win. Max Hildebrand made 29 saves for the Raiders.
With the loss, the Raiders have lost five games in a row and haven’t won a game since opening weekend in Moose Jaw.
Despite the poor results early in the season, Truitt says the games have provided critical lessons for a young Raiders team that are only learned the hard way sometimes.
“It’s hard to win in this league and these younger kids are around the intensity right now. We want to get in the win column. The preparation, the simplicity that we have to play with in order to gain the offensive zone time and whatnot. Learning that turnovers will cost you, learning that some undisciplined penalties will cost you. They’re sitting there watching this and hopefully they’re grasping on to the difference between winning and losing in this league. It’s pretty fine but when you shoot yourself in the foot here a couple of times, it’s detrimental. I think that they see the intensity and I think they see that every night it’s a battle and that’s what they have to provide, that’s what they have to learn.”
Prince Albert returns to action on Monday afternoon against the Kelowna Rockets. Puck drops at 3:05 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
Around The WHL
Oasiz Wiesblatt scored twice as the Medicine Hat Tigers knocked off the Vancouver Giants 5-2.
Two goals in the third period helped the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 6-5 win on home ice against the Portland Winterhawks.
Jackson Smith was the overtime hero as the Tri-City Americans topped the Kamloops Blazers 5-4.
Everett closed out their East Division road trip with a 6-3 win in Swift Current.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes held off a Brandon comeback to pick up a 5-3 win on home ice.
