By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders continue to chase Broncos after 4-3 OT loss

Feb 6, 2015 | 9:41 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders’ playoff hopes just a little thinner.

In the biggest game of the year, the Raiders lost 4-3 in overtime to the Swift Current Broncos on Friday.

Broncos leading scorer Jake DeBrusk, a projected first rounder in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, ended the game in overtime as he scorched past Raiders defenceman Mackenze Stewart on the outside and beat goaltender Rylan Parenteau in close.

With the overtime loss, the Raiders are now down nine points to the Broncos, who hold the third playoff spot in the WHL East Division, with 19 games remaining. The Raiders did gain a point on the division’s fourth place Moose Jaw Warriors, who lost 3-2 to the Spokane Chiefs.

“It was an important game,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “(The Broncos) didn’t get two up, but they got an extra point on us.

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“We’re still in the thick of it, we just have to keep believing and keep working our way through it.”

Thanks to some quirks in the WHL schedule this year, the Raiders still play the Broncos four more times before the season is up, giving them ample opportunities to gain some ground.

“We’re lucky with the schedule that we get to play them (four more times), it puts us in complete control,” said Raiders forward Matteo Gennaro. “These next four games that we play them, we’re going to try and win them all, set them back, and try to make some ground here.”

The Broncos, who entered Friday’s game with an 0-1-1-1 record against the Raiders this year, came out roaring in the first period. They outshot the Raiders 15-5 and got the lone goal, scored by Linden Penner three minutes into the game.

Brett Lernout made it 2-0 early in the second as his shot got through a pile up in front of Raiders goaltender Rylan Parenteau, but then the channel switched over to the Jesse Lees show.

Lees scored twice in the second period to get the Raiders back into the game. Due to injuries to two top-six forwards in Jayden Hart and Kris Schmidli, Lees played 5-on-5 situations as a forward but played to his traditional position as a defenceman on special teams.

“It’s definitely tough, but I’ve got to be mentally prepared out there,” said Lees, who finished with a  game-high six shots. “It’s always something that teams can utilize, it’s a special quality that not many guys have, so I like to take advantage of it.”

Jay Merkley scored on the power play early in the third to give the Broncos the advantage, before Swift Current-born Tim Vanstone tied the game for the Raiders late in the period.

Jake DeBrusk then ended the game in overtime, scoring his 31^st goal of the year. He actually got motivation on the previous shift, for a mistake he made with the puck.

“Right before that play, I had a turnover, honestly, in the middle of the zone. I came back to the bench and I wasn’t too pleased with myself—I was a little fired up,” said DeBrusk, the son of former NHLer Louie DeBrusk. “I originally wanted to get some speed, just to get in the zone to get some time.

“I just read the play, the puck came to me and I tried to beat him. I did luckily…it’s a huge win and huge point for the guys, we haven’t had too much luck in this rink.”

DeBrusk could go in the first round of this year’s NHL Entry Draft. TSN’s Craig Button has him ranked 27^th overall, McKeen’s Hockey has DeBrusk 23^rd and NHL Central Scouting has him 24^th among North American skaters.

“I’ll be honest, it’s pretty hard to not look at that stuff,” said DeBrusk. “Social media has gone a long way, you get notifications on your Twitter. I just kind of try to block it out, but you can use it as motivation, as well.”

Big horse Gordon back in action

Broncos overage forward and scoring machine Coda Gordon returned to the lineup after missing the last ten games with a lower body injury. He had 41 points in as many games before going down, one of three Broncos to produce at a point-per-game or better. Before Friday’s game, Gordon’s last action was Jan. 7 against the Calgary Hitmen and was hurt after trying to hold the blueline to avoid an offside.

Although the Broncos welcomed back Gordon, they are still ravaged with injury including missing World Junior defenceman Dillon Heatherington for another 3-5 weeks with an injury and former Prince Albert Minto Jordan Harris is out for the year and Cole Johnson is out indefinitely.

Yorke with a spirited game

Raiders defenceman Dalton Yorke didn’t finish Friday’s game, but certainly made an impression when he played. He fought Tanner LeSann in the first period in a throwback, Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em affair and got the crowd back in the game. While he wasn’t getting in scraps, Yorke made sure he was physically involved. But in the second period, Yorke took a puck to the face and did not return to the game. 

“It was an unlucky bounce off a stanchion and hit him in the mouth. Hopefully he’s okay,” said Habscheid.

Milestone countdowns

Raiders overager Colton Heffley is approaching the 300 game plateau as he played his 295^th WHL career game on Friday.

Fellow overager Jayden Hart is six points back of the 150 mark, with 144 points on his career. Defenceman Jesse Lees has 96 career points. Jordan Tkatch has played in 249 career games.

Back at it Saturday

The Raiders will be back in the saddle on Saturday to face-off against the Calgary Hitmen. The Raiders will be looking to exact revenge to Jan. 30’s 10-1 loss.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea