Raiders Edge Hitmen, 4-3
December 8, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release
Prince Albert, SK - The Calgary Hitmen opened their two-game weekend Saskatchewan road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Raiders in Prince Albert on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
Sean Tschigerl, Fraser Leonard and Oliver Tulk all scored for the Hitmen with Leonard counting his first career Western Hockey League goal and Tulk extending his goal scoring streak to five games.
It was the Raiders who never trailed, building period leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before closing out a late push by the Hitmen.
After Ryder Ritchie gave Prince Albert a 4-1 lead with just under 13 minutes to go, the Hitmen received tallies from Leonard at 6:58 and Tulk at 11:53 to pull within a goal. The Tulk tally came shorthanded with captain Tyson Galloway serving a major penalty for checking from behind. The Raiders took two penalties of their own during the power play which ultimately gave the Hitmen a 5-on-3 for 17 seconds. Calgary later pulled goaltender Ethan Buenaventura with 1:36 remaining but were unable to find the tying goal.
The Hitmen outshot the Raiders 39-35 as Prince Albert goaltender Max Hildebrand made 36 saves to record the win while Buenaventura made 31 stops for Calgary.
On the special teams front, the Hitmen went 0-4 on the power play while PA was 2-4 with a shorthanded goal against.
Justice Christensen, Matej Kubiesa and Sloan Stanick also scored for the Raiders who improve to 3-0 in the season series with their final meeting set for Sunday, Jan. 21 back in Alberta.
The Hitmen road trip resumes in Saskatoon on Sunday, Dec. 10. Game time is 3:00 p.m. M.T. at SaskTel Centre. Calgary will then return home to host the Red Deer Rebels on Wednesday, Dec. 13 in a 7:00 p.m. start at Scotiabank Saddledome.
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