The Prince Albert Raiders couldn’t hold onto a two goal third period falling 4-3 to the Swift Current Broncos in overtime at the InnovationPlex on Saturday night.
Prince Albert had a two goal lead on the two separate occasions, but couldn’t put away the home standing Broncos.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says the final result was a difficult pill for Prince Albert to swallow.
“It was tough. We had our chances too and we didn’t bury them. Their goaltender played real well. Momentum is a big thing. When you get up two, you think you got the momentum, but the next goal is huge. It’s a balancing act and they close the gap on us and took the lead.”
Rilen Kovacevic would open the scoring at the 4:27 mark of the second period with his 27th goal of the season with a shot that went off a Bronco defender and past Reid Dyck. Ethan Bibeau and Niall Crocker would pick up the assists.
Bemidji State commit Brayden Dube would double the Prince Albert lead at the 9:13 mark of the third period picking up his 27th goal of the season on the power play. Tomas Mrsic and Lukas Dragicevic would pick up the helpers.
Swift Current would get on the board just over forty seconds later as a Grayson Burzynski point shot would go off the glove of Rylan Gould and past Max Hildebrand to get the Broncos on the board. It was Gould’s 24th goal of the season.
Riley Boychuk restored the two goal lead for Prince Albert with his 12th goal of the season coming on the power play as he tucked home a loose puck laying in the crease. Rilen Kovacevic and Justice Christensen picked up the helpers.
After a failed clear by Prince Albert, Grayson Burzynski would bring the Broncos within one at the 16:11 mark with his 11th goal of the season. Clarke Caswell and Hunter Mayo assisted on the play.
Carlin Dezainde’s 31st goal of the season would tie the game for the Broncos with just 57 seconds left to go in the third period. Brady Birnie and Luke Mistelbacher assisted on the play.
After it seemed like the Broncos were out of it for most of the game, they found momentum in the third period.
Truitt says it came down to details in the final minutes that allowed the Broncos to tie the game.
“It’s reminders and the importance of details and things like that. Hockey is an imperfect kind of game because you can script everything you want, but the fact of the matter is you still gotta win some battles and get some pucks out when they need to. All little details that can add up to other things and I think that’s just what happened here.”
After sixty minutes couldn’t decide a winner, the two teams would head into overtime. Prince Albert would have two major opportunities to win the game, but Broncos netminder Reid Dyck would come up with highlight reel saves on Aiden Oiring and Niall Crocker to keep the game going.
Hunter Mayo was the overtime hero for the Broncos with his 16th goal of the campaign at the 3:36 mark of the extra frame. Luke Mistelbacher and Clarke Caswell assisted on the goal.
Reid Dyck made 33 saves for the Broncos to earn the win. Max Hildebrand made 24 stops for the Raiders
Prince Albert returns to action on Tuesday night when they host the Regina Pats. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
