Raiders back on top of East Division after home win over Moose Jaw
After a disappointing loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday, the Prince Albert Raiders got back in the win column, downing the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-1 at th
After a disappointing loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday, the Prince Albert Raiders got back in the win column, downing the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-1 at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday night.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says he thought that Prince Albert was dominant early on, but didnât play a consistent 60 minutes.
âI liked our first period for sure, I thought we dictated a lot of the play. In the second period, we didnât do enough. Even in the third period, I thought we didnât do enough. Too many blind plays when we just let guys come right to our net and youâve got to be tighter where we are right now.â
Niall Crocker would match his jersey number with his 24th goal of the season to break the seal on the scoreboard 4:15 into the first period. The 20-year-old forward would find a loose puck just outside the crease and deflect it past an outstretched Matthew Hutchison. Tomas Mrsic and Brayden Dube assisted on the play.
Ty Meunier would add his 13th goal of the season exactly four minutes later. The St. Albert product fired a wrist shot from a sharp angle below the left circle past the short side of Hutchison. Daxon Rudolph and Justice Christesen picked up the helpers.
Matteo Fabrizi would strike for his first goal in a Raider sweater just over a minute later as a wrist shot would go off a Warrior defender and past Hutchison. Tomas Mrsic and Aiden Oiring assisted on the play.
Lynden Lakovicâs 20th goal of the season would pull Moose Jaw within two in the dying seconds of the opening frame on the power play. Ethan Hughes and Ethan Semeniuk picked up the helpers.
Moose Jaw would have a couple chances to pull closer in the second period, but Max Hildebrand would stand tall including making a sprawling glove save on former Raider Krzysztof Macias with about five minutes to go in the middle frame.
Hildebrand made 28 saves in the contest to pick up the win in net by the Raiders. Truitt says Prince Albert has been spoiled by his play all year long and needs to do more to help out their goaltender.
âWeâre spoiled every night, not only in games, but in practices because of his competitiveness. I just think that there are nights when youâve got to do more for him, not let him hang out to dry because sometimes that hourglass runs empty and we donât want that to happen. We want him to have easy nights when we can manage the puck the right way. Sometimes we just threw it out today just to see if they can score.â
Aiden Oiringâs 22nd goal of the season with an empty net would secure the win for the Raiders.Â
With the win and Brandon losing to Calgary in regulation, the Raiders have jumped back into the top spot in the East Division. Truitt says he expects the battle to keep going all the way through game 68.
âItâs going to be going right to the end and weâre not expecting anything different, but we want to catch fire as consistently as we can.â
Prince Albert returns to action on Saturday night when they travel to Regina to take on the Pats. Puck drops at 6 p.m.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
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