Raiders forward Aliaksei Protas and Rebels forward Josh Tarzwell battle for a loose puck. File photo/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders Hockey

Rebels get the better of the Raiders in a shootout

Jan 18, 2020 | 11:23 PM

The Red Deer Rebels may be on the outside looking in on the WHL playoff race, but they sure have been a thorn in the Prince Albert Raiders’ side this year.

The Rebels beat the Raiders 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday at the Westerner Park Centrium in Red Deer, and won three of the four head-to-head games against the Raiders this season. With the win, the Rebels are still 12 points out of a playoff spot at 15-23-2-3, while the Raiders are one point back of first place in the WHL East Division at 23-14-5-3.

For the Raiders, that’s their fifth straight game that went to overtime, giving them a six-game points streak (3-0-1-2).

“We gotta get our big boys to stand up and contribute in games like this, and not play to team’s levels,” Raiders assistant coach Jeff Truitt said. “They bottled us up, but we have to battle through that. That comes through work and hockey sense and smarts. We have to capitalize more and not give up as many.”

The Raiders had a 3-1 lead, 1:24 into the third period when Eric Pearce banged in his third of the season. But the Rebels, like they have throughout the year against the Raiders, refused to go away.

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Keaton Sorensen made it 3-2, 1:14 after, and Zak Smith scored his second of the game just shy of the six-minute mark to tie it up at 3-3. After overtime solved nothing, Josh Tarzwell and Ben King both scored in the shootout for the Rebels, while Ozzy Wiesblatt and Ilya Usau missed their opportunities.

For the first time since he’s been a Raider, Max Paddock got the night off as the goaltending duties were given to rookie Carter Serhyenko. Serhyenko, who attended camp with the Rebels, stopped 24 of 27 shots that came his way. He made some big time saves on Chris Douglas late in overtime as well, to give the Raiders a chance in the extra frame.

“He hasn’t played in a while, but as the game went on, he got better and better—square to the puck,” Truitt said of Serhyenko. “He was making good decisions and he was helping us out. There were some times that they had traffic on us, and he caught the puck. There were no second opportunities. I thought he got better during the game.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Landon Kosior, 5:07

Second Period

1-1, Rebels, Zak Smith from Jace Isley and Chris Douglas, 8:50

2-1, Raiders, Landon Kosior from Brayden Watts, 19:22

Third Period

3-1, Raiders, Eric Pearce from Reece Vitelli, 1:24

3-2, Rebels, Keaton Sorensen from Dallon Melin, 2:38

3-3, Rebels, Zak Smith from Arshdeep Bains and Ben King (power play), 5:54

Big time weekend

The Raiders will take on two of the top teams in the WHL Central Division at home next weekend. They’ll take on the first place Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday to conclude their season series, then will play the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW