Raiders forward Reece Vitelli slips the shootout winner past Tigers goalie Beckett Langkow. (Submitted photo/Mark Peterson Media)

By Rob Mahon

Raiders Shootout Victory

Shooting gallery turns to shootout in Raiders win over Tigers

Oct 17, 2021 | 1:30 AM

In the game against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday, October 15, the Prince Albert Raiders mustered just 14 shots on goal and fell 4-1. They bettered that shot total in a single period against the Medicine Hat Tigers the next night.

Cale Sanders scored his first WHL goal and Ozzy Wiesblatt added another in regulation, while Kaiden Guhle and Reece Vitelli scored in the shootout to give the Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Tigers in extra time. Tigers goaltender Beckett Langkow stopped 37 of 39 shots he faced, while Oren Shtrom and Noah Danielson scored for them. Carter Serhyenko stopped 25 of 27 shots he faced.

“It was better,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “I don’t want to get choosy or anything. When you’ve got one win and now you’ve got two, it was the greatest game we’ve ever played.”

The game started out poorly for the Raiders, who gave up the opening goal to Shtrom just 1:27 in. Left alone in front, he outwaited Serhyenko as he moved left to right and tucked it home.

Little by little, however, the Raiders found their footing and they tightened up the shot clock, though they could not score in the first period. They roared out of the gate in the second, finally getting rewarded on a powerplay when Sanders tipped home a point shot by Remy Aquilon.

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“I thought that unit shouldn’t be, but they were our best power play unit,” Habscheid said. “It just goes to show, you stay in structure, you do the simple things, and you’ll get a chance to score. That was a nice tip. It’s not fun standing in front of the net, but you block a shot by accident and it goes in off of you, that feels pretty good pretty quickly.”

The Raiders felt even better by the end of the second, as with just 24 seconds to go Vitelli took a pass from Wiesblatt off the rush, fired it on goal, and left a juicy rebound for Wiesblatt to scoop up. The team’s leading scorer made no mistake to give them a late lead.

A powerplay that could’ve given the Raiders some breathing room in the third turned sour, however, as a giveaway at the line led to a breakaway for Danielson, who beat Serhyenko with a quick shot low-glove to tie the game. Overtime saw plenty of chances each way, including a breakaway for Vitelli, but the puck wouldn’t settle for him.

Redemption came quickly in the shootout for the veteran, however. After Guhle scored with a quick cut to the forehand, Vitelli went backhand to open up the five-hole on Langkow to seal the win, as Serhyenko stopped both shooters he faced.

The Raiders now have a few days off before travelling to Alberta to face the Lethbridge Hurricanes and have a rematch with the Tigers on Friday and Saturday.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP