A trio of Brandon Wheat King goals in the third period proved to be the difference as they defeated the Prince Albert Raiders 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at Westoba Place.
“I thought that we battled hard. Coming back to 3-3. I thought, we’re right there. We were carrying the play in the second period and we had opportunities in power plays to maybe help our cause a little bit, but we didn’t capitalize and the penalty kill gave up a couple and these are the deciding factors right now.”
Brandon would open up the scoring at the 2:52 mark of the first period. Rylen Roersma would strike for his 15th goal of the season on the power play. Quinn Mantei and Nolan Flamand picked up the assists
Just under five minutes later, Carter Klippenstein would double the Brandon lead with his sixth goal of the season. Joby Baumuller and Charlie Elick picked up assists on the play.
The Raiders would strike back at the 11:19 mark. Newcomer Dustin Renas would strike for his fourth goal of the season and first as a Prince Albert Raider. Luke Moroz and Jacob Hoffrogge assisted on the play.
In the dying seconds of the opening frame, Luke Moroz would knot the score going into the intermission with his third goal of the campaign at the 19:27 mark. Justice Christensen and Turner McMillen assisted on the play.
“His puck game was so good, his awareness was good.” Truitt said about the former first round pick Moroz. “He managed the puck the right way and he had it skating, he was darting in and out, showed his true skill set here and it was an impressive effort by him for sure.”
Grady Martin would redirect a Terrell Goldsmith point shot past Ethan Eskit for his second goal of the season at the 16:26 mark. Oli Chenier would pick up the lone helper.
Just thirty seconds later, Hayden Wheddon would respond for Brandon with his third goal of the season. Carter Klippenstein and Joby Baumuller assisted on the play.
Truitt says the Raiders need to do a better job on clearing traffic in front of the net.
“We competed hard. We carried the play at times, but we’ve got to get more consistent in getting more shots on the net and traffic there. Defending the front of our net is key as well. Tonight, I thought that we were loose there. They had a couple of bang-bang plays at the net that they scored on.”
The Raiders would take a penalty in the dying seconds of the second period and the Wheat Kings would capitalize to start the third.
Nolan Flamand would strike just 1:21 into the final frame with his 10th goal of the season. Luke Shipley and Rylen Roersma assisted on the play.
Matteo Michels would be sprung on a breakaway later in the frame and he would make no mistake for his ninth goal of the season at the 9:21 mark. The goal was unassisted.
Quinn Mantei would pick up an empty netter at the 18:24 mark for his fourth goal of the season. Jayden Wiens had the assist
Doogan Pederson would pick up his first WHL goal at the 19:58 mark. Luke Moroz would add a helper.
Nathan Preston made 19 saves for the Raiders in his WHL debut. Ethan Eskit made 32 stops for the Brandon Wheat Kings.
“I’m sure that there were some nerves. There’s no doubt about that. But I thought that he handled himself very well. He came up with some real good saves for us. He didn’t look out of place at all.”
Subhead: Raiders fall in Regina
The Prince Albert Raiders couldn’t complete a third period comeback falling 4-3 to the Regina Pats on Saturday night at the Brandt Centre.
Jaxsin Vaughan would open the scoring at the 10:55 mark of the first period with his 10th goal of the season.
The lone goal of the second period would go the way of the Pats as Sam Oremba picked up his 10th of the season. Ty Gibson and Tanner Howe received credit for the assists on the play.
It wouldn’t take long for the Raiders to respond in the third period. Just 1:20 in, Krzysztof Macias wired home his 15th goal of the season to bring Prince Albert within a single tally. Niall Crocker and Sloan Stanick assisted on the play.
Sloan Stanick would strike against his former team with his 18th goal of the season at the 3:22 mark to knot up the score at 2-2. Brayden Dube assisted on the play.
Tye Spencer would break the tie on the power play with his 11th goal of the season at the 5:35 mark of the third period. Braxton Whitehead and Tanner Howe provided helpers.
Anthony Wilson’s fourth goal of the season at the 18:17 mark provided a crucial insurance goal for the Pats. Carson Haynes and Kelton Pyne assisted on the play.
Brayden Dube would bring the Raiders back within one at the 19:05 mark with his 10th goal of the season.
Prince Albert couldn’t solve Kelton Pyne to find the equalizer who made 26 stops in the victory. Max Hildebrand made 24 saves for the Raiders.
THe Raiders return to action next Friday when they take on the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place. Puck drops at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
