Raiders Tally First Win of Regular Season with 5-1 Win over Oil Kings
October 2, 2022 – Western Hockey League (WHL) – Prince Albert Raiders News Release
The Prince Albert Raiders found their way into the win column on Saturday night, beating the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-1 at the Art Hauser Centre. The win put the brakes on a four game losing streak to start the season, improving the club to 1-3-1-0 on the season.
Before puck drop, a pre-game ceremony was held on the ice, recognizing National Day for Truth and Reconciliation which happened yesterday. Dignitaries and special guests were on the ice singing, dancing, and concluding with a ceremonial puck drop at centre ice. The Raiders played the game in their recently unveiled orange “Every Child Matters” jersey.
The goals were not hard to come by in the first period, as the Raiders scored four straight to take a commanding 4-0 lead into the second. Three of those goals came in a span of just over three minutes, which brought an abrupt end to Alex Worthington’s WHL debut in goal for the Oil Kings.
Cole Peardon started the first period scoring spree with his first Western Hockey League goal. A two on one rush with Harrison Lodewyk was converted by Peardon, who took a pass and roofed a shot top corner past Worthington to put the Raiders up 1-0.
Just over a minute later, Keaton Sorensen made it 2-0 after a nice feed from Carson Latimer. Wide open in front of the net, Sorensen came in on a breakaway and tucked a backhand shot home to double the lead. Anton Yatsyshin jumped in on the scoresheet with his first goal as a Raider just 1:52 later to make it a 3-0 spread.
Later in the first, Sorensen tallied his second goal of the frame on a Raider powerplay. Taking a pass from Owen Boucher, Sorensen ripped a shot home past Kolby Hay, who came in relief of Worthington. Sorensen’s second made it a 4-0 lead, and gave Boucher his second assist of the night. The quick start to the game allowed the Raiders to take a lead into the second period for the second straight game. This time around, instead of a 1-0 lead they held over Moose Jaw on Friday night, it was a 4-0 lead they held over the Oil Kings.
The Oil Kings got on the board in the second period, scoring a shorthanded marker to make it 4-1. Marshall Finnie stole the puck and drove down the right wing, firing a shot from long range that deflected off of Boucher’s stick and past Tikhon Chaika. It was the first shorthanded goal that the Raiders surrendered this season, as their lead was trimmed to three. Fortunately, that would be all the damage done in the middle frame, as 4-1 would be the score heading into the third.
After picking up two assists earlier in the contest, Ryder Ritchie found his way onto the goal sheet. Taking a pass from Sorensen at the point, Ritchie gathered the puck near the right circle and fired a shot that overpowered Worthington, who retuned to action for the third period. Ritchie’s snipe was his second goal of the year, and it put the Raiders up 5-1 just over five minutes into the frame.
Prince Albert was able to close things out from there, thanks to a strong bounce back effort from Chaika between the pipes. A 24 save performance helped the Raiders collect their first win of the year, while the powerplay went 2/5 on the night.
The Raiders are off until Wednesday night when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes. After that they hit the road for three games.
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