It may not have been the result they wanted, but the Prince Albert Raiders were happy with the process.
The Raiders fell 3-2 in overtime to the Central Division leading Edmonton Oil Kings at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday. Despite the loss, the Raiders were satisfied with their performance.
“We had lots of opportunities to score,” captain Justice Christensen said after the game. “It just didn’t work out. (It was an) unfortunate outcome at the end there, but I was happy with how we played and we’ll have lots of battles against this team in the future.”
“I’m happy with the effort,” coach Ryan McDonald said. “Our guys worked extremely hard. Whenever you can hold a team to 15 shots, you’re defending hard, you’re playing hard, and your sticks are good.”
Saturday’s performance was the complete opposite of Friday’s high scoring 6-5 affair with the Regina Pats. The Raiders bottled up the Edmonton attack for large portions of the game, giving up a mere 15 shots through three periods.
On the offensive side, the Raiders had few problems generating scoring chances, but struggled to convert them.
“As we continue to get pucks north and get pucks behind and get on the forecheck, … we create opportunities for ourselves,” McDonald said. “Ultimately, we missed the net on a couple of really good opportunities that we had and so that’s one of the things that we’re going to work on: making sure that we’re hitting nets.”
The Oil Kings entered the contest on a three-game winning streak, and jumped out to an early lead when Adam Jecho tapped in a pass from defenceman Parker Alcos roughly five minutes into the first.
The Raiders battled back to tie it with 4:31 to play in the opening frame. Riley Boychuk got the goal after Max Heise foiled an Oil Kings breakout attempt with some great back-checking.
The Raiders took the lead with 5:40 to play in the second on Benett Kelly’s first WHL goal. The Raider defenceman took a pass from Brock Cripps and fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Oil Kings goalie Ethan Simcoe.
The lead was short-lived. Joe Iginla replied for the Oil Kings just 54 seconds later. That was the last goal until Edmonton defenceman Ethan MacKenzie beat Michal Orsulak high glove side 51 seconds into overtime.
The Raiders’ best chance to break the tie came on a late third period power play when Boychuk’s point shot deflected off Aiden Oiring, through the crease, and past an open Oil King net.
“The pucks going to go there,” Christiensen said. “Sometimes it finds a guy. Sometimes it doesn’t. It’s all part of the game, but I was happy with how we worked tonight.”
The five-on-four turned into a five-on-three seconds later when Edmonton centre Landon Hanson was penalized for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass in the Raiders end from Edmonton zone. The Raider power play had plenty of zone time during the two-man advantage, but the Oil Kings penalty kill was able to limit the damage.
The overtime loss means the Raiders sit tied for first in the East Division standings with the Saskatoon Blades. Both teams have 16 points, although the Blades hold the edge in wins. They’ve also played two more games than Prince Albert.
Overall, McDonald was happy with the club’s work ethic on Saturday.
“I thought our guys just continued to get better as the game went on,” he said. “We continued to build. We continued to play fast. There were some points where there were some lulls, and the guys did a great job of buttoning up those situations and getting back to how we play.”
News and Notes:
• The Raiders had a bevy of second period chances. The best went to leadings scorer Aiden Oiring, who hit the post on a penalty shot.
• Oiring dominated the Oil Kings in the face-off circle on Saturday, winning 17 of the 24 draws he took. The rest of the Raiders did quite well too. Max Heise won nine of 19, Evan Smith won six of nine, and Connor Howe won three of four. On the Edmonton side, no centreman won at least 50 per cent of his face-offs.
• Orsulak stopped 14 shots in the Raider goal. Simcoe made 20 saves for the Oil Kings.
• The Raiders are still one of only two WHL teams without a loss in regulation. The Everett Silvertips are 9-0-1-0 after beating the Kelowna Rockets 3-2 on Saturday.
