The Prince Albert Raiders faced plenty of tests on their U.S. Division road trip, but they passed the toughest one on Tuesday.
The Raiders led from start to finish at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, dispatching the hometown Silvertips 4-1, and reasserting their stranglehold on the WHL’s East Division lead.
“We just continued to play north,” Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said when asked how the Raiders managed to contain the Western Conference’s top team. “They really get pucks in. (We) were able to win the battles and continue to advance pucks north and make them have to come 200 feet.
“Our neutral zone puck decisions were very good tonight, making sure we’re playing off heels and playing behind them and making them have to defend in their end. The guys did a tremendous job of owning the net fronts and getting to the blue paint.”
The Silvertips entered Tuesday’s contest with a league-best 32 points, and a 15-2-2-0 record. History was on Everett’s side as well. The Raiders hadn’t beaten the Silvertips on the road in over a decade.
Those stats had little impact on the Raiders. Instead, they rose to the challenge.
“(It was) business as usual,” McDonald said. “Obviously, you circle games in the calendar and you talk about stuff, but it was a team that plays a very similar style to how we play. Very relentless, they’re hard on the forecheck, they track hard, they get pucks to the net and they’re relentless at getting to the net. We were excited for the challenge tonight. We were looking forward to it.”
The Raiders were the more aggressive of the two teams off the opening faceoff. They outshot the Silvertips 4-0 in the first five minutes, and opened the scoring at 14:38 when Evan Smith beat Everett starter Raiden LeGall five-hole off a Ty Meunier feed.
It was the first of two goals on the night for Smith, who entered the 2025-26 WHL season with just six career goals. After Tuesday’s game, he now has six in 17 games this season.
“Smitty’s just continued to elevate his game right from day one of training camp until now,” McDonald said. “He’s a big, long, centreman who skates well. His defensive detail is just absolutely superb, and really glad to see him getting rewarded with those offensive chances (and) some offensive production.”
Brayden Dube made it 2-0 late in the first when he came out of the penalty box and beat LeGall with a wrist shot on an odd-man rush.
The Raiders broke the game open in the second with Smith’s second goal less than two minutes into the period, and another one 31 seconds later on a great individual effort from Aiden Oiring.
The Silvertips, who were playing their fourth game in five nights, didn’t back down, and rebounded to outshoot Prince Albert 24-19 over the final 40 minutes. When they pressed however, Raiders goaltender Michal Orsulak was there.
The Silvertips managed one goal—a power play marker from defenceman Rylan Gould—but otherwise struggled to beat the lanky Czech. Orsulak made a number of tough stops, including a pair of breakaway saves on potential number one overall pick Landon DuPont in the second period.
In total, Orsulak made 31 saves during the night. McDonald credited him for being focused and mentally tough.
“He was a wall back there for us,” McDonald said. “When we needed that big save, he was there. He’s so calm in the net. He stands tall. He plays big.”
The Silvertips made a late push when the Raiders were forced to kill off a late five-on-three, but weren’t able to close the gap. The win gives Prince Albert three wins and a loss so far on their Western road swing. They close out with games against the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday, Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday, and Wenatchee Wild on Saturday.
