The goals came fast and furious at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday as the WHL’s two highest scoring teams met for the first time this season.
The Prince Albert Raiders and Moose Jaw Warriors combined for 10 goals, three of which came from Raiders forward Max Heise, in a 6-4 Prince Albert win.
“I think some bounces (went) my way, but my linemates helped me out a lot with that one, so I’ve got to thank them for that night,” Heise said when asked about his hat trick. “Couldn’t have done it without ‘em.”
Moose Jaw has scored 70 goals so far this season, second only to Prince Albert’s 71. Their high-powered offence kicked into gear almost immediately, with Landen McFadden scoring on the Warriors’ first shot of the game, 54 seconds into the first period.
Despit the setback, the Raiders rallied with two first period goals from Heise, and another from Prince Albert product Connor Howe in the second.
McFadden scored his second of the night to make it 3-2 before Lynden Lakovic’s short-handed marker 1:22 into the third period tied the game up again.
Daxon Rudolph restored the Raider lead on a wrist shot from the blue line, but William Degagne tied the game at four just 29 seconds later.
The two teams seemed destined for overtime, but Jonah Sivertson scored with less than eight minutes to play to put Prince Albert up for good. Heise iced it with an empty net goal with 1:29 to play.
“It was great that we found a way to win,” Raiders assistant coach Conor Yawney said. “We kind of lost our game there in the second. They had a little bit of a push. We kind of played into their transition. They’re really good off the rush and we kind of gave them the opportunity to do that, but in the third we buckled down, went back to our style of game and were able to close it out.”
“We didn’t get negative on the bench,” Heise said when asked about Moose Jaw’s comeback bid. “They’re a good team over there and they’re going to have their pushes, so we’ve got to match that and push right back.”
Saturday’s win was a cathartic one for the Raiders. The club was 24 hours removed from an overtime loss to Calgary where they failed to hold a one goal lead with 16 seconds left in the game, then lost 37 seconds into overtime.
“I thought we regrouped well from last night,” Heise said. “Obviously (it was) a tough loss, but we played fast, we played hard, we played heavy, and we got a lot of chances and we buried them tonight.”
“We know how we have to play to be effective,” Yawney added. “Every team kind of gets away from that from time to time but we figured it out,. We kind of learned the momentum thing from last night, learned how to get it back there in the third, and then just rode it through the rest of the period.”
News and Notes
• The Raiders scored six goals on Friday, but the loudest cheer came for Prince Albert product Connor Howe’s first WHL goal 2:35 into the second period. “It’s good for him,” Yawney said when asked about Howe’s goal, which squeeked between Chase Wutzke’s arm and pad before trickling across the goal line. “It’s been a while coming. He’s had some chances—tenacious player. He earns all his chances, and it was great to see the first of hopefully many go in for him.”
• Howe’s goal wasn’t the only WHL first on Saturday night. Calgary product Kyle Obobaifo dressed for his first WHL game against Calgary on Friday, and notched his first WHL point on Saturday with an assist on Daxon Rudolph’s third period goal. “Obo had a great weekend,” Yawney said. “He’s coming in (with) one practice and it was just a pace practice. It wasn’t even a systems practice, but (he had) great spots through the D zone, getting pucks out, winning stick battles against older guys. He had a great weekend. It was great to see. He gave us some really good minutes.”
• Dimitri Fortin made 20 saves in the Raider goal, including some outstanding second period saves to delay the Warriors’ comeback bid. The highlight reel includes a textbook pad stop on a Steven Steranka breakaway, and a fantastic stick save on Ethan Semeniuk minutes later that drew a roar from the hometown crowd.
• Debden’s Chase Wutzke stopped 30 of 35 shots in the Moose Jaw goal on Saturday. Even more impressive, was the fact Wutzke was acquired from the Red Deer Rebels the same day he started. Wutzke, a Minnesota Wild draft pick, is 3-6-0-0 this season, with a 2.98 GAA and an .885 save percentage.
• The Raiders head west on Wednesday for the first of seven straight road games. They open the trip in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes on Friday, Nov. 7, and end with a game in Wenatchee against the Wild on Nov. 15. Their next home game is on Nov. 21 against the Brandon Wheat Kings.
• The Raiders opened Saturday’s contest with a special ceremony featuring a Royal Canadian Legion colour party, a moment of silence to honour veterans, and an opening faceoff with current members of the North Saskatchewan Regiment.
