For the first time since 2019, the Prince Albert Raiders are headed to the WHL final.
The Raiders erupted for five goals in the second period, and held off a furious Medicine Hat Tiger charge in the third for a series clinching 7-6 win in Game 6.
Fans who only watched the first period might have assumed they were in for a tight-checking contest as the Raiders sought to eliminate the defending WHL champs while the Tigers hoped to send everyone back to Prince Albert for Game 7.
However, the defensive play evaporated in the final 40 minutes as both teams poured on the offence. Riley Boychuk led the way for the Raiders with two goals, while Braeden Cootes and Daxon Rudolph both recorded a goal and two assists. Six different players scored for the Tigers, while centre Andrew Basha had four assists.
Boychuk’s two tallies provided the bookend to a dominant performance from the Raider offence. His first came with less than five minutes to play in the opening period when he grabbed a rebound and fired a wrist shot over sprawling Tigers netminder Jordan Switzer. His second came in the last 10 minutes of the third, when he toe-dragged a Tiger defenceman, and fired a wrist shot off the cross-bar and in.
Braeden Cootes, Aiden Oiring, Brayden Dube, Jonah Sivertson, and Rudolph scored in between Boychuk’s two tallies. The Tigers pulled Switzer after the third goal, which was credited to Rudolph after it bounced off defenceman Josh Van Mulligen and into the net.
The offensive outburst gave the Raiders a comfortable 6-3 lead heading into the third, but the Tigers refused to go down quietly. Kade Stengrim capitalized on an early Raider penalty when he one-timed a cross-ice feed past Prince Albert goaltender Michal Orsulak to make it 6-4. Van Mulligen scored on another one-timer that beat Orsulak short-side a few minutes later, and the Raider lead was down to one with 13 minutes to play in the period.
Even after Boychuk’s second goal sucked the air out of Co-op Place, the Tigers continued to push. They were rewarded when Liam Ruck bagged his eighth of the playoffs on another one-timer.
The scoreboard originally showed 6.1 seconds left when Ruck scored. The officials added on another eight-tenths, giving Medicine Hat 6.9 seconds to work with. However, the Tigers never threatened.
Medicine Hat called a time out, but Kadon McCann attempt to shoot the puck towards the Raider zone directly off the face-off failed. Oiring grabbed the puck and dumped it into the Medicine Hat end, giving Prince Albert the win.
The Raiders move on to the face the Western Conference Champion Everett Silvertips, who finished the regular season atop the WHL standings and only lost one game in the first three rounds of the playoffs.
The WHL has not announced dates for Games 1 and 2 as of press time.
News and Notes:
• Cootes goal was his first of the series. The Vancouver Canucks prospect skated almost below the goal line on a second period power play and beat Switzer from a tough angle to make it 2-2 early in the second.
• Oiring’s goal came 13:12 into the second when he fired a wrist shot through a screen, over Casey’s blocker, and into the top corner.
• Dube made it 5-3 on a 2-on-1 when he beat Casey with a wrist shot that just missed hitting the Tiger goaltender in the head.
• Sivertson made it 6-3 with 33 seconds to play in the second. The Raider forward deflected a Braeden Cootes shot over Casey’s glove and into the net.
• Michal Orsulak finished with 24 saves on the night. Switzer stopped 10 shots in the Tiger goal before giving way to Carter Casey, who made 14 saves in relief.
• It was a tough night for penalty killers on both sides. The Raiders went 2/3 on the power play, while the Tigers went 2/4.
• Medicine Hat captain Bryce Pickford left the game with 2:46 left the second following a check from Connor Howe, but returned for the third period.
• Jonas Woo, Noah Davidson, and Luke Cozens had the other goals for Medicine Hat.
