The Prince Albert Raiders head to Alberta to wrap up their three game road trip with games against the Edmonton Oil Kings and Red Deer Rebels.
The Raiders welcomed the Oil Kings to the Art Hauser Centre last Wednesday and put in one of their best games of the season, but ultimately fell 4-2 to the first place team in the Central division.
Prince Albert then hosted the Rebels on Friday night, losing 4-2 for the second straight game, this time against the second place team in the Central.
Now, the Raiders will look to give a little payback on the road. They travel to Edmonton to take on the Oil Kings on Friday night, looking to build off of their strong performance last week against a dangerous Edmonton team.
When these two teams met on Nov. 10, the Oil Kings led 3-0 after two periods of play, but Prince Albert stormed back in the third, scoring twice to make it a 3-2 game, before Oil Kings forward Jakub Demek sealed the Edmonton win with an empty net goal late in the game.
Since then, the Raiders have gone 1-1, with a 4-2 loss to the Rebels on Nov. 12, and a 4-1 win against the Swift Current Broncos on the road the next day.
Dallyn Peekeekoot played a large role in the Raiders win in Swift Current, scoring twice for his first career multi goal game in the Western Hockey League.
Tyson Laventure continued his hot start to the season, scoring an empty net goal that secured the win over the Broncos. He has four goals and five assists in nine games this season, continuing his point per game pace.
For the Oil Kings, they haven’t lost a step after winning in Prince Albert. A 6-3 win in Regina and a 4-3 shootout win in Moose Jaw have them sitting two points ahead of Red Deer for top spot in the Central division. They’ve picked up points in five straight games, only losing once in that span, a 4-3 overtime loss in Saskatoon.
Jalen Luypen has led the way offensively for the Oil Kings, picking up at least one point in his last eight games, including an assist he picked up in Prince Albert. The seventh round draft pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft has accumulated 19 points in 17 games so far this season, tied with Carter Souch and Arizona Coyotes first rounder Dylan Guenther.
The Raiders came close to pulling off the comeback against Edmonton the last time they met, but in the second period, the Oil Kings scored twice in a span of 38 seconds, forcing the Raiders into comeback mode in the first place. Playing a full 60 minutes has been the Raiders biggest weakness so far this year, and they’ll look to play a complete game heading into Edmonton on Friday.
Prince Albert will then travel to Red Deer on Saturday, looking to dish out more payback, and then travel home to face the Moose Jaw Warriors for the third time this season.
Puck drop from Rogers Place in Edmonton is at 7pm.
Twitter: @kyle_kosowan•sports@paherald.sk.ca
