Raiders forward Aliaksei Protas. File photo

By Jeff D'Andrea

unbeaten no more

Raiders flip up to lose their first game in regulation this season

Oct 22, 2019 | 11:06 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders woke up on Tuesday as the only team in among the 60 CHL clubs yet to suffer a regulation loss.

The Seattle Thunderbirds (3-4-2-1) changed that. The T-Birds became the first and only team to defeat the Raiders within 60 minutes as they skated away with a 3-1 victory at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. The Raiders now have a 7-1-3 record in their first 11 games.

The Raiders gave the Thunderbirds seven power plays, including three delay of game penalties (three!) for shooting the puck over the glass. The Raiders also took a minor penalty for checking from behind down 2-1 with 1:41 left in the third period to hamper their comeback attempt.

The Raiders also managed to give the Thunderbirds two separate 5-on-3 power plays, which made a huge difference in the game. The Thunderbirds scored on the first two-man advantage, a blast from Simon Kubicek to get them up in the first period.

The Raiders were down two men again near the beginning of the second period. Despite killing off both penalties, the Thunderbirds struck just eight seconds the penalties had expired.

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“When you’re chasing, things aren’t going to work for ya. We had [three] pucks shot out, it was just one of those nights,” Raiders assistant coach Jeff Truitt said. “It was a full moon, something weird was going to happen, and it did. [three times] with pucks going out.”

But even when the Raiders weren’t being escorted to the sin bin, they were being outworked by a scrappy Seattle team. Especially early on, the Thunderbirds seemed to have the advantage in play.

“I didn’t really like our first period at all. They outworked us and they moved the puck. It wasn’t a pretty first period, but they seemed to be winning all the battles, the puck battles and everything else,” Truitt said. “We just needed to execute. We needed to raise our game and take a look to our older guys to push you through here. Obviously, I think that we got better in the third period, but we need to start on time.”

Brayden Watts scored on the Raiders’ third power play of the night in the third period, after they didn’t manage one shot on goal in both of their first two attempts.

In their first two games of the road trip, the Raiders have managed just two goals. Ozzy Wiesblatt scored with 13.9 seconds left in regulation on Saturday in Everett, in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Silvertips.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Thunderbirds, Simon Kubicek from Matthew Wedman and Andrej Kukuca (5-on-3 power play), 8:31

Second Period

2-0, Thunderbirds, Lucas Ciona from Kai Uchacz and Ryan Gottfried, 3:48

Third Period

2-1, Raiders, Brayden Watts from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Kaiden Guhle (power play), 13:17

3-1, Thunderbirds, Andrej Kukuca from Brendan Williamson (power play, empty net), 19:51

Allan to wear red maple leaf

On Monday, Raiders defenceman Nolan Allan was named to Canada Red to represent the Raiders at the World Under-17 Challenge Nov. 2-9 in Swift Current. Last year, Kaiden Guhle was on Canada Red and Ozzy Wiesblatt on Canada Black at last year’s tournament.

Keeping an eye on the WHL Cup

The best prospects in the WHL will be sharing the same ice this week, as the WHL Cup starts up in Calgary on Wednesday and runs into Sunday in Calgary.

The Raiders have four prospects playing, and they are spread out on each of the four participating teams.

Niall Crocker, the Raiders’ top pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft (first round, 22^nd overall), will be on Team B.C. Graydon Gotaas (second round, 44^th overall) will be a blueliner on Team Alberta and serve as one of the team’s assistant captains. Tre Fouquette (fourth round, 74^th overall), who also plays his Midget AAA for the Prince Albert Mintos, will represent Team Saskatchewan on their blueline. Bryce Warkentine (sixth round, 132^nd overall) will play for Team Manitoba up front.

Halfway through the trip

The Raiders are now just about halfway through their five-game American road trip. They take on the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday, take Thursday off before wrapping up the trip on Friday against the Tri-City Americans and Saturday against the Spokane Chiefs.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW