Raiders hope to continue good fortunes at Rogers Place

Sure, the Raiders were 3-1 against the Oil Kings in the regular season, but they actually had a much tougher time at the Art Hauser Centre against the Edmonton oil monarchy. The Raiders were 1-1 against the Oil Kings in the regular season on home ice, including a 6-3 defeat on Feb. 1 and a 6-5 overtime victory on Dec. 12.

But if the regular season is any indication the series could turn, it will be at Rogers Place where the games were much more favoured to the Raiders. They won both games decisively, with a 6-3 victory on Nov. 28 and a 5-1 win on Feb. 4.

“We won two there so we are comfortable playing on the road,” Raiders Head Coach Marc Habscheid said. “It’s the way it is. We didn’t want to lose a home game, for sure. But they’re a good team and we knew that coming in.”

One player that’s really looking forward to the series continuing is rookie forward Jakob Brook, the reigning Eastern Scholastic Player of the Year Award winner. Brook had two assists in Game 2 for his first two points of the post-season.

“We’re confident going into Edmonton,” Brook said. “We feel we can win in that building; we’ve done so. We just gotta play our game when we get there.”

But the Oil Kings are feeling confident after winning Game 2 in overtime. They’ve been excellent in ‘extra innings’ this year, having gone a perfect 4-0 these players. They will likely be taking that confidence with him back to their comfortable confines.

“They’ve been good in our barn, but we’re ready for it,” said Oil Kings forward Jake Neighbours, who scored the overtime winner in Game 2, second these playoffs. “We’ve been good in our barn these playoffs and we’re ready to come home to our fans and keep this series rolling.”

Oil Kings Head Ctoach Brad Lauer said his team has improved each time they’ve faced the Raiders, and that a lot has changed since the Raiders began the regular season series with a 6-3 at Rogers Place on Nov. 28.

“At that time, we were a very young and immature team. We probably wanted to get their autographs more than wanting to play against them,” Lauer said. “We just sat back and watched and they pretty much took it to us. As you play teams like this, you learn an awful lot. I think it makes your team better when you play good teams, and there was a lot that we took away, every time we play these guys.”

Games 3 and 4 are at Rogers Place in Edmonton with 7 p.m. game start times. Game 5 will be at the Art Hauser Centre on Friday, also at 7 p.m.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW

by Jeff D’Andrea

Raiders hope to continue good fortunes at Rogers Place

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