The Prince Albert Raiders had a much better start in the second game of their Alberta road trip, but couldn’t hang on for the victory.
After falling behind 4-0 in the first period against Medicine Hat on Wednesday, the Raiders responded by jumping out to a 2-0 lead against the Calgary Hitmen on Friday. However, the Raider offence dried up, and the Hitmen scored three unanswered goals for a 3-2 win.
“It was a game were our process was good. We just didn’t get the desired result,” Raiders coach Ryan McDonald said afterwards.
“I really liked our game. I thought we did a lot of really good things. It was a really good response game details and habits wise from the previous game. We possessed the puck in the O-zone and we had our chances.”
Maddix McCagherty opened the scoring 4:31 into the first period when he pushed a loose puck into the net during a goalmouth scramble. Hitmen captain Axel Hurtig came close to pulling the puck off the goal line, but the overhead replay showed it clearly went in the net.
The Raiders went up 2-0 on a power play marker less than three minutes later. Forward Riley Boychuck beat Hitmen starter Eric Tu with a wrist shot from the top of the circle just 16 seconds after Ethan Moore took a high sticking penalty.
Defenceman Wyatt Pisarczyk got Calgary within one midway through the second. In the third, the Raiders outshot Prince Albert 9-6, but goals from Kale Dach and Calder Hamilton gave Calgary a 3-2 lead.
Despite the result, McDonald pleased with how the Raiders played.
“We came out in the third and we kept our foot on the gas,” McDonald said. “We got our chances and we got our looks.
“I liked our battle,” he added. “Our structure was good and it led to giving ourselves a chance to win that game.”
News and Notes:
• Michal Orsulak made 20 saves in the Raider crease. Tu stopped 29 shots for the Hitmen.
• Friday’s game was the second time this season the Hitmen have overcome a third period deficit to beat the Raiders. On Oct. 31, Prince Albert led 2-1 with 10 seconds to play when Caine Wilke scored to send the game into overtime. Dach eventually scored the OT winner.
• Former Raider Harrison Lodewyk was not in the Calgary line-up on Friday. Lodewyk has 14 points in 19 games this season for the Hitmen.
