Raiders forward Ozzy Wiesblatt cuts to the middle of the ice and is met by Rebels forward Brett King. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D’Andrea

Raider Hockey

Raiders ‘exposed’ by Rebels according to coach Habscheid

Nov 12, 2021 | 9:49 PM

After Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings, Prince Albert Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid was proud of his team’s battle back into the game, credited his leaders, and hoped his team could build off what they had learned.

But after the Raiders lost by the same score to the Red Deer Rebels on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre, Habscheid did not echo his Wednesday thoughts. In fact, he went the opposite way and called out some of his veteran forwards. Although he didn’t mention any names, he said “it’s not hard to figure out” who he was referring to.

“We got exposed,” Habscheid said. “I didn’t like some of our older forwards and if you can’t depend on them, that’s not good. I thought Red Deer’s a good team. They’re big and heavy, and I thought some of our players were careful tonight, so to speak. And that’s not a good thing.”

Habscheid juggled his forward lines at times in the second period, before completely throwing them in the blender in the third to both get some jump and to reward those that were “playing the right way.” Hayden Pakkala, who scored in his second straight game, and rookie Harrison Lodewyk, saw a big increase in playing time. Players like Ozzy Wiesblatt, who returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game, saw less.

It didn’t look too bad for the Raiders early on, as Pakkala crashed the net and put home a nice pass from behind the net from Zachary Wilson 6:41 into the first period.

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But the Rebels went on to score four straight goals. Blake Gustafson crept in from the point and let a quick wrist shot to tie it up halfway through the first, then Ben King beat Carter Serhyenko with a low shot seven seconds into a power play to have a 2-1 lead after the first period.

The Rebels would get two more, as Jace Weir’s long-range shot would chase Serhyenko from the game for the first time this season. Serhyenko surrendered three goals on 16 shots.

Shortly after Tikhon Chaika was inserted into the game, he had to deal with a Ben King breakaway. King scored his second of the game, and 12^th of the season (tied for second in WHL goals).

Nolan Allan would give the Raiders some life, as he went bar down after joining the rush with 22.9 seconds remaining in the second period. Vladislav Shilo cut over the blueline and dropped it for Red Deer product Harrison Lodewyk, who found Allan in the slot. Lodewyk registered his first WHL point on the play, against his hometown club.

That’s as close as they would come as the Raiders were held scoreless in the third period. Even though Steve Konowalchuk took over as the head coach for Brent Sutter, the Rebels still fell back into their trademark trap to negate the Raiders’ attack.

Raiders captain Kaiden Guhle played in his 150th career game, and Landon Kosior entered the 100-game club on Friday as well. But instead of celebrating a win on a milestone night, Guhle was left wanting his team to get back to starting games a lot quicker and putting pressure on their opposition early.

“Our first periods, we’re coming out flat and we’re giving them momentum for the whole game,” Guhle said. “We have to come out in the first period and do better.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Hayden Pakkala from Zachary Wilson and Kaiden Guhle, 6:41

1-1, Rebels, Blake Gustafson from Arshdeep Bains and Jhett Larson, 11:55

2-1, Rebels, Ben King from Kai Uchacz (power play), 14:56

Second Period

3-1, Rebels, Jace Weir from Christoffer Sedoff and Kyle Masters, 6:06

4-1, Ben King from Jhett Larson, 8:38

4-2, Raiders, Nolan Allan from Harrison Lodewyk and Vladislav Shilo, 19:37

Third Period

No scoring.

Up next

The Raiders will travel to Swift Current to take on the Broncos. That will be part of a four-game road swing, as the Raiders will then play the Edmonton Oil Kings on Nov. 19, the Rebels again on Nov. 20 and the Moose Jaw Warriors on Nov. 24.

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW