
The Prince Albert Raiders got out of the gates quickly and never looked back on route to a 5-3 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says he thought that Prince Albert had an excellent start.
“I thought our first 20 minutes was a complete period, except maybe for the last half minute or 45 seconds or so. I thought we were on the puck. I thought our speed and our work ethic really came through. We put the pressure on them and re-attacked. We had second opportunities because of that work. To me, that first period was one of the better ones here recently.”
Lukas Dragicevic would open the scoring for the Raiders just 4:26 into the opening frame. The 19-year-old defenseman would sneak down from the point and sneak a wrist shot under the pad of Ethan Eskit for his fourth goal of the season. Aiden Oiring assisted on the play.
Just over four minutes later, Justice Christensen would double the Prince Albert lead with his sixth goal of the season. The Raider captain would receive a one time feed from Aiden Oiring and would blast it past Eskit. Tomas Mrsic had the lone assist.
Ty Meunier would add his seventh goal of the season at the 14:23 mark. The 16-year-old would tip a slapshot from Lukas Dragicevic that would beat Eskit. Niall Crocker picked up the secondary helper.
Shots favored the Raiders 14-11 after the opening twenty minutes.
The Wheat Kings would not go quietly and would respond with a pair of goals in the second period.
Just 1:49 into the middle frame, 20-year-old Marcus Nguyen would get the Wheat Kings on the board with his 14th goal of the season. Nicholas Johnson would assist on the play.
Caleb Hadland would pull the Wheat Kings within one at the 16:05 mark with his 10th goal of the season coming on the power play. Nolan Flamand and Matteo Michels assisted on the play.
Daxon Rudolph would pick up his second goal of the season at the 7:24 mark of the third period on the power play. After Brayden Dube attempted to jam the puck past Eskit, the puck would come loose to Meunier on the right wing. The 16-year-old would make a perfect pass across the seam right on the tape of Rudolph who made no mistake.
It was Rudolph’s first goal since the Raiders home opener back on Sept. 20
“It’s been a while since I put one in the net.” Rudolph said in his post-game media availability. “(It was) just a big time in the game, I think us getting one on the power play to just get a little insurance marker there was good, and then ended up being the game winner. A big goal for us, a really nice pass by Meunier there. I’m happy to put that one in.”
Rudolph, the first overall pick by the Raiders in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, has registered eight points in 23 games played so far this season. While other players from his draft class may have posted more points this year, Truitt says he has seen major strides in Rudolph becoming a complete player for Prince Albert.
“Coming in here as a 16-year-old defenseman, it is one of the toughest things to do in this league and he’s played a lot. He’s played against other teams top lines, which sometimes is unfair, but he’s handling it very well. He’s got that scoring influence and that’s what we need. We also need the complete game and that’s what we’re working on with him.”
Caleb Hadland would respond for Brandon at the 12:01 mark. The 18-year-old forward would find a rebound on the mouth of the crease and jam it past Max Hildebrand for his second goal of the night. Michels and Joby Baumuller assisted on the play.
The Raiders respond less than two minutes later. Off a strong forecheck from Krzysztof Macias, the puck would pop loose to Harrison Lodewyk in the slot, who fired a wrist shot past Eskit for an important insurance marker.
Max Hildebrand made 38 saves in goal for the Raiders to earn the victory. Ethan Eskit stopped 36 of 41 Raiders for the Wheat Kings.
The Raiders return to action on Tuesday night when they travel to Rogers Place to take on the Edmonton Oil Kings. Puck drops at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time.