Raiders defenceman Nolan Allan takes Pats captain Logan Nijhoff for a ride at the centre ice line. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Raiders Hockey

Regina rushes late to steal OT win over Raiders

Feb 18, 2022 | 10:11 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders had a 4-3 advantage over the Regina Pats, with four minutes left in the hockey game, and looked on their way to get two crucial points as both teams are scrapping for any point they can for the last playoff spot.

But they committed a critical, cardinal sin—getting caught in the offensive zone with the exceptional Connor Bedard on the ice. Both errors led to 2-on-1 rushes, both led to Pats goals, and ultimately, led to a 5-4 overtime defeat for the Raiders.

With 4:31 left in the regulation, Bedard flew up ice on the right-wing on the odd-man rush, shot it off the pads of Tikhon Chaika, and Cole Carrier scored the 4-4 goal on the rebound, before getting a misconduct.

Then in the 3-on-3 overtime, the Raiders sent both their forwards in the corner to dig for a loose puck, and Bedard broke free the other way, this time shooting for a goal and getting it just 24 seconds into the extra frame.

The Pats now take a one-point lead (38-37) in the WHL Eastern Conference standings and have played two less games than the Raiders (45-43).

Final numbers

Local RM results finalized

12h ago

Commitment

Hildebrand commits to Bemidji State in NCAA DI, first NCAA commitment in Raiders history

15h ago

Inflation

Rent inflation to slow in the next few years, Desjardins predicts

16h ago

“We’re not happy at all with that. We’re playing against the team with three games in hand fighting for the playoffs, we have four minutes to go there up one to get the two points, a huge two points, and we do that. It’s not good enough,” Raiders captain Reece Vitelli said.

Even though they are now 23 games left in the season, the Prince Albert Raiders had Friday’s game circled on the calendar as a big game. Both they and the Regina Pats were both five points back of the final playoff spot, as both teams are looking to sneak into the top eight.

It looked like they were going to get the two points and bounce ahead of the Pats, especially after Raiders’ Landon Kosior scored on the same 5-on-3 power play in the second period to give his team a 4-3 lead. They held that advantage until the 16-minute mark of the third period, but got caught up ice twice with the exceptional Connor Bedard on the ice, gave up two odd-man rushes, and fell 5-4 in overtime.

“We still got a lot of games left, but at the same time, these are four-point games against teams fighting for the same spot,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “They’ve got some games in hand, and this is a game we have to have. You have to have your best players rise to the occasion. Some of the reads just weren’t good enough tonight.”

A pair of former Pats teamed up to score the game’s first goal just 69 seconds into the game. Sloan Stanick picked the puck off in the neutral zone, found some room down the right side, and found Cale Sanders in front of the net for the tidy finish.

The Pats would tie the game 5:55 in, as Layton Feist would pick up the puck behind his own net and wheel all the way down the ice with time running out in a Pats’ power play. His inside-out move turned the Raiders around and he found the top corner with an accurate wrist shot.

The Raiders would regain their advantage late in the frame, as Ozzy Wiesblatt would centre the puck in front, Vladislav Shilo would be denied in front but Carson Latimer found the loose puck and pounded it in, giving the Raiders a 2-1 advantage after the first.

The Pats would take a 3-2 lead in the second period after a few long-range shots evaded Raiders’ goaltender Tikhon Chaika. Borya Valis converted quickly off a turnover on a 4-on-4 situation six minutes into the frame, before Prince Albert’s Tanner Howe scored his fifth goal against the Raiders this year from the left point just over a minute after.

But the Pats went down to a 5-on-3 penalty kill and didn’t get back to even strength without two back-to-back goals from Landon “the Closer” Kosior. Kosior quickly snapped home a one-timer on the two-man advantage from Reece Vitelli, before stepping into the hashmark and ripping one short side. That gave the Raiders a 4-3 advantage after 40 minutes.

But then came the Pats odd-man rushes, with Carrier at 15:29, and Bedard by himself in OT.

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Cale Sanders from Sloan Stanick, 1:09

1-1, Pats, Layton Feist from Stanislav Svozil, 5:55

2-1, Raiders, Carson Latimer from Vladislav Shilo and Ozzy Wiesblatt, 14:14

Second Period

2-2, Pats, Borya Valis from Stanislav Svozil, 5:51

3-2, Pats, Tanner Howe from Layton Feist, 7:02

3-3, Raiders, Landon Kosior from Reece Vitelli and Nolan Allan (power play), 16:07

4-3, Raiders, Landon Kosior from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Reece Vitelli (power play), 17:22

Third Period

4-4, Pats, Cole Carrier from Connor Bedard, 15:29

5-4, Pats, Connor Bedard (unassisted), 0:24

Shifting around

With all the previous postponements, the Raiders had to move around their schedule a little bit. The two-game set against Swift Current previously scheduled for Jan. 7-8 will be split up on March 16 at the Art Hauser Centre and April 15 in Swift. The Raiders will now play the Pats in Regina on April 9 (originally scheduled for Jan. 28), and will play the Brandon Wheat Kings on April 16 (originally scheduled for Jan. 29). The Raiders also moved one of their future games around as well, as they will head to Saskatoon to play the Blades on April 8 (switched from March 18).

Up next

The Raiders are back in action on Saturday, taking on the Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday. They won’t get much of a holiday break this weekend, as they will head over to Medicine Hat to take on the Tigers on Monday (a 1 p.m. Saskatchewan time), before facing the Calgary Hitmen at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Feb. 23, heading north to Red Deer on Feb. 25 to face the Rebels, heading even more north on Feb. 26 to take on the Edmonton Oil Kings, before getting back to Saskatchewan to face the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Friendly City. The Raiders will then finally play against at the Art Hauser Centre on March 4 when they host the Warriors.

Listen to Rob Mahon’s calls of the game on CKBI.

–

Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW