Raiders forward Ilya Usau finds some room in the middle of the ice against the Oil Kings on Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders and Oil Kings

Raiders out-dueled in shootout by Oil Kings, Vitelli clutch again late

Jan 11, 2020 | 10:32 PM

Although the Prince Albert Raiders didn’t come away with the full two points on Saturday, but it still looks like they’ve steadied their ship. After going winless in an eight-game stretch from Dec. 13 to Jan. 4, the Raiders have now picked up at least one point in each of their last four games .

That includes pushing the Edmonton Oil Kings, the top-ranked WHL team that won five of their last six games, to a shootout before eventually falling 3-2 Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders now sit at 22-14-5-2 on the year and are tied with the Winnipeg ICE for top spot in the WHL East Division. The Oil Kings move up to 29-7-5-3.

Oil Kings forward and draft eligible Jake Neighbours scored a shorthanded goal in the third period and the winner in the shootout.

“We lost in a skills competition, so I’m not too upset about that. What I like is the guys aren’t happy that they lost. It doesn’t matter if it’s a shootout or not, but they’re thinking the right way,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “I liked our play. [Edmonton] pushed in the second for 10 minutes and they outplayed us for that time. Other than that, it was pretty even. I liked the way we played, we could have easily won that game.”

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Raiders newcomer Max Paddock again was a big storyline for the Raiders. He singlehandedly held the Raiders in the game through at least the first two periods of play. He made 34 saves on 36 shots through 65 minutes of the game. The Oil Kings started to take over in the second period, and had the Raiders penned in their own zone off and on for about a 10-minute stretch. But Paddock was able to shut the door and keep the game close, earning his second straight first star of the game.

“He’s been huge. He kept us in it in those 10 minutes in the second,” Raiders defenceman Kaiden Guhle said. “It’s really, really nice to have a good goaltender back there, it gets your confidence up. Not only is he a good goaltender, he’s a good guy too which we love to see and have in our locker room.”

Saturday marked the second straight game that Raider forward Reece Vitelli was a part of a clutch, game-changing play. He tied the game up with 7.3 seconds left to give the Raiders a point and force overtime. On Friday, he set up Matthew Culling right in front of the Prince George Cougars’ net for the 2-1 overtime winning goal.

“Today, I just went to the net and got a fortunate bounce off my skate, it popped up and it went in. But it’s definitely huge getting the opportunity at the end of games and during overtime to help the team win. It’s definitely fun,” Vitelli said. “Being put out there is an honour and not a privilege.”

Habscheid was impressed with how Vitelli, Culling and Evan Herman have come together and form a formidable energy line.

“That whole line, I liked them,” Habscheid said. “We talked to them a bit this morning, they’re good players and we expect more. You saw it, I thought they were probably our best line tonight. They were quick, they were fast on the puck and Reece is a big part of that.”

Another player who was able to make a big impact was captain Zack Hayes. Hayes demolished Neighbours and then Carter Souch with devastating body checks at the Oil Kings’ blue line on the same shift, then got the puck on net on Vitelli’s tying goal.

“He was like a bowling ball out there, he was probably trying to hit you next too,” Habscheid said. “He was good. That’s what a captain does. Guys came up to him and he was ready to go, and that was that. It was a playoff atmosphere, you could tell.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Oil Kings, Vladimir Alistrov from Brendan Kuny, 3:22

1-1, Raiders, Aliaksei Protas from Brayden Watts and Ozzy Wiesblatt, 6:21

Second Period

No scoring.

Third Period

2-1, Oil Kings, Jake Neighbours from Jalen Luypen (shorthanded), 5:42

2-2, Raiders, Reece Vitelli from Zack Hayes and Aliaksei Protas, 19:52

Overtime

No scoring.

Shootout winner

Jake Neighbours, second round

Rematch next week

The Raiders will head over to Rogers Place for a rematch with the Oil Kings on Friday. The Raiders will then stick around in Alberta for a Saturday game against the Red Deer Rebels.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW