The Prince Albert Raiders dominated the Medicine Hat Tigers for 64 minutes on Tuesday, but couldn’t get the goal they needed to secure victory.
Tiger forward Liam Ruck shoveled a rebound past Raider goaltender Michal Orsulak’s pad 4:07 into overtime at Co-op Place, giving Medicine Hat a 2-1 win in the game, and a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.
Raider head coach Ryan McDonald said his team put in a great effort, but were “snake-bitten” in the offensive zone.
“I thought our guys defended hard inside the dots and we created offence inside the dots,” McDonald said. “We just weren’t able to capitalize.”
The Raiders outshot the Tigers 27-17 through the first two periods, a number that’s even more impressive considering Medicine Hat had three power plays to the Raiders none.
In the third, the Raiders cranked up the pressure, outshooting The Tigers 10-2, but were unable to beat Medicine Hat goaltender Jordan Switzer, who finished with 37 saves on the night.
Prince Albert’s best chance to break the deadlock came midway through the third when Tiger defenceman Veeti Vaisanen plowed into Switzer while trying to keep Max Heise from driving to the net. The collision knocked the Tiger goaltender out of the crease and nearly into the corner. However, the Raiders couldn’t take advantage.
Vaisanen recovered to block a Justice Christensen one-timer while Switzer scrambled back into position. The Raiders wouldn’t come any closer.
Prince Albert had their only power play in the third period after Yaroslav Bryzgalov was sent off for charging Jonah Sivertson. However, Braedon Cootes’ wrist shot, which deflected off Switzer’s mask and into the crowd, was the only shot they managed.
In overtime, Ruck tipped an Andrew Basha wrist shot that snuck through Orsulak’s equipment and rolled to the side of the net. Ruck picked the puck up and stuffed it short-side before Orsulak could recover, giving Medicine Hat the win.
Daxon Rudolph had the lone goal for Prince Albert. The Raider defenceman drove past three Raiders to get to the net, and fired his own rebound past Switzer with less than five minutes to play in the first period.
The Tigers tied the game up on a second period power play. Kade Stengrim fired a wrist shot from the point that beat a screened Orsulak glove side to make it 1-1.
The two teams are back at it again on Wednesday. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
News and Notes:
• Orsulak finished with 19 saves on the night, and was named the game’s third star.
• Sivertson appeared to be gone for good after getting crushed into the boards by Bryzgalov. The Raider forward stayed down on the ice for several minutes before being helped off. However, he was back for the last few minutes of the third period and overtime.
• Prince Albert product Connor Howe drew into the line-up, replacing the injured Brandon Gorzynski.
• Brayden Dube and Aiden Oiring drew the assists on Rudolph’s first period goal.
• The announced attendance was 5,204.
