Evan Herman drives home his second of what would be three goals against the Winnipeg ICE. (Submitted Photo/Mark Peterson Media)

By Rob Mahon

Herman Strikes Thrice

Herman the hat trick hero as Raiders Overcome ICE

Dec 15, 2021 | 8:38 AM

Losses have been few and far between for the Winnipeg ICE this season, but the Prince Albert Raiders have handed them two now after a victory at the Art Hauser Centre. This time, they didn’t need overtime to do it.

Evan Herman scored three times and Tikhon Chaika turned aside 27 of 28 shots he faced as the Raiders won their fifth game out of their last seven by a 4-1 count. Landon Kosior also scored, while Owen Pederson provided the lone tally for Winnipeg.

A vocal Raiders crowd got their first reason to cheer in the opening period when Harrison Lodewyk won a faceoff inside the Winnipeg zone. Nolan Allan collected the puck and slid it across to the right point for Kosior, whose seeing-eye shot found the back of the cage and broke the ice.

On their first man advantage of the game, the Raiders built on that goal. Though Winnipeg held them to the outside at first, Allan hit Herman with a breakaway pass in the back half of the power play, and the 19-year-old broke into the clear, firing a shot past the blocker of Gage Alexander to make it a 2-0 game.

Winnipeg pushed back and got what would prove to be their only goal of the game before the first period was out. Connor McClennon drove the net off a saucer pass from Matthew Savoie, and while the quick left pad of Chaika stopped him, he fought for his rebound and, after some lively bounces, chopped it on goal. Before it hit the ice, Pederson swatted it home to make it a 2-1 game.

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That, however, was as close as Winnipeg got, despite three power plays in the second period and a 5-on-3 that was cut short when the Raiders drew a penalty of their own. At even strength, Herman struck again. He fed the puck from the left wing to the right side of the net for Carson Latimer, and while Latimer was stopped, Herman had all the time he needed to corral the rebound and stuff it home.

By the third period, Winnipeg was showing some more signs of desperation and fought hard to tie the score. The Raiders showed no hesitation blocking shots, however, and when pucks did get through Chaika was there with steady saves. With the net empty, Kosior flipped the puck out to centre for Herman to track down, and the speedy forward did to complete the hat trick and seal the win.

With the win, the Raiders move to 2-1 on the year against Winnipeg and improve to 5-1-1 in their last seven. They wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule with a home-and-home with Saskatoon, starting on Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP