Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
To the average fan, Friday’s 11-0 blowout victory by the Prince Albert Raiders over the Moose Jaw Warriors would be called surprising; for standout defenceman Daxon Rudolph, not so much.
“We weren’t expecting that, but I wouldn’t say it was a surprise,” said Rudolph whose power-play goal early in the second period opened the floodgates and put him in the Raider record book equalling Josh Morrissey’s mark for most goals by a Prince Albert defenceman with 28. “They (Moose Jaw) are a possible first-round opponent and we wanted to let them know we are ready.”
The game had a high level of importance for both teams as the Raiders are in a heated battle with the Medicine Hat Tigers for first place overall in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference standings while the Warriors are fighting for their playoff lives with the Red Deer Rebels.
The result, coupled with Medicine Hat’s 6-3 triumph over the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Red Deer’s 3-2 overtime decision over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday, leave Prince Albert deadlocked with the Tigers at 102 points each while the Rebels now hold a two-point advantage over the Warriors with one week to play in the regular season.
“It was a full 60-minute effort from our group,” understated Raiders’ head coach Ryan McDonald. “You never expect a lopsided game, but for us it was all about sticking to the process.”
“We were only up by one after one, but we capitalized on our chances,” added McDonald.
Did they ever!
The ice was tilted towards the Moose Jaw end the entire game with Maddix McCagherty opening the scoring early in the first period. Prince Albert had the first 12 shots on net and the score could have been much worse if not for the strong netminding of Debden product Chase Wutzke in the Moose Jaw goal. Wutzke finished the period with 16 saves, but he couldn’t stop the onslaught in the second.
With the Raiders on the power play four minutes into the middle session, Rudolph moved into the high slot and fired a wrist shot over the glove hand of Wutzke putting the just-turned 18-year-old defenceman into the Prince Albert record book.
“It feels great,” acknowledged Rudolph. “Being mentioned with a guy like (Josh) Morrissey is pretty special. I hope I can break (the record) it in the next couple of games.”
“It’s impressive to watch how he goes about and does his business,” said McDonald of the potential first-round pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
Just 21 seconds after Rudolph’s historic marker Ben Harvey tallied his first of three on the evening and the route was on.
“It happens sometimes; the puck just bounces your way,” commented the first-year forward who also added three assists for a six-point outing. “That was cool. Pretty special getting six points.”
Alisher Sarkenov, Max Heise, McCagherty, with his second of the game and 20th of the season, Jonah Sivertson, Brock Cripps and Braeden Cootes also scored for the Raiders, who pushed their lead to 7-0 by the end of the second period and didn’t hold back for the final 20 minutes.
Michal Orsulak had a relatively quiet night in the Raider goal needing to make just 17 saves for his third shutout of the season. Orsulak did, however, make a trio of spectacular saves late in the game to preserve the shutout.
Wutzke had his night come to an end just shy of the midway point of the second period after allowing five goals on 24 shots. His replacement, Kyle Jones, did not fare any better as he was beaten six times on another 24 shots.
Prince Albert’s quest for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs continues on Saturday when the Raiders travel to Regina to face the Pats. McDonald says Friday’s game was great, but the work continues.
“It’s next-up mentality,” says McDonald. “We have to take care of our business.”
GAME NOTES – Harvey wasn’t the only Raider with a big game offensively as Rudolph, McCagherty and Cootes all finished with four points each…With McCagherty reaching the 20-goal mark that gives Prince Albert eight players to reach that level. Sarkenov is now just one shy of making it nine…Raider defenceman Linden Burrett played in his 100th WHL game on Friday…Prince Albert is now an impressive 19-2-1-1 when playing on a Friday…The Raiders won all six games played against Moose Jaw this year outscoring them 36-12…Friday’s margin of victory was the Raiders largest of the season, but not the biggest output of the year. The Raiders outscored the Victoria Royals 12-2 back in January… Cumberland House product Pavel McKenzie, one of Moose Jaw’s leading scorers, did not dress on Friday…The Raiders sported some fancy new threads on Friday as they wore specially-designed uniforms in support of the Real Canadian Superstore and its President’s Choice charities…Cootes was presented with the Lionel Diehl Memorial Hardest Working Player Award for the month of February prior to the opening face-off…Prince Albert showed great sportsmanship on Friday as they held back on fly-by celebrations at the Raider bench following the final three goals they scored…The regular season ends next weekend, but playoff tickets for the opening round go on sale on Monday. In-person sales at the Art Hauser Centre begin at 9 a.m. while on-line sales will commence at 10 a.m. Prince Albert will play its first two home playoff games on Mar. 27 and 28 against either Regina, Red Deer or Moose Jaw.
