Losing streaks have been a rarity at the Art Hauser Centre this season, and the Prince Albert Raiders worked hard to keep it that way Friday night.
The Raiders entered the weekend having lost their last two games in their own rink, although they had a 3-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades in Saskatoon sandwiched between them. On Friday, the Raiders scored early and often, skating to a 6-0 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes, and ensuring there would be no third successive home ice defeat.
“Obviously, you lose the game before, you always come in a bit angrier,” said Raiders centre Braeden Cootes, who had a goal and two assists on the night.
“We don’t like losing here. Our goal is always to win.”
The Raiders dominated play for lengthy stretches on Friday, outshooting the Hurricanes 40-14 over 60 minutes, and obliterating them in the face-off circle.
Aiden Oiring led the way with two goals—both coming off nearly identical cross-crease passes that the overage centreman only had to tap into an open net—while Cootes, Benett Kelly, Daxon Rudolph, and Alisher Sarkenov chipped in with singles.
“We just stuck to doing what we do best: getting pucks north and playing behind them,” said Kelly, whose first period goal stood up as the game winner. “That’s what we did and then the chances started piling up for us.”
Kelly’s goal was somewhat a-typical for a defenceman. The Cochrane, Alta. product found himself alone at the side of the net with the puck on his stick after skating into the slot and grabbing a rebound.
Kelly calmly slotted the puck between Hurricane starter Lief Oaten’s leg and the post for his fourth goal of the year, and first game winner.
“It was just kind of a bank pass to Jonah (Sivertson),” Kelly said. “Then (I) just middle drove and he put it on net. The rebound kicked out right to me and the rest you see out there.”
Rudolph added a power play marker before the end of the period to make it 2-0, and Cootes fired a back-hand off the post, off a Hurricanes defender, and in with 6:30 to play in the second.
Despite the golf in shots and chances, the Hurricanes had their chances to turn the tide, but couldn’t beat Raider starter Steele Bass. The High River product made 14 saves on the night, none tougher than a glove save when Hurricanes left winger Owen Berge broke through on a second period breakaway.
“He made the big saves when we needed him to,” Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said when asked about Bass’ play. “He was tidy, he was efficient, and sticky back there.”
“He was awesome for us tonight,” Kelly added. “He made a big breakaway save that kept the momentum on our side, obviously. It’s always helpful when you have a good goalie. Obviously, as a d-man, you love a good goalie back there.”
The Hurricanes needed to be tough defensively after only scoring three goals in their previous three games against the Raiders. Those efforts took a turn for the worse when Oaten, who had stopped 25 of 28 shots at that point, fell awkwardly back into the Hurricane goal and had to leave the game.
Koen Cleaver came in and stopped nine of 12 shots in relief, but the change seemed to throw off the visitors. Their defensive barricade broke in the third, and the Raider offence swarmed in.
“In the second period I thought there were opportunities for us to maybe score and get the game tilted a little bit,” Hurricanes assistant coach Ryan Aasman said. “We weren’t able to do that and then eventually PA’s depth and their wave of offence takes over.
“When you’ve got to play Oiring’s line and then Heise’s line and then Cootes’ line, eventually the waves are going to crash on you. I think that kind of happened as the game went on.”
On the Raiders side, McDonald credited his charges for playing smart, and making the most of their third period chances.
“Guys made really good puck decisions in the neutral zone, across the blues, and really made sure that we could work underneath and get to our grind time,” he said. “The goals that we were able to get came off of guys being on right spots off of the d-side and just continuing to go north as we turned pucks over.”
The win means the Raiders have swept the season series with the Hurricanes. Prince Albert is now 6-2-1-0 against Lethbridge at the Art Hauser Centre over the last five years.
The Raiders are back at it on Saturday when they take on the Brandon Wheat Kings at the AHC. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
News and Notes:
• Riley Boychuk might have been the unluckiest Raider of the night. Boychuk hit a post and a crossbar on two different shots, both in the second period.
• The Raiders won 32 of 47 face-offs. Max Heise had the best night, winning 11 of 17, while Evan Smith won eight of 12.
• Prince Albert went 1/2 on the power play, while Lethbridge was 0/3
• The announced attendance was 2,463.
Daily Herald Three Stars
1. Braeden Cootes (Prince Albert) – had two points in the first two periods when the outcome was still in doubt. Added a third point in the third period with a beautiful heads up pass on Alisher Sarkenov’s goal.
2. Aiden Oiring (Prince Albert) – scored what will likely be the two easiest goals of the season in the third period when he tapped cross-ice feeds into a wide-open Hurricane net. Still, not everyone is smart enough to get in good position.
3. Benett Kelly (Prince Albert) – scored the game winner in the first period, and played strong defence for the other 59 minutes.
