A four goal barrage in the second period was all the Prince Albert Raiders needed to top the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-2 in WHL play on Sunday afternoon at Co-op Place.
The Raiders finished the weekend with four out of a possible six points on the three game swing through Alberta. Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says that Prince Albert rebounded nicely after a poor performance in Red Deer on Saturday.
“I think they realized that we didn’t put in a good 60 minute effort against [Red Deer], especially early on in the game. Twenty minutes isn’t going to get you a game. They came in here on a short turnaround, and didn’t have to think about the loss last night for too long.”
Hayden Pakkala was called for a boarding minor penalty just eleven seconds into the second period and the Tigers would take advantage to open the scoring.
Oasiz Wiesblatt scored his 10th goal of the season at the 1:49 mark to give the home side a 1-0 advantage. Bogdans Hodass and Brendan Lee would credited with assists on the play
After allowing the opening goal in the contest, the Raiders would surge back with four goals in the second period.
Cole Peardon would even up the score with his 2nd WHL goal after tipping a point shot from Terrell Goldsmith past Beckett Langkow at the 9:16 mark. Brayden Dube picked up the other assist on the goal.
The Raiders third line of Brayden Dube, Cole Peardon and Ryder Ritchie have found themselves to be spark plugs of the offense as of recent.
“They had some good looks here tonight” Truitt says “I thought they ignited the scoring for us tonight. [It’s] good for those guys to get better and better as time goes on.”
Sloan Stanick would continue his strong play on the road trip as the 19-year-old picked up his 7th goal of the season at the 14:33 mark. Ritchie and Kosior picked up the assists
Just over three minutes later, the captain Evan Herman would pot his 6th goal of the season after he redirected a point shot from Eric Johnston. Sloan Stanick would pick up the other assist on the play for his second point of the night.
Sloan Stanick continued his torrid scoring pace with his third point and second goal of the period with just 0:35 remaining in the middle frame.
Prince Albert led the shots 22-13 in the middle frame.
Medicine Hat would not go down without a fight. Dallon Melin would notch his 5th goal of the season at the 12:16 mark to bring the Tigers within two at 4-2.
A late penalty to Keaton Sorenson for delay of game with just 3:28 remaining in the game gave the Tigers life as Medicine Hat would pull their netminder Beckett Langkow, but they would not crack the defence of the Raiders.
With the win, the Raiders improve to 10-13-2-0 on the season and move into a share of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Truitt says although the Raiders have seen success in recent games, he feels the group still has a lot of room to develop.
“It’ll be over by Tuesday when we get to practice. The group is very coachable, they are very accepting of everything and I’m happy that they are getting some success here. They have worked hard and there has been some adversity here. They are finding ways to come together and play well. But there is still a long ways to go.”
The Raiders remain on the road next weekend when they travel to Manitoba to face the Wheat Kings on Friday, Dec. 2 and the CHL top-ranked Winnipeg ICE on Saturday, Dec. 3.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
