The Prince Albert Raiders scored three third period power play goals to bust open a one-goal hockey game and defeat the Red Deer Rebels 7-3 on Saturday.
Daxon Rudolph, Aiden Oiring, and Max Heise all scored on the power play in the final 20 minutes, and Owen Corkish added some insurance with an empty net goal in the final minute as the Raiders snapped a three game losing streak.
“I thought our puck movement was tremendous,” Raiders coach Ryan McDonald said when asked about his club’s play with the man advantage. “Even starting in Calgary, I thought our puck movement really created opportunities. (We made) our recoveries and our entries with a lot of confidence and we made some great plays.
“Tonight, we moved the puck well. We stretched them out. We were able to get pucks to the net in the right spots, and again, we had a real shooters mentality.”
The Raiders dominated play right from the opening face-off. They outshot the hometown Rebels 18-9 through 20 minutes, but trailed 2-1 at the break. McDonald said no one panicked after going down early. Instead, the coaching staff told the team to stick to what they were doing.
“I thought the guys did a tremendous job defending hard,” McDonald said. “We tracked hard and those little details—successful details—allow you to play in the offensive zone.”
The Raiders continued their dominance in the second period, outshooting the Rebels 15-3 and pulling ahead 3-2 thanks to goals from newly acquired Maddix McCagherty and Ethan Bibeau.
Red Deer started the third with three straight minor penalties, and the Raiders capitalized on every one. Defenceman Matej Mikes got one back for the Rebels on another power play, but that was as close as they got.
Corkish added an empty netter with 23 seconds left to cap off the victory. In total, the Raiders received seven goals from seven different goal scorers.
“All year long we’ve had scoring by committee,” McDonald said. “We’ve had great depth in our scoring. It’s a real luxury just to be able to role four lines and get contributions from all four.”
News and Notes:
• Maddix McCagherty’s goal 1:31 into the second period was his second in a Raider uniform. McCagherty has scored in every game he’s played for Prince Albert since coming over from the Wenatche Wild.
• McCagherty’s goal was an example of being in the right place at the right time. The Kelowna, B.C. product found himself alone in the slot after the puck bounced off the backboards and directly in front of the net. He wasted little time firing a wrist shot into the top right-hand corner.
• Jonah Sivertson opened the scoring for Prince Albert when he tipped in a Linden Burrett point shot 3:33 into the first period. Sivertson now has nine goals on the year.
• Burrett had a quietly productive night for the Raiders. The Surrey, B.C. product had the primary assist on each of Prince Albert’s first three goals.
• Dimitri Fortin stopped 15 shots in the Raider goal to earn the win. Matthew Kondro made 36 saves for the Rebels.
• Saturday was Red Deer’s Teddy Bear Toss Game. Landon McSwain scored the goal that had fans throwing stuffed animals on the ice for local families. Nate Yellowaga also scored for Red Deer.
