Raiders forward Reece Vitelli drives the net against the Brandon Wheat Kings. (Submitted Photo/Lucas Punkari/Brandon Sun)

By Rob Mahon

Chaika's First WHL Win

Guhle strikes twice, Raiders edge Wheat Kings

Nov 28, 2021 | 8:58 AM

As unlikely as it may have seemed, Prince Albert Raiders captain Kaiden Guhle had no goals on the season entering play against the Brandon Wheat Kings on November 27. By the time the game was over, he had remedied that in dramatic fashion.

Guhle scored both goals and Tikhon Chaika stopped 23 of 24 shots he faced as the Raiders snapped their three-game losing streak with a 2-1 win. Nolan Ritchie scored the lone goal for the Wheat Kings, while Ethan Kruger stopped 33 of 35 shots he faced.

A recent string of impressive shot counts continued for the Raiders in the first period, drawing three penalties and outshooting the Wheat Kings 16 to five. Late in the first, the Raiders won an offensive zone draw on the power play back to Nolan Allan. With the power play having a new look, Allan sent it across to Guhle who sniped one over the shoulder of Kruger to make it 1-0.

Despite numerous chances, including a two-on-none for the Wheat Kings and two crossbars for the Raiders, the score remained 1-0 through the second. Midway through the third, the Wheat Kings dumped the puck out of their zone only to have it hit Tyson Zimmer in the foot before he got off and after another Wheat King had jumped on. Instead of blowing the play dead, however, the officials allowed play to continue, and in the confusion Ritchie broke into the zone and wired one high-blocker past Chaika.

That would be the last puck to get past the rookie, however, and it didn’t take the Raiders long to reply. Just two minutes later, Evan Herman broke into the zone one-on-one, but Guhle came up to join him as if shot out of a cannon. Herman waited perfectly and sent it out front to Guhle after his checker sprawled out. Guhle fought off his own backchecker and drove it past Kruger for what would prove to be the final goal of the game.

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At that point, the shots on goal were 32-16 for the Raiders. From there, the Wheat Kings pushed back, putting up eight more shots in the back half of the third period, by far their busiest offensive stretch of the night. Chaika stopped all eight, however, with help from his defensive group, who kept them to the outside.

The win is the second of the season for the Raiders in Brandon, and their second straight in the building. They travel to Winnipeg tomorrow to face the ICE. Puck drop is 5:00 on 101.5 Beach Radio.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP