The Prince Albert Raiders skated to their second consecutive win on home ice during the WHL preseason, downing the Swift Current Broncos by a 6-1 final on Saturday night.
Head coach Jeff Truitt says the Raiders were able to transition from defending into creating chances extremely well.
“We want to commit to a good defensive game and we did. I thought that we created a lot of turnovers in our own zone, got going on the offense and that’s what we want to do. We want to be a good defending team, but yet, we want to get going on the offense, speed through that neutral zone and let those guys use their skill to create opportunities.”
Neither team would score in the opening frame, but the Raiders led 11-6 on the shot clock.
The Broncos would open the scoring at the 1:15 mark as Aiden Sexsmith would find the back of the net for the third time this preseason. Dawson Gerwing was credited with the lone assist.
Prince Albert would strike on the power play less then a minute later as Riley Boychuk would tip home a Lukas Dragicevic point shot past Matthew Kieper to get the Raiders on the board. Tomas Mrsic picked up the secondary helper.
Brayden Dube would give the Raiders the lead with his first preseason goal at the 9:16 mark. Boychuk picked up his second point of the night with the lone assist.
Boychuk would strike for his second goal of the night at the 13:21 mark of the middle frame. Oli Chenier and Cole Peardon picked up the helpers on the play.
Dayce Derkatch would get in on the action at the 15:06 mark as he would strike for the Raiders fourth goal of the frame to extend the lead. Brock Cripps and Ethan Bibeau assisted on the play.
Jonah Sivertson would strike for a pair of goals in the third period for Prince Albert to put away the 6-1 win.
Goaltending duties for Prince Albert were split between Max Hildebrand and Cooper Anderson. Hildebrand stopped eight of nine shots he faced in the first half of the game. Anderson made six stops in the second half of the contest.
Matthew Kieper was busy all night long for Swift Current, making 41 saves on 47 shots.
Saturday’s game featured the first time Tomas Mrsic, Lukas Dragicevic and Norwin Panocha donned the Raider uniform after being acquired in the offseason.
Truitt says the trio have adjusted very well to Prince Albert so far.
“I knew that they were going to be impact guys coming in. Their experience and where they’ve been in the league. They’ve just joined right in and they’re two feet in here and they’re helping to lead and keeping the culture of ours alive. I get to give them a lot of credit for coming in here and adjusting to our way. The proof is in the pudding about the quality of players that we’ve got.”
The Raiders continue pre-season play on Friday, Sept. 13 when they welcome the Saskatoon Blades to the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
