Raiders forward Vladislav Shilo skates by the check from Broncos defender Chase Lacombe. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D’Andrea

Raider Hockey

‘Sleepy’ Raiders awaken halfway through game to steal a point from Broncos

Dec 7, 2021 | 10:20 PM

The Swift Current Broncos scrambled to get to the Art Hauser Centre on Tuesday, and arrived at the rink just 30 minutes before warmups. They were forced to switch team busses at the last minute due to mechanical problems.

But it was the Prince Albert Raiders that looked to be scrambling on the ice.

They were down 2-0 after the first period and 4-1 midway through the second period, before roaring all the way back and making it a 4-4 game.

Josh Davies ended the game in overtime after poking a bouncing puck past the otherwise excellent Ozzy Wiesblatt and won the game for the Broncos 5-4.

Despite the unlikely comeback to at least salvage a point, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid considered his team lucky to come away with anything with how lethargic he thought his team was at times.

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“Didn’t like a lot of it. I thought we were real sleepy to start off. A lot of our guys weren’t ready to play,” Habscheid said. “Swift Current came in late, give them credit. But we’ve won three in a row and all of a sudden we’re getting a parade route ready. That’s how a lot of our guys played. That’s disappointing.

“We said this was a trap game. Swift Current was ahead of us in the standings. We had guys that didn’t even know it was 4-on-4, didn’t realize what the situation was. Just sleeping on plays. It was not good. We were fortunate to get a point.”

The Raiders were down 4-1 after goals from Caleb Wyrostok, Grayson Burzynski’s first career goal, Sam McGinley’s pinball special and Owen Pickering’s 4-on-4 dazzler. The Raiders also drew a five-minute major kneeing penalty from Wyrostok, but took penalties to largely negate the major power play.

They came back in big part to Ozzy Wiesblatt’s line, joined by the Raiders’ top forward acquisitions this year in Sloan Stanick and Carson Latimer. All three scored one goal, with Wiesblatt adding a pair of assists while Stanick and Latimer each had one helper. Cale Sanders scored the tying goal in the third period, his third goal in his last two games.

“Carson’s very fast, good shot, pretty smart as well and Ozzy is an all-around great player, he went first round for a reason,” Stanick said. “It’s great playing with those guys, we’re creating offence together.”

The Broncos (10-12-2-1) have now won three straight games and four out of their last five. The Raiders were on a three-game winning streak before the overtime defeat, and are now 9-12-1-1 in the 2021-22 WHL season.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Broncos, Caleb Wyrostok from Chase Lacombe and Brady Birnie, 9:31

2-0, Broncos, Grayson Burzynksi from Cole Nagy, 11:39

Second Period

3-0, Broncos, Sam McGinley from Josh Davies and Cole Nagy, 1:09

3-1, Raiders, Sloan Stanick from Carson Latimer and Ozzy Wiesblatt, 1:38

4-1, Broncos, Owen Pickering from Josh Filmon and Mathew Ward, 10:21

4-2, Raiders, Ozzy Wiesblatt from Landon Kosior and Sloan Stanick, 12:31

Third Period

4-3, Raiders, Carson Latimer from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Nolan Allan, 0:45

4-4, Raiders, Cale Sanders from Tayem Gislason and Landon Kosior, 8:55

Overtime

5-4, Broncos, Josh Davies (unassisted), 2:11

Where’s Johnny?

Raiders newcomer Eric Johnston missed Tuesday’s game against the Broncos as he served a one-game suspension. Johnston received supplemental discipline for his knee-on-knee hit last Friday on Cole Dubinsky in the Raiders’ 5-2 win over the Regina Pats.

Next up

The Raiders will get back into action this weekend when they take on the Regina Pats Friday at the Brandt Centre in Regina. The Raiders will head back home in time for Saturday’s 7 p.m. contest against the Calgary Hitmen at the Art Hauser Centre.

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Jeff.dandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW