The Prince Albert Raiders dropped their second straight contest in Alberta to the Lethbridge Hurricanes by a 6-1 final on Friday night at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says Prince Albert paid the price for making mistakes against a veteran Hurricanes team.
“We knew on this road trip that it was going to be tough. We’re going to have our challenges, there’s no doubt. The details and some of the things that you harp about all the time that repeat, mistakes that put you behind the eight ball. Right now, some of these mistakes are happening again and again. If we continue to do this as we get going into the playoffs, you’re going to be in trouble. We paid for some of those mistakes here tonight, not winning face-offs, not getting a lot of shots and just not clicking in the right way. It certainly showed tonight with a very veteran team that we played against.
Carsen Adair’s first career WHL goal would open the scoring 1:57 into the first period to put Lethbridge in front early. Brayden Yager and Leo Braillard provided the helpers.
Yager would double the Lethbridge lead at the 13:38 mark as the Winnipeg Jets prospect would bury his 19th goal of the season. Tristen Doyle and Shane Smith assisted on the play.
Kooper Gizowski would extend the Hurricane lead to three with his eighth goal of the campaign just 3:08 into the middle frame.
Lukas Dragicevic would get Prince Albert on the board with his 11th goal of the season at the 17:22 mark. During four-on-four play, the Seattle Kraken prospect would cut to the middle one-on-one against Hurricanes forward Shane Smith and fire a shot that would beat Jackson Unger five hole. Aiden Oiring and Vojtech Vochvest picked up the helpers.
That would be as close as the Raiders would get as Lethbridge would pull away with three third period markers from Noah Chadwick, Leo Braillard and Shane Smith.
Max Hildebrand made 29 saves on 34 shots and was replaced with just over 10 minutes to go in the third period by Dimitri Fortin who stopped two of the three Lethbridge shots he faced.
Truitt explained that the decision was to keep Hildebrand fresh in case he is needed to start Saturday.
“At that point in time, it’s out of reach and we played tomorrow in Medicine Hat and we’ll see where this goes. He didn’t need to be in the net anymore and there’s a possibility he might go tomorrow.”
After Wednesday night’s game in Calgary, Truitt called for more contribution from the older player in the Prince Albert lineup.
When asked about if he saw improvement in Friday’s game, Truitt says he saw glimpses but the Raiders will need more to find the win column.
“Sporadically I did. Again your best players have to be your best players no matter who you’re playing against. Your good players have to be great and we have to push for more.”
Prince Albert returns to action on Saturday night when they finish up their Alberta road trip in Medicine Hat for a meeting against the Tigers. Puck drops at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
Around The WHL
Cooper Williams was the overtime hero as Saskatoon knocked off Brandon 3-2 on the road
Sawyer Mynio lifted Calgary to a 4-3 overtime win over Edmonton
Four different goal scorers helped Everett clinch a playoff spot with a 4-1 win over Kamloops. The Silvertips are the first team to clinch a spot in the 2025 WHL Playoffs
Riley Heidt became the Prince George Cougars all-time assist leader in a 3-2 win over the Kelowna Rockets
A hat trick from Luke Mistelbacher helped Swift Current erase a 3-1 deficit in a 5-3 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers
Four goals from Berkly Catton helped the Spokane Chiefs hang a nine spot in a 9-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds
Third period goals from Jace Egland and Zach Pantelakis helped Regina defeat Wenatchee 4-2
Melfort’s Nate Misskey had a four assist night as Victoria defeated Tri-City 9-1
Ryan Miller and Tyson Jugnauth each had two point nights as Portland knocked off Vancouver 5-2
