Ozzy Wienblatt battles through a faceoff in Winnipeg against the ICE.

By Rob Mahon

Raiders Break ICE

Home ICE: Raiders sweep Manitoba road trip with overtime win

Nov 29, 2021 | 7:55 AM

Entering play against the Prince Albert Raiders, the Winnipeg ICE were the top ranked team in the CHL and had not lost a game on home ice. When the game ended, the Raiders had ruined their unbeaten streak and sent a sellout crowd home unhappy.

Sloan Stanick scored the overtime winner, while fellow Manitobans Evan Herman and Reece Vitelli also scored, along with Landon Kosior, and Tikhon Chaika stopped 33 of 36 shots he faced. The ICE got goals from Matthew Savoie, Conor Geekie, and Mikey Milne, while Daniel Hauser stopped 21 of 24 shots he faced.

Despite a good start, the Raiders fell behind after the first, with Savoie snapping one home from the top of the right circle on the power play and Geekie driving the net at even strength before cutting to the forehand and tucking it home to make it 2-0. Early in the second, after good pressure by the Raiders, Milne and Jakin Smallwood broke up the ice two-on-one and executed it well, with Milne tapping home the feed across the grain from Smallwood.

There was no quit in the Raiders despite the three-goal deficit, however, and their pushback began just 1:37 later. Taking advantage of the long change, Ozzy Wiesblatt spotted Herman looking for a breakaway pass, and Herman busted into the clear, dekeing out Hauser with a backhand-forehand move and slipping home the first for Prince Albert.

Exactly a minute later, the Raider comeback continued. This time, it was two-on-none as the Raiders again caught Winnipeg on a bad change. Keaton Sorenson and Vitelli worked the puck and forth just like they were running a drill at practice, with Vitelli potting the goal from the right side of the net.

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It took four-on-four play to get the Raiders back to a tie game, as Kosior chipped the puck to himself and drove into the zone, picking it up at the right circle and firing a wicked snapshot past Hauser to tie the game.

All third period long, the ICE pressed, including Geekie hitting a crossbar. But no one found the go ahead goal and the Raiders managed to keep the ICE from getting too many high-calibre chances. When the puck got through, Chaika stood tall.

Overtime brought tense moments, as three-on-three often does, including a full two minutes of ICE power play. Despite the advantage and Winnipeg’s considerable power play prowess, the Raiders killed off the minor to Guhle. On the very next faceoff after it expired, Stanick took the puck and broke away two-on-one. Electing to keep for the shot, he picked the glove-side corner to end the game.

With the win, the Raiders take all four possible points from their brief Manitoba road trip. They return home to face the Regina Pats on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow