Raiders defenceman Terrell Goldsmith lowers his shoulder to take down Hitmen forward David Adaszynski. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Raiders Hockey

Raiders snap the skid with big win over the Hitmen, Colonel stays hot, Chai-T breaks Raider record

Feb 8, 2022 | 10:11 PM

Prince Albert Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid wanted his team to be a lot more disciplined and believed his team could get out of their six-game losing streak if they refrained from taking needless penalties and stayed out of the box.

He got his wish on Tuesday in the Raiders’ 5-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen. The Raiders did not take a penalty until nearly the 38th minute of the game, and awarded the Hitmen just three man advantages throughout the game.

Even when they did take penalties, they were still able to score as Cale Sanders scored a shorthanded goal nine minutes into the third period to make it a 4-2 Raider lead.

Sanders has been absolutely red hot lately. That key shorthanded goal was his second of the game and his fourth in his last two games.

“Obviously it could have been a tie game, then all of a sudden it’s a two-goal swing, really. Sanders has played well, he’s smart,” Habscheid said. “He’s not going to win any fastest skater awards but he’s smart and makes up for it with his hockey IQ and good puck decisions.”

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The win gives the Raiders (16-24-1-1) 34 points on the season, three back of the Swift Current Broncos (16-23-4-1, 37 points) for eighth place in the WHL Eastern Conference playoff race. The Hitmen are 18-16-5-2 with 43 points and remain in the seventh spot.

“It was a well-needed win to get us in the playoffs. We’ve just been battling the past six or seven games, and I’ve found in the past three, we’ve been battling really good. I knew at some point we would turn it around,” Sanders said.

Chai-T

Tikhon Chaika officially broke the Raiders’ franchise record for most consecutive appearances made by a goaltender with 24. Rejean Beauchemin played the first 23 games of the 2003-04 season, the same year Chaika was born. Chaika capped it off by stopping 30 of 32 Hitmen shots for the victory, his 10th of the season.

“It’s really hard mentally to play every game, but if you’re playing a great team like this, if you believe all your coaches, it’s no big deal for me. I just try my best all the time,” Chaika said.”

Chaika has been the Raiders’ workhorse and their lone constant in the crease after the departures of Carter Serhyenko, and the additions and subsequent substractions of Ronin Geraghty and Cole Tisdale.

“”[Chaika’s] been insane the last couple months with his rebound control and his second efforts. He’s been keeping us in games so we need that,” Sanders said.

Scoring Summary

The Hitmen came out flying and had the better of the play, and were able to hem the Raiders in their own zone for stretches. They were rewarded 13 minutes into the frame when Brandon Whynott opened the scoring after Anton Astashevic turned to find Whynott with a nice reverse pass.

That seemed to wake the Raiders up, who at one point were down 12-3 in the shot count, they ended the period at a 14-11. Tayem Gislason would tie the game up with 2:46 remaining in the opening frame after a great pass from Reece Vitelli. Vitelli and Carson Latimer teamed up in the corner to win a long battle for the puck.

The Raiders then got the go-ahead in the second period, with Cale Sanders scoring his third goal in his last two games, after a strange play. The Raiders were on the forecheck and Hitmen defenceman Matthew Sutter remained down on the ice after getting tied up in the corner. Within a few seconds of the contact, Hayden Pakkala was able to set up Sanders in front for the go-ahead goal.

The Raiders wanted a more disciplined effort after their recent parades to the sin bin in recent games. It took them over 37 minutes to take their first penalty, but the Hitmen needed just 13 seconds with the man-advantage to score. Blake Stevenson ties it up on the third rebound after Tikhon Chaika made two acrobatic saves.

The Raiders knew they needed to win the third period to win the game,

Keaton Sorensen would give the Raiders the advantage and finished off a lovely tic-tac-toe play with Carson Latimer and captain Reece Vitelli, before Sanders’ shorthanded goal to seal it. Landon “the Closer” Kosior jumped on a stretch pass and filled the empty net late.

First Period

1-0, Hitmen, Brandon Whynott from Anton Astashevic, 13:16

1-1, Raiders, Tayem Gislason from Reece Vitelli, 17:14

Second Period

2-1, Raiders, Cale Sanders from Hayden Pakkala, 6:53

2-2, Hitmen, Blake Stevenson from Riley Fidder-Schultz and Sean Tschigerl (power play), 17:39

Third Period

3-2, Raiders, Keaton Sorensen from Carson Latimer and Reece Vitelli, 4:59

4-2, Raiders, Cale Sanders (shorthanded, unassisted), 8:59

5-2, Raiders, Landon Kosior (unassisted, empty net), 18:32

No Ozzy

The dynamic Raiders forward Ozzy Wiesblatt missed the fifth of his last six games due to an upper-body injury suffered back on Jan. 17 in a 7-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. Wiesblatt missed the following four games, then returned and scored the Raiders’ lone goal in a 2-1 loss to the Rebels on Feb. 4. Wiesblatt has since missed the last two contests from the Raiders. Even with the absences, Wiesblatt still leads the team with 31 points.

Up next

The Raiders are offering a fan bus package for their contest on Friday in Moose Jaw. Tickets are $65 and include admission to the game, transportation to and from Prince Albert, snacks on the bus and a $15 concession voucher at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw.

Check out Rob Mahon’s call of every Raider game on CKBI, with pre-game coverage starting at 6:30 p.m.

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW