The Prince Albert Raiders had their nine game point streak snapped on Wednesday night as they were defeated 3-1 by the Calgary Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome
“I thought we played a very good first period. It was tight, but it’s the way that we started. I thought positioning wise, we were good. It was just one of those tight periods, but I thought we were really good. The second period came and then before their first goal, a couple of shifts before that things started to get a little bit loose at times. That first one goes in and now you’re chasing things here a little bit. A lot of our older guys have got to be able to answer the call here against a good team, but we’re a good team too. They’ve got to be better and as a group, we’ve got to understand that it’s never going to be easy.”
After a scoreless first period, it would take nearly half of the second period for the first goal of the hockey game to be scored.
Oliver Tulk would handcuff Max Hildebrand with a long wrist shot for his 29th goal of the season at the 10:21 mark of the middle frame. Kalem Parker and Tanner Howe provided the helpers.
Connor Hvidston would add to the Hitmen lead with his 15th goal of the campaign at the 18:57 mark. The Tisdale product would wire home a wrist shot between the pad and blocker of Hildebrand to double the Calgary advantage. Brandon Gorzynski and Carson Wetsch had the assists.
Tulk would strike again for the Hitmen just 1:33 into the third period with his 30th goal of the season coming on a 2-on-1 beating Hildebrand to the five hole. Ben Kindel and Tanner Howe picked up the helpers.
The Raiders would get on the board at the 18:05 mark. Ethan Bibeau would tip a Justice Christensen point shot past Daniel Hauser for his seventh goal of the season. Lukas Dragicevic had the secondary helper.
That would be as close as the Raiders would get as Daniel Hauser would make 27 stops to earn the victory for Calgary. Max Hildebrand made 33 stops for the Raiders in net.
Prince Albert would not score on their lone power play opportunity which came in the second period. The Raiders held the Hitmen scoreless on three power play opportunities.
“I think the structure was really good. They were very aware of seam plays and things like that. We blocked a lot of shots, which is exactly what you need to do. Even though there’s some hiccups here and there, I really liked our structure and the work that went inside of that.”
The Raiders return to action on Friday night in Lethbridge when they take on the Hurricanes. Puck drops at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
