Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
Hockey is a crazy game.
On Friday the Prince Albert Raiders fired 48 shots at the Moose Jaw Warriors’ goal and scored at will in recording an 11-0 triumph. One night later they directed even more rubber at the Regina Pats’ net, but needed a goal in the final minute to force extra time before eventually recording a 2-1 shootout decision and keeping their hopes of finishing first in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference alive.
“Sometimes you win big and sometimes you have to grind it out,” said Raiders’ head coach Ryan McDonald after the hard-fought win in Regina on Saturday. “We just stuck with it.”
Like they did the night before the Raiders came out of the gate on Saturday determined to show a potential first-round opponent that should they meet in the post-season they were going to have their hands full.
Prince Albert fired 16 shots at Taylor Tabashniuk in the opening session and went on to pepper him with 36 more over the final 40 minutes while limiting the Pats to just 13 shots during that span.
But, on just their second shot in the final period, Regina grabbed the game’s first lead when Zachary Lansard beat Raider netminder Michal Orsulak with under three minutes to play. True to form, the Raiders did not panic and with the goaltender out for an extra attacker, Prince Albert got the equalizer when Max Heise finally solved Tabashniuk with just 51 seconds to play.
“Tonight was a game where we just managed the lines and continued to build as the game went on,” noted McDonald.
In overtime, the Pats gained a bit of momentum and with under two minutes to play went on the power play, but Prince Albert persevered to extend the match to a shootout.
“It was a huge kill in OT,” said McDonald. “The guys were sacrificing and laying it on the line.”
Both Tabashniuk and Orsulak stopped the first shooters they faced in the shootout before Friday’s star of the game, Ben Harvey, gave Prince Albert the advantage. McDonald said inserting the first-year forward in a key situation like that was an easy decision.
“He continues to elevate his game,” said McDonald of Harvey who led the Raiders’ onslaught against Moose Jaw the previous night with three goals and three assists. “His details with and without the puck continue to grow.”
When Orsulak stymied Regina’s second shooter, Braeden Cootes sealed the win and extended the Raiders’ current win streak to three games.
The win allows Prince Albert to keep pace with the Medicine Hat Tigers for first place overall in the Eastern Conference standings. Medicine Hat needed overtime as well on Saturday as they rallied to defeat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-5 leaving both clubs with 104 points. The Raiders, however, have a game in hand and they will try and take advantage of that when they host Regina on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
GAME NOTES – The single point Regina garnered from the shootout loss moves the Pats to within one point of clinching a playoff berth. They can confirm their plans for the post-season when they play Moose Jaw on Sunday…After Tuesday’s game against the Pats the Raiders will finish the regular season with a home-and-home series against the Saskatoon Blades. Medicine Hat, meanwhile, has a home-and-home set of their own against the Red Deer Rebels next weekend…The Raiders will open the playoffs on March 27 and 28 at home with tickets for those games going on sale on Monday. In-person sales at the Art Hauser Centre will begin at 9 a.m. while on-line sales are available beginning at 10 a.m. The first-round opponent is still up in the air, but the list is narrowed down to Regina, Red Deer or Moose Jaw.
