For 60 minutes and 36 seconds, the Prince Albert Raiders never trailed, but that 37th second did them in.
The Calgary Hitmen rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Raiders 3-2 in overtime at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday. The Raiders led 2-1 heading into the final minute, but Calgary’s Caine Wilke tied it with 10 seconds to play, and Kale Dach won it for the Hitmen 37 seconds into overtime with a perfectly placed one-timer.
“Sometimes the hockey gods aren’t great with us,” said Raider centre Max Heise. “We lose a draw (in the third) and we left a guy open in front of the net and it trickles in. Good players make good plays…. We can’t let that happen. We’ll learn from it and move on.”
Heise and Ty Meunier had the goals for Prince Albert, who are still the last team in the WHL without a regulation loss. However, that statistic provided little comfort after the Calgary comeback.
“We’ll always take any points when we can get them,” Raiders assistant coach Conor Yawney said. “Obviously, 16 seconds left there we wanted two, but we’ll take the one and now we’ll learn the lessons of closing out the game there in the third period.”
The Raiders appeared to have the game in hand, up 2-1 and outshooting the Hitmen 25-11 through 40 minutes. However, the visitors rebounded with a solid third, limiting the Raiders to seven shots, and firing 12 of their own at goal Michal Orsulak.
The last one was the dagger. With Hitmen goalie Eric Tu on the bench, the Hitmen won an offensive zone draw with 16 seconds left. Wilke drifted to the side of the net, and fired the puck past a sprawling Orsulak, who had stopped Wilke point blank moments earlier, forcing the face-off.
“Give them credit. They pushed,” Yawney said. “They’re a good team over there, but we just received the game too much. (It’s) understandable at times, but then we kind of shot ourselves in the foot with too many O-zone turnovers. Instead of just grinding it down low we’re looking to throw it in the middle. We’re looking at a little bit of a track meet there, and then anything can happen.”
The Raiders had one good chance in overtime, before Dach and Dallas Stars draft pick Brandon Gorzynski stormed up ice on a two-on-one. Gorzynski fed a cross-ice pass to Dach, who fired the puck over an outstretched Orsulak for the win.
The Raiders won’t have much time to dwell on the comeback. They take on the Moose Jaw Warriors Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
Heise said the Raiders plan to clear their memory, and quickly move on.
“We’ve got a long season ahead of us, (and) a big road trip coming up,” he said. “We’ll take as much from it as we can and reset our brains.”
News and Notes:
• Riley Boychuk assisted on Max Heise’s goal roughly five minutes into the first period. Jonah Sivertson had the assist on Ty Meunier’s goal to make it 2-0.
• Meunier’s goal was almost gift-wrapped for the Raiders. The Hitmen turned the puck over in the own end, then left Meunier all alone in front for his fifth of the season.
• Forward Harrison Lodewyk did not dress for the Hitmen. The Raiders traded the 2005-born Lodewyk to Calgary four-games into the 2025-26 season. He has 11 points in 12 games so far this season.
• Orsulak made 21 saves in the Raider goal on Friday. Tu made 29 stops for the Hitmen.
• Neither team scored on the power play. The Hitmen were 0/3 while the Raiders were 0/2.
