The Prince Albert Raiders couldn’t finish a third period comeback falling 5-4 to the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday night.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says Prince Albert didn’t get off to the start they needed to.
“The first period, we were awful and we were up 1-0. Certainly, it wasn’t like that. We got opportunistic and finished off the play you want to. We were just behind every step of the word in the first period. You got to play a complete 60. The second period, we start getting power plays, we picked up out pace a little bit and picked up our battle. I thought there was lots of intensity in the second and third, missed assignments on their faceoff. It’s a detail and that’s the difference of the game right now.”
The Raiders would strike first at the 5:14 mark as Tomas Mrsic would find Lukas Dragicevic on a transition play and the Seattle Kraken prospect would wire home his 50th career WHL goal and 15th of the season. Aiden Oiring had the lone assist.
Edmonton would reply at the 1:45 mark of the second period as Florida Panthers prospect Gracyn Sawchyn would find the twine for the 28th time this season on the power play. Gavin Hodnett and Lukas Sawchyn assisted on the play.
Miroslav Holinka would give the Oil Kings the lead with his 16th goal of the season coming on the power play at the 12:44 mark of the middle frame. Blake Fiddler and Rylen Roersma had the assists on the play.
Justice Christensen would tie the game less then two minutes later with his 21st goal of the season. Riley Boychuk and Jackson Kostiuk provided the helpers.
Aiden Oiring would put the Raiders ahead at the 19:05 mark with his 23rd goal of the campaign coming on the power play. Tomas Mrsic and Brayden Dube were credited with the helpers.
Marshall Finnie would tie the game just 26 seconds later with his 14th goal of the campaign. Roersma and Niko Tsakumis assisted on the play.
Emotions ran high in the second period as 14 separate penalties were called between the two teams.
“I thought it woke us up.: Truitt explained postgame. “Finally, we had a couple of shifts where we had some energy and guys had a little bit of bite. We weren’t stick checking, we got in front of them and then all of a sudden, it kind of turned our way a little bit. It’s not a matter of violent hits, it’s a matter of just getting in front of them and impeding them and that’s what we have to do. I thought once we started doing that, we were fine.”
Cole Miller’s 18th goal of the season at the 14:04 mark would give the Oil Kings the lead back. Roersma and Holinka picked up the helpers.
Adam Jecho would stretch the Oil King lead to two with his 24th goal of the campaign coming on the power play at the 17:22 mark. Holinka and Josh Mori picked up the helpers.
The Raiders would pull within one at the 18:34 mark as Lukas Dragicevic would strike for his second goal of the night and 16th on the season. Ty Meunier and Niall Crocker were credited with assists on the play.
Prince Albert would push for the equalizer, but could not solve Ethan Simcoe the rest of the way who earned the win in goal for the Oil Kings making 28 saves in the contest. Dimitri Fortin made 36 stops for the Raiders.
News and Notes
Rilen Kovacevic was out of the lineup for Prince Albert on Friday, serving a one game suspension for his kneeing major against Lethbridge on Wednesday.
Prince Albert returns to action on Tuesday when they take on the Regina Pats. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
