The Prince Albert Raiders had a plan heading into the Saturday’s shoot-out against the Saskatoon Wheat Kings, and it couldn’t have gone any better.
Aiden Oiring and Braeden Cootes both scored on their shoot-out attempts, while Michal Orsulak blanked Blades left winger Hayden Harsanyi and captain Tyler Parr, giving the Raiders a 5-4 win in front of 2,892 fans at the Art Hauser Centre.
“We have a good goalie coach and they scout for us pre-game just in case we get in those scenarios,” Oiring said in an interview after the game. “We definitely have an idea in our head and we have a Plan A going down. If we see it, we execute it, but if not there’s a Plan B that we are thinking of. I think, both the shooters, we stuck to Plan A there.”
Oiring and Cootes both skated wide to the right before looping in and firing wrist shots past Saskatoon Blades goaltender Evan Gardner’s blocker. Cootes definitely took the more scenic route, skating all the way over to the side boards before cutting back into the slot.
At the other end, Orsulak closed the door on Harsanyi, who tried to go five-hole, and Parr, who fired a wrist-shot low-blocker side. The Raiders goaltender celebrated with a sliding fist pump before getting mobbed by teammates.
“That’s what that room does in there,” Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said. “They dig deep right until the end. It took us 65-plus to get the two points, and those guys played hard right until the bitter end.”
The Raiders have now won four of six meetings with their provincial rivals this year. The two teams won’t meet again until a home-and-home series to close out the regular season.
Despite the loss, Blades coach Dan DaSilva was happy with how his team played.
“We left it all on the ice tonight,” he said. “I thought through 40 we had a lot of chances to be up maybe a couple more. We had some opportunities in the third period, even though they took it to us a bit in the third period. I thought our guys did a good job defending and sticking with it.
“It comes down to a shoot-out. I thought our guys played hard. I thought both teams played well. I thought it was a fast game, but it was a competitive game, and lived up to the rivalry.”
The Raiders outshot the Blades 9-6 in the first period and led 2-0 thanks to goals from Ben Harvey and Brandon Gorzynski, but for the second straight game, disaster struck in the second period.
One night after the Raiders surrendered three second period goals in a 4-3 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings, the Raiders gave up four second period tallies, including three in 1:29, to the Blades.
Hunter Laing struck first on the power play 2:53 into the period, and goals from David Lewandowski, Ben Bowtell, and Parr quickly followed.
The Parr goal had the potential to be a back-breaker. The Blades captain grabbed a loose puck following a Raider offensive-zone turnover, skated in on a breakaway, and beat Orsulak high blocker-side for a two-goal lead.
“I think some of our puck management and our risk management started to go a little bit,” McDonald said. “We got under some pucks, they started flying some guys out of the zone and they started getting some rush opportunities. Give them credit, they capitalized on some of our mistakes.”
Riley Boychuk stopped the bleeding when he tipped a Gorzynski pass off the post and in less than a minute later. That gives the Raiders life heading into the second intermission.
The Raiders outshot the Blades 13-6 in the third, and tied it up when Jonah Sivertson buried a wrist shot past Gardner’s outstretched pad 5:22 into the period.
“(We’re) just battling through adversity and not giving up,” said Sivertson, who now has 10 points in his last five games. “They got a couple of goals on us there and we just didn’t give up and battled to the end.”
In overtime, the Blades had the best chance to win it in the first minute. Kazden Mathies broke in on another breakaway following another Raider offensive zone turnover. In a preview of what was to come, Orsulak stuck out a pad to deny Mathies on the only Saskatoon shot of the extra period.
At the other end, the Raiders piled seven shots on Gardner, the majority coming on a four-on-three power play after David Lewandowski was sent off for interference.
The Saskatoon goaltender stopped a pair of one-timers from forward Max Hiese, got a piece of shot from Cootes on a partial breakaway, and prevented Boychuk from scoring his second of the game after the latter stickhandled his way to the front of the net for a quality scoring chance with less than 25 seconds to play.
That was enough to get Saskatoon to the shootout, where the Oiring and Cootes struck, and Orsulak closed the door for Prince Albert.
“We just needed those two points,” Oiring said. “(We) battled back from adversity. It’s always good to get that (experience) before playoffs when we know what to expect when we’re in there.”
“(We’re) just battling through adversity and not giving up,” Sivertson added. “They got a couple of goals on us there and we just didn’t give up and battled to the end.”
News and Notes:
• Matyas Man didn’t dress for the Raiders on Saturday. The Czech defenceman is still waiting on a WHL disciplinary ruling following a takedown in a fight with Joby Baumuller of the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday. Medical staff transported Baumuller off the ice on a stretcher, and Man received a game misconduct for the takedown. On Saturday, the Wheat Kings released a statement saying Baumuller was stretchered off as a precaution and transported to hospital where he underwent comprehensive scans and testing. He has since been discharged, the Wheat Kings said, and is resting at home.
• Brayden Dube was also not in the line-up on Saturday. The overage forward dressed for his first game in nearly a month on Saturday, recording two shots on goal against the Wheat Kings. It was Dube’s first game back since Prince Albert’s win over the Victoria Royals on Jan. 20.
• Saturday’s win was Raider captain Justice Christensen’s 250th WHL game.
• Prince Albert was 0/2 on the power play. Saskatoon was 1/3.
• The Raiders are off until Monday when they take on the Moose Jaw Warriors. Puck drops is 2 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. Fans in attendance can stay afterwards for a post-game skate with the Raiders.
