Raiders defenceman Kaiden Guhle is tangled with Tigers forward Jonathan Brinkman. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Gutsy Guhle

Raiders’ get gutsy game from Guhle in SO loss to Tigers

Jan 25, 2020 | 10:43 PM

Seeing as he’s the highest ranked prospect in the WHL for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, there’s been a lot of attention on Prince Albert Raider defenceman Kaiden Guhle. That attention looked more like a target at times throughout the Raiders’ 4-3 shootout defeat to the Medicine Hat Tigers, as Guhle took a beating but refused to take any time off to rest.

In the first period, Guhle ate an accidental high stick from Tigers forward Brett Kemp that cut his lip, leaving it swollen to the point that he almost didn’t come out for post-game interviews. Kemp got a double-minor on the play as it drew blood.

And in the third period, Guhle took a hard knee-on-knee collision from Tigers forward Lukas Svejkovsky, who was retaliating a hit he absorbed from Guhle earlier in the sequence.

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But even after all that, in a third period where the Raiders were trailing 3-2 and went the first 12 minutes without a shot on goal, Guhle still found a way to make an impact. He sidestepped Kemp at the blueline and tied the game up with 6:34 left in the regulation time.

“I don’t really want to take any shifts off,” Guhle said. “That’s not something that I like to do, my whole career. It’s just my mentality, I want to help the team win.”

Guhle has been doing that, scoring eight goals and 28 points this season. He was also named as Saturday’s first star. But it’s that kind of resiliency that really stands out to his team.

“That’s why he’ll get drafted in the first round and probably play thirty years in the NHL. He’s a good player,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “That was a dirty hit though. I hope the league takes a look at it, that was just a bad hit. We don’t want that type of hit in this game.”

Guhle’s goal eventually forced overtime, and then a shootout in which the Tigers prevailed 2-1 after three rounds. The Raiders are now 1-4 in the shootout on the season, but Habscheid didn’t seem overly concerned.

“Guys try, we practice and it’s one of those things,” Habscheid said. “I’ve never met a guy that doesn’t want to score, it just doesn’t go in. Ozzy [Wiesblatt] made a great play, but they got two. It’s just the way it is, a skills competition.”

Saturday was good enough to extend the Raiders’ point streak to eight straight games (4-0-2-2), dating back to the 5-3 win back in Winnipeg against the ICE. The Raiders are now tied with the ICE with 57 points for first place in the WHL East Division. The Tigers are in third in the WHL Central Division with 62 points (30-14-1-1).

Regina boys again

For the second straight game this weekend, Matthew Culling scored the Raiders’ first goal and Landon Kosior got the Raiders’ second goal.

For Kosior, that extends his goal-streak to three, as he also had a goal in last Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Red Deer Rebels.

Hamblin man

James Hamblin came into Saturday’s game with a 16-game point streak, the highest in the WHL this year. That came to an end on Saturday as the Raiders were able to hold him off the scoresheet. Hamblin did score in the opening round of the shootout though for the Tigers.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Tigers, Corson Hopwo from Daniel Baker and Parker Gavlas, 0:52

1-1, Raiders, Matthew Culling from Ilya Usau, 2:58

2-1, Raiders, Landon Kosior (power play, unassisted), 14:28

Second Period

2-2, Tigers, Daniel Baker from Baxter Anderson and Cyle McNabb, 17:23

Third Period

3-2, Tigers, Nick McCarry from Cyle McNabb, 1:58

3-3, Raiders, Kaiden Guhle from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Matthew Culling, 13:26

Overtime

No scoring.

Shootout

James Hamblin and Brett Kemp scored for the Tigers.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored for the Raiders.

Goalies

Raiders—Max Paddock, 30-33

Tigers—Mads Søgaard, 19-22

Homestand continues

The Raiders will play two more consecutive home games next week, Wednesday against the Victoria Royals and Friday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Then on Saturday, the Raiders will start a four-game road swing by playing the Swift Current Broncos.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW