Penalty troubles caused problems for the the Prince Albert Raiders as they began their two game Alberta road trip with a 6-2 loss in Medicine Hat on Friday night.
The Raiders took seven penalties in the game, and the Tigers were able to capitalize, scoring three times with the man advantage.
The Tigers opened the scoring at the 9:18 mark of the first period, intercepting a pass in the Raider end and putting a shot past Raider goalie Carter Serhyenko to make it 1-0. Two and a half minutes later however, it would be Raider forward Dallyn Peekeekoot capitalizing on a giveaway, beating Tigers starter Beckett Langkow for his first goal of the season, tying the game 1-1.
That would be the score after the first twenty minutes, with Medincine Hat putting up a handy 19 shots compared to the Raiders 12.
Hayden Pakkala would give the Raiders a 2-1 lead in the second period, scoring 5:30 into the middle frame. The Raider rookie also picked up his first goal of the season.
Also some good news for the Raiders as Tyson Laventure picked up an assist on the goal for his first point of the season. The Raider forward played in his first game of the season on Friday after being held out with an upper body injury.
That lead would only last four minutes, however, as Kaiden Guhle went to the penalty box for delay of game. That’s where Ozzy Wiesblatt’s younger brother, Oasiz, would score the first Tigers powerplay goal of the evening, tying the game at 2-2.
Just under three minutes after the Tigers tied it, they would get another opportunity on the man advantage, and with one of Prince Albert’s best penalty killers in the box in Remy Aquilon, Medicine Hat would capitalize once again. Teague Patton struck for the second powerplay goal of the night, putting a shot past Serhyenko, making it a 3-2 Tigers lead.
And Medicine Hat wasn’t done scoring there. Just moments later, Steven Arp tallied his first goal of the 2021-22 campaign, scoring an insurance marker to give Medicine Hat a two goal cushion heading into period number three.
Prince Albert couldn’t find their step for the rest of the way, as Medicine Hat scored two more goals in the third. First, at the 11:36 mark, Corson Hopwo picked up his second goal of the season, and with under three minutes to go, Noah Danielson scored his second of the season (his first came last Friday at the Art Hauser Centre) to make it a 6-2 Tigers lead. That’s also how the game would end, with the Tigers outshooting the Raiders by a 46-28 margin.
The loss drops the Raiders to 2-6 on the season, leaving them tied for last place with the Regina Pats in the Eastern Conference.
The Raiders won’t have much time to dwell on the loss, as they get right back at it again on Saturday, as they’ll drop the puck in Lethbrige against the Hurricanes.
The wait for Tikhon Chaika to start his first game in net of a Western Hockey League game might be over, as he may get the start tomorrow, after Serhyenko has started all but one game this season for the Raiders. Vlad Shilo played his first game in a Raider jersey Friday night, finishing with a -2 rating.
Puck drop on Saturday in Lethbridge is at 7pm.