Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
For the first time in nearly two months the Prince Albert Raiders left an opposing rink empty handed and if it wasn’t for a 39-second stretch in the second period of Friday’s 4-3 loss in Brandon that streak might still be intact.
Leading 2-1 early in the second period on goals by Jonah Sivertson and Riley Boychuk, the Raiders surrendered a pair to Nicholas Johnson and Gunnar Gleasman 39 seconds apart to fall behind by one. To make matters worse Prince Albert defenceman Matyas Man was given a game misconduct after getting involved in a dust-up with Joby Baumuller after the go-ahead goal leaving the Raiders short on the back end for the remainder of the game.
“From our side of things we didn’t have a good look at it,” said Raiders’ head coach Ryan McDonald on the play that resulted in Man’s night ending prematurely. “We were told it was an aggressive take-down.”
Baumuller needed medical assistance at the end of the tilt and subsequently was taken from the ice on a stretcher and transported to a hospital for further evaluation. Both Man and Baumuller were given five-minute fighting majors on the play, but in addition to the game misconduct Man was also assessed a double minor for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Prince Albert was successful in killing off the pair of penalties, but they spent more than half the middle session shorthanded and in the end Jaxon Jacobson’s power-play tally with just over three minutes to play in the second period proved to be the game winner.
“When you take a bunch of guys out of the line-up because they do not do (penalty) kills it makes it tough,” noted McDonald. “Discipline has to be top of mind.”
Linden Burrett would bring the Raiders to within one early in the final period, but that was as close as Prince Albert would get. Sivertson collected a primary assist on the Burrett goal giving him a three-point outing as he also set up Boychuk’s marker in the first period.
Brandon, which also got a goal from Luke Mistelbacher just one minute into the contest, fired 39 shots at Steele Bass in the Raiders goal while Prince Albert product Jayden Kraus was tested 37 times in the Wheat Kings net.
“I really liked our third period – how we pushed,” said McDonald. “We created some opportunities.”
The Raiders, who welcomed overage winger Brayden Dube back into the line-up after he was sidelined for a significant amount of time with an injury, will have a quick turnaround as they will be back on the ice on Saturday when they host the Saskatoon Blades at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
“We have to make sure we get our liquids and food in us and get some sleep on the bus,” said McDonald referring to the eight-hour trek home overnight in preparation for the showdown with their Highway 11 rivals.
GAME NOTES – The magic number is down to three for the Raiders to capture their second straight East Division banner. Any combination of Prince Albert wins or Brandon losses totalling three will guarantee the Raiders at the very least the No. 2 seed going into the post-season. Prince Albert, however, still holds the upper hand in the chase for top spot overall in the Eastern Conference and are within striking distance of the Everett Silvertips for home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs…Friday’s loss to the Wheat Kings was Prince Albert’s first in six games against their Manitoba rivals this year…With Dube’s return it is the first time in quite a while the Raiders have been completely healthy. McDonald acknowledged there are tough decisions to be made now on who sits on any given night. For Friday it was Connor Howe and Hubert Clarke…The last time Prince Albert left an opponent’s rink without at least one point prior to Friday’s game was Dec. 17 when they fell 5-4 to the Pats in Regina.
