The Swift Current Broncos found out the hard way that opposing teams will need a full contingent of skaters on the ice when they visit the Art Hauser Centre.
The Broncos gifted the Raiders five power play opportunities on Friday and the East Division leaders made the most of it, scoring four goals with the man advantage and skating away with a 6-1 victory.
“We’ve done a lot of pre-scouting, a lot of video, and a lot of work in practice over the last few weeks,” forward Max Heise said when asked about the Raider power play. “We’ve started to connect, so it’s nice to see them go in.”
Heise, Daxon Rudolph, Justice Christensen, and Aiden Oiring all scored power play markers for the Raiders, who now own the WHL’s third most productive power play.
The Broncos, who have the league’s lowest ranked penalty killing unit, struggled. That was particularly true in the second when they took four minor penalties and surrendered 20 shots on goal.
“(The) power play did a tremendous job,” Raiders coach Ryan McDonald said. “Puck movement was great. You think of the five-on-three goal and it starts off a face-off. Great face-off win by committee. (The) wingers are getting in, (and) we get that puck back. If not, we’re having to chase it 200 feet. The guys execute right after.
“Power play was tremendous, the way they moved the pucks, found holes, (and) got pucks to the net. They were very precise.”
Rudolph opened the scoring with less than five minutes to play in the first when he wired a wrist shot past Broncos starting goalie Aiden Eskit. Christensen, Oiring, and Heise followed with power play goals in the second.
Despite being outshot 20-4 in the second period, the Broncos managed to get on the score sheet. Brendan Rudolph took a pass in the high slot and beat Raiders starter Steele Bass glove side, but the visitors struggled to generate quality scoring chances the rest of the game.
In the third, the Raider forecheckers clamped down on the Swift Current breakout. Prince Albert surrendered just two shots in the final 20 minutes, and forced both teams to play most of the game in the Broncos end.
Owen Corkish made it 5-1 when he knocked in a rebound with less than eight minutes to play. Brayden Dube made it 6-1 less than a minute later with a wrist shot than flashed in and out of the top corner.
“I think that’s a strength of our team,” Heise said. “We don’t let our foot off the pedal of all. We just keep our foot on the gas.”
“We played north, we played direct, we played behind,” McDonald added. “We were able to get to our pace, and earn our opportunities off the rush by pushing them back, but also getting on our hunt and getting pucks underneath them and getting to our bread and butter.”
News and Notes
• Michal Orsulak had the night off in his first game back since the World Juniors. Bass played all 60 minutes in the Raider crease and made 11 saves to earn his fifth WHL win. At the other end, Aiden Eskit made 34 stops in the Swift Current goal.
• The Raiders dressed seven defencemen on Friday but used Hubert Clarke as a winger on a line with Ben Harvey and Connor Howe.
• Friday’s game was Harvey’s first since Nov. 28 when he recorded an assist in a 2-1 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings. The 2024 first round pick has been out with a lower body injury.
• The Raiders newest acquisition, Braeden Cootes, went pointless on Friday, but fired five shots on goal, and came within inches of getting his first as a Raider when he fired a wrist shot off the cross bar with roughly five minutes to play in the third period.
• Prince Albert is back on the ice Saturday when they take on the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
