WHL Prince Albert Raiders

Raiders End Road Trip with 5-2 Win in Calgary

Published on December 3, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince Albert Raiders News Release


The Prince Albert Raiders picked up four out of six points on their three-game road trip this weekend, ending the trip with a 5-2 win in Calgary over the Hitmen. Five different Raiders scored, while Max Hildebrand stopped 44 of 46 shots in the win.

Easton Kovacs opened the scoring early, striking 4:13 into the first period. From the point, the defenceman ripped a bomb blocker side past Ethan Buenaventura. Kovacs' third goal of the season gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead, keeping the teddy bears in the stands a little longer.

Those bears would rain down on the ice 5:01 later, however, as London Hoilett got the Hitmen on the board. After Max Hildebrand made a pad save in tight, the rebound sat in front of the net, and Hoilett was able to jump on it to score the teddy bear toss goal for Calgary for the second year in a row. His first goal of the season came at a good time, as it tied the game at 1-1, and caused a long delay on the ice while the bears rained down and were cleaned up.

After the delay came to an end and both teams came back onto the ice, Eric Johnston gave the Raiders the lead back with 2:21 left in the first period. The Raider captain blasted a one timer after taking a pass from Aiden Oiring, and he wired a shot past Buenaventura. Johnston's goal was his fourth of the season, and it came just two seconds after their powerplay ended. After giving up the tying goal earlier in the first, Prince Albert scored late in the opening frame to take a 2-1 lead into the second period. Hildebrand was busy in the opening 20 minutes, stopping 17 of 18 shots he faced. Buenaventura stopped nine of 11 shots thrown his way in goal for the Hitmen.

Both teams scored the same amount of goals in the second period as the first, as Prince Albert took a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes. Brayden Dube gave the Raiders a 3-1 lead with 3:57 left in the middle frame, scoring on a powerplay. A shot from the blueline by Terrell Goldsmith was stopped by Buenaventura, and the rebound popped up in front of the net. Hayden Pakkala took a whack at it out of midair, and he tapped the puck closer to the crease. Dube jumped on the puck and banged home his ninth goal of the season, giving Prince Albert a two-goal lead.

2:29 later, the Raiders took a two-goal lead, as a third defenceman found his way onto the goalsheet for the green and gold in the contest. This time it was Goldsmith who scored after assisting on Dube's goal earlier in the period. Goldsmith took a pass from Cole Peardon and wristed a shot on goal from the point. His shot beat Buenaventura clean, giving the Raiders a 4-1 lead with his third goal of the season. Peardon picked up his second assist of the night, while Pakkala tallied his third helper of the evening with the secondary assist on the goal.

The Hitmen got one back with 23 seconds left in the second period, as Oliver Tulk scored Calgary's second goal of the game. Carter Yakemchuk made a nifty move at the blue line to get by a Raider defender, and he sent a cross ice pass to Tulk. From the left circle, Tulk ripped a one timer past Hildebrand, as he collected his 16th goal of the season. The late strike from the Hitmen made it a 4-2 Raider lead after 40 minutes of play. Calgary outshot Prince Albert 35-20 through two periods.

Sloan Stanick scored another powerplay goal for the Raiders in the third period, as Prince Albert never looked back, picking up a 5-2 win on the road.

Prince Albert improves to 15-13-0-2 on the season. They are back in action on Friday night at home against the Hitmen once again. Puck drop is at 7pm.

Check out the Prince Albert Raiders Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 3, 2023


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