Raiders pick up shutout win in Red Deer

It was a perfect note for the Prince Albert Raiders to end their Alberta road trip with a 3-0 win over the Red Deer Rebels at the Peavey Mart Centrium on Saturday night.

Raider interim head coach Ryan McDonald says Prince Albert got contributions from up and down the lineup.

“It was a great team win. Our possession game was fantastic. Our support on breakouts was on point. We really managed pucks well in the neutral zone, which led to extended time in the O zone for us.”

After being outscored 6-1 in the first period of the first two games of the road trip, the Raiders came out of the starting blocks strong.

After drawing a roughing call, Aiden Oiring would strike for his 17th goal on the ensuing power play to open up the scoring 1:26 into the opening frame. The goal was Oiring’s 50th goal in the WHL. 45 of those goals have come in a Raider uniform.

Rilen Kovacevic would pick up his first goal in a Raider uniform at the 10:14 mark to double the Raider lead. Daxon Rudolph and Niall Crocker picked up the helpers.

McDonald says the Raiders managed the puck better early then they did in Medicine Hat or Edmonton.

“I think tonight we really focused on just making sure that we made those simple hard plays right off the start. We kept things going north and made sure that we had good bodies above pucks and made sure they had to come through us 200 feet to get any opportunities at our net. We get one early on the power play and then just kept rolling from there.”

Justice Christensen would add his 12th goal of the season in his hometown blasting a one timer past Wutzke from the left point at the 8:36 mark of the middle frame. Daxon Rudolph picked up his second point of the night with the primary assist. Jackson Kostiuk picked up his first career WHL point with the secondary helper.

That would be all the support that Max Hildebrand would need as the 20-year-old made 17 stops to earn his second shutout of the season. Chase Wutzke made 33 stops for the Rebels in the loss.

The Raiders also had a special guest in attendance on Saturday night. Head coach Jeff Truitt has been on a medical leave of absence since the holiday break after undergoing eye surgery. He has been in Red Deer recovering with family since the operation.

Truitt was able to be in attendance at the game in Red Deer as a spectator and visited with the players and coaching staff.

McDonald says Truitt was in good spirits during their visit.

“It’s awesome to see Jeff. He’s one of my mentors and a guy that I’ve spent a lot of time with over the past five seasons. During the season, this is probably the longest stretch that I haven’t seen him face to face. It was really good to sit down and have a conversation with him and see him again. As a hockey guy, you’re always wanting to get back to the rink. He’s very supportive for Conor (Yawney) and I and he’s such a great mentor for both of us.”

The Raiders return home on Tuesday night when they welcome the Portland Winterhawks to the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

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