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Warriors score three in third to rattle Raiders

Nov 4, 2017 | 10:03 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders have only lost two regulation games at the Art Hauser Centre this season, and both have come at the hands of the Moose Jaw Warriors.

The Warriors handed the Raiders their second home regulation loss of the year with a 3-2 defeat Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders’ first since a 3-0 decision on opening night Sept. 22.

The Warriors now have a 4-0 record against the Raiders to start the year, something that doesn’t sit too well with Raiders captain Curtis Miske.

“We’re getting pretty sick and tired of losing to these guys, but we did it to ourselves again,” said Miske, who scored a goal and got his 100th career point. “We’re not playing a full 60. We know these guys are going to come out hard every night, they have skill. Two goals isn’t enough to beat them.”

Like in Thursday’s game, the Warriors were able to erase a Raider lead. In the third period, the Warriors rattled off all three of their goals in the game. The Warriors outscored the Raiders 4-0 on Thursday to win 5-2.

“We’re just letting off the gas a bit,” Miske said on their third periods against the Warriors. “For most of the game we’re dedicating the play and then it just goes to show you, if you let off the gas against a good team like that, they’re going to put it behind you. You just have to be able to focus for a full 60 minutes.”

It was the Raiders’ third game in as many nights. The Warriors had Friday off after beating the Raiders on Thursday 5-2 in the Friendly City.

“We’re not a team built for excuses, but the reality is it’s three-in-three with travel and they had a day off. But I thought our guys gave it everything they had, that’s all we ask for,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said.

Even with the loss, the Raiders’ home record is among the best in the league. Their away record, however, is among the lowest at 1-4-1.  

The Raiders will look to improve upon that as they embark on their longest road trip of the season. In fact, 11 of their next 12 games will be on the road.

The Raiders will play the Kootenay ICE on Nov. 10 on their way to their biannual U.S. road trip. They’ll face the Portland Winterhawks on Nov. 12, the Seattle Thunderbirds on Nov. 14 and the Everett Silvertips on Nov. 15. They’ll wrap it up with back-to-back games against the Tri-City Americans on Nov. 17 and the Spokane Chiefs on Nov. 18 before returning home to face the Swift Current Broncos on Nov. 24.

“We just have to keep playing the way we are. This is a tough division, we’re playing some good teams and we’re right there,” Habscheid said. “We just have to take it a game at a time. I’ve never seen a stretch with this many road games like this, it’s a difficult stretch. We just have to be patient with it and work our way through it.”

Stallard going streaking

Jordy Stallard’s late goal extended his point scoring streak to nine games. Including his Friday night hat trick, Stallard now has 10 goals and 17 points in that nine-game span.

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring.

Second Period

1-0, Raiders, Curtis Miske from Spencer Moe, 7:27

Third Period

1-1, Warriors, Brayden Burke from Justin Almeida, 10:16

2-1, Warriors, Brett Howden from Jett Woo and Noah Gregor, 11:36

3-1, Warriors, Jayden Halbgewachs from Noah Gregor, 17:48

3-2, Raiders, Jordy Stallard from Cole Fonstad and Brett Leason, 18:59

 

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW