It was going to take something special to break a 1-1 tie in Brandon on Friday, and Jonah Sivertson delivered.
The Prince Albert Raiders forward produced what might be the team’s Goal of the Year when he picked up the puck following a Wheat King breakdown and outwaited almost everyone on the ice before turning goaltender Filip Ruzicka inside out for the eventual game winner.
“Just tremendous puck protection,” Raiders coach Ryan McDonald said when asked about Sivertson’s early third period goal.
“Jonah protects the puck so well with his big frame, and he’s magic six feet around the net.”
The Raiders had just finished killing off a Justice Christensen holding penalty when Wheat Kings defenceman Gunnar Gleasman collided with teammate Daniil Skvortsov outside the Brandon blueline.
Raider forward Tanner Howe poked the puck free, Sivertson scooped it up, and stickhandled around Wheat King defenceman Max Lavoie while he slid into the corner. Sivertson then sent Ruzicka the wrong way before slipping the puck around the sprawling netminder’s pad.
“With his reach and his offensive ability, he makes a tremendous move at the net-front,” McDonald said.
Sivertson’s goal likely would have been the best even if Friday’s contest turned into a shootout. However, goaltenders Ruzicka and Dimitri Fortin did an excellent job soaking up attacks in a 2-1 Prince Albert win.
The Wheat Kings were without their two top scorers in centre Jaxon Jacobson and winger Luke Mistelbacher, but still pelted the Raiders starter with 35 shots over 60 minutes. Nicholas Johnson was the only Wheat King to beat Fortin on the night. He tipped in a Dylan Ronald point shot 5:40 into the first period to give Brandon an early 1-0 lead.
“He made some big saves at key moments,” McDonald said when asked about Fortin’s performance. “(He) gave us an opportunity to win.”
Ruzicka may have been victimized on Sivertson’s goal, but the 6’7, 230 pound netminder made plenty of tough stops throughout the night. The two biggest came roughly five minutes into the second period when he made a sprawling glove save on a Daxon Rudolph wrist shot, followed by a pad save on a Brock Cripps wraparound.
As the game wore on, however, the Wheat Kings offence slowed. As the clock ticked down in the final minutes of the third period, the Raiders bottled an exhausted Brandon hockey club up inside their own end.
The Wheat Kings couldn’t break through centre ice until there were less than 30 seconds to play, and generated just once chance with the goalie pulled. It came just as time expired.
McDonald said the Raider forwards did a tremendous job getting the puck behind the Wheat King defence and keeping it there.
“We’re really using our ability to protect pucks, winning the little battles, possessing it, and then looking for opportunities, again, to get inside,” he said.
The win helps the Raiders keep pace with the Edmonton Oil Kings for top spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Both teams have 38 points after the Oil Kings downed the Red Deer Rebels 5-2. However, Edmonton has played four more games than Prince Albert.
The Raiders won’t have much time to reflect on the WHL standings. They’re back at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday night to face the Medicine Hat Tigers, who thumped Saskatoon 9-3 on Friday.
Puck drop is 7 p.m.
News and Notes:
• Filip Ruzicka gave up only two goals all night, but there wasn’t really much he could do to stop either of them. The first came courtesy of Raiders captain Justice Christensen, who hammered one of his trademark one-timers past Ruzicka’s glove after being left all alone near the top of the circle.
• Christensen’s first period goal came less than a minute after Johnson gave Brandon the lead. It was his fifth of the season. Daxon Rudolph is the only Raider defenceman with more.
• Penalty-wise, Friday’s game was a quiet affair compared to when the two teams met on Nov. 21 in Prince Albert. The Raiders took only three penalties all night, one of which was for Too Many Men. The Wheat Kings were penalized just twice. Neither team scored with the man advantage.
• Saturday’s game against Medicine Hat is Cobra Chicken Night.
