The Prince Albert Raiders couldn’t find the back of the net after a strong first period in a 6-4 loss to the Victoria Royals on Friday night.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says Prince Albert was doing a lot of good things offensively early on.
“I thought our speed and our puck management was really good and fired some things at the net, you know, and good things happened. It seemed like we had some quality shots and we made our space to get those pucks through. We had quality opportunities.”
After a penalty against former Saskatoon Blade Vaughn Watterodt, the Raider power play would go to work. Tomas Mrsic would wire home his sixth goal of the season at the 8:08 mark of the first period. Lukas Dragicevic and Kyzysztof Macias picked up the helpers.
A minute and thirty seconds later, Lukas Dragicevic would strike for his first goal in a Raider uniform thanks to a highlight reel feed from Brayden Dube that fooled everyone in the building, including Victoria netminder Jayden Kraus. Riley Boychuk picked up the secondary helper.
Markus Loponen would cut the Raider lead in half at the 15:26 mark with his second goal of the season off a tip just outside the Prince Albert crease. Reggie Newman and Tanner Scott provided the helpers.
Aiden Oiring would restore the two goal advantage for the Raiders with a power play marker at the 16:48 mark for his fourth goal of the campaign. Macias and Dragicevic assisted on the play.
Niall Crocker would add his fourth goal of the season at the 18:08 mark putting home a rebound just outside the Victoria crease. Dube and Ethan Bibeau assisted on the play.
Shots favored the Royals 13-8 after the opening frame.
After the first period, Victoria made a goalie change replacing former Minto Jayden Kraus with Spencer Michnik.
Momentum would shift starting in the second period as Victoria would register five unanswered goals the rest of the way.
Truitt says the Raiders didn’t answer the physicality Victoria brought in the second and third periods.
“They didn’t like what they saw. They just turned it on. Physically, they outbattled us. They outstrengthed us and they gained the momentum. We were a little light in the battles. Didn’t control the puck at all. It seemed like the puck was always on their stick and they had possession. They worked for their bounces and when they got their shots, they went in.”
5:01 into the middle frame, Watterodt would strike for his first goal as a Victoria Royal. The play would be extensively reviewed for multiple minutes with referee Jake Podann stepping into the penalty box to speak with the video goal judge. The goal was confirmed upon review.
Less than a minute later, Escalus Burlock would cut the deficit to just one with his second of the season. Cole Reschny provided the helper.
Victoria would tie the game just 1:59 into the third period as Escalus Burlock would strike for his second of the night. Watterodt and former Minto Logan Pickford were credited with the assists.
Teydon Trembecky would give the Royals their first lead of the night at the 5:01 mark with his third goal of the season. Brayden Boehm and Cole Reschny provided the assists.
Cole Reschny would ice things with an empty net goal for Victoria.
With the loss, the Raiders fell to 2-6-2-0 on the season. The last time the Raiders started 2-6-2-0 was in the 2022-23 season. That season, the Raiders missed the playoffs and posted a 28-37-3-0 record.
Truitt, who is in his third season as the Raider head coach, says there are some similarities between the two teams, but this year’s version of the Raiders needs to learn how to win those tight, physical games.
“We’re younger in age from that team to this team. There’s that big entity. We were a bit older than we are this year with four 16-year-olds in the lineup. We’ve got some injuries going on which are setting us back a little bit. You got three new defenseman on the back end and a bunch of new guys up front. I told them in the dressing room that we’ve got finds to win these hard games. It’s going to be a work in progress again. The patience issue is one things, but when you’re up 4-1, you’ve got to be able to lock things out. THat’s the most disappointing thing tonight.”
The Raiders conclude their B.C. Division road trip on Saturday night when they visit the Vancouver Giants. Puck drops at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
