The Prince Albert Raiders bent but didn’t break on route to a 4-3 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday night.
The win comes after the Raiders finished their B.C. Division road trip with a 1-4-0-0 record. Head coach Jeff Truitt says the win was massive for the team.
“It was enormous coming off that trip and we just want to erase that memory. We lost ground there, but coming back after a long road trip in our home building, it was a grind, first period was excellent. I liked the energy, I liked our business-like approach. I liked our determination and that showed in the first period and the second period a couple penalties, offensive zone penalties that we can’t take. They clawed themselves back into where we’re tied up. It was kind of that bend but don’t break attitude in the third period and our guys found a way and gave us big two points here.”
The first shot of the game from either team would find the back of the net as Raider captain Justice Christensen would lean into a slap shot from the point for his second goal of the season just 2:12 into the opening frame. Niall Crocker and Daxon Rudolph picked up the helpers.
Seattle would run into some penalty trouble in the first period. Entering play, the Raiders had the seventh best power play in the WHL, converting at a 23.9% clip. Prince Albert would score on two of their three opening period opportunities.
Aiden Oiring would double the lead for the Raiders with his fifth goal of the campaign coming on the power play at the 9:29 mark. Crocker and Tomas Mrsic assisted on the play.
Crocker would pick up his third point of the period with a power play goal for his fifth goal of the season. Krzysztof Macias and Lukas Dragicevic provided the assists.
Prince Albert outshot Seattle 15-4 after the opening twenty minutes.
Seattle would storm back in the second period with three goals.
Nathan Pilling would pick up his ninth goal of the campaign on the power play at the 11;40 mark. Sawyer Mynio picked up the lone assist.
Another power play goal from Braeden Cootes would pull the Thunderbirds within one at the 15:47 mark. Mynio and Matej Pekar assisted on the play.
Pilling would even the score with his 10th of the season at the 17:09 mark. Ashton Cumby and Pekar provided the helpers.
The Raiders spent a lot of time working on taking care of things in their own end during practice this week after giving up 10 goals in one game against Vancouver.
“It was a tough week this week for us. There’s a lot of looking in the mirrors, self-adjustment and team adjustments and things like that. We discussed over two and a half days. Those guys really responded and credit to them. We can lead, but they can lead too, and they did here tonight.”
The Raider lead would be restored thanks to Cole Peardon’s first goal of the season coming 8:37 into the final frame. The 18-year-old forward would tip a Justice Christensen point shot past Grayson Malinoski. Crocker picked up his fourth point of the night with a secondary assist.
“It’s an awesome feeling.” Peardon explained in his post-game interview. “it’s always good to get the first one out of the way and hopefully a lot more to come.”
Max Hildebrand made 33 saves for the Raiders in the victory. Grayson Malinoski stopped 31 shots for Seattle.
Prince Albert returns to action on Wednesday night when they travel to take on the Regina Pats at the Brandt Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
