Raiders goaltender Keegan Karki scrambles to keep the puck out of the net. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders and Rebels

Raiders out-dueled by the Rebels in overtime

Jan 7, 2020 | 10:23 PM

Even after the Prince Albert Raiders shuffled around their goaltenders, the results still seem to be the same.

Raiders goaltender Keegan Karki, who came over from the Everett Silvertips on Friday night, made his first start at the Art Hauser Centre but surrendered six goals on 24 shots in a 6-5 overtime defeat to the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday.

“Six goals on 24 shots isn’t going to cut it… those two goals to make it 5-3, they weren’t good at all,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said, before drawing to the fact about a possible missed icing call before the Rebels scored to make it 4-3. “But that was an icing for sure. They wave it off and it’s a missed call. Now they get one, momentum, 5-3. We battle back to tie it, but they got it in overtime. But five goals was enough to win.”

The Raiders were happy with Karki’s previous two appearances for the team in Winnipeg. He entered Saturday’s game 68 seconds in, despite spending all day travelling from Prince George to make it in time. Then he got the 5-3 win on Sunday to pull the Raiders out of an eight-game winless streak. Raiders assistant coach Jeff Truitt thought Karki was calm and in control throughout the weekend. The story was a little bit different on Tuesday.

“It just seemed like there were a lot of pucks in front of him, just bounced off and sat in front,” Habscheid said. “It’s just got to be better.”

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Since Dec. 14, the Raiders have had just one game where their goaltenders have delivered a save percentage of over .900, and that was in the 1-0 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Jan. 3. Boston Bilous, who was moved on Tuesday morning to the Moose Jaw Warriors, made 20 saves on 21 shots that night.

But as much as the Raiders goaltenders have struggled, their teammates have at times in front of them. That came at the start of the third period. The Raiders came out sluggish and surrendered three consecutive goals in the first 12 minutes of the period. Josh Tarzwell scored 56 seconds in and the Rebels registered the first six shots of the period and forced the Raiders to burn their timeout.

“I thought we had a good first and second period, obviously. But the third period, we have to have a better start,” Raiders forward Justin Nachbaur said. “That just comes from everyone in the room. We just have to be prepared for the third, the game’s not over until it’s over.”

Nachbaur was one of the Raiders brightest spots in the game, as he scored the 5-5 goal on the power play to force overtime, while adding a pair of assists. He was also named as the game’s first star. The Raiders coaches liked his performance over the weekend in Winnipeg, and put him back up front with Aliaksei Protas and Spencer Moe, and even a bit in overtime as well.

“I think I’m just trying to do my job, go to the net, forecheck hard and give them the puck as much as I can,” Nachbaur said. “That’s what I got to be doing consistently. They’re very good players, and I’m just trying hard to stay up there.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Jeremy Masella from Justin Nachbaur, 12:19

1-1, Rebels, Christoffer Sedoff from Arshdeep Bains and Ben King (power play), 19:16

Second Period

2-1, Raiders, Spencer Moe from Justin Nachbaur and Aliaksei Protas, 4:10

2-2, Rebels, Chris Douglas from Ben King, 7:40

3-2, Raiders, Evan Herman from Landon Kosior, 11:41

Third Period

3-3, Rebels, Josh Tarzwell from Ethan Sakowich and Cameron Hausinger, 0:56

4-3, Rebels, Arshdeep Bains from Dawson Barteaux and Ben King, 11:33

5-3, Rebels, Ethan Sakowich from Chris Douglas and Ben King, 12:12

5-4, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Brayden Watts and Ozzy Wiesblatt, 14:14

5-5, Raiders, Justin Nachbaur from Kaiden Guhle and Landon Kosior (power play), 16:35

Overtime

6-5, Rebels, Arshdeep Bains from Dawson Barteaux and Jayden Grubbe, 2:45

Cougars and Kings coming up

The Raiders will prepare for two home games this weekend, taking on the Prince George Cougars on Friday and the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW