Raiders goaltender Max Hildebrand celebrates Friday's win with forward Harrison Lodewyk. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nolan Kowal

Raiders win

Raiders begin season with shutout win over Moose Jaw

Sep 22, 2023 | 10:56 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders picked up right where they left off in the pre-season Friday night with a 4-0 shutout win over the Moose Jaw Warriors in their regular season opener at the Art Hauser Centre.

The game was extremely tight through the first 40 minutes, with defenceman Justice Christensen scoring a powerplay goal in the second period to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead heading into the third.

It was in the final period that the Raiders exploded offensively, with three goals in the first five minutes. Aiden Oiring, Krzysztof Macias, and Ryder Ritchie all found the net to blow the game wide open.

“We made a couple of changes and I think it allowed us to spread the ice out a little bit more and free our guys up a little bit more,” said Raiders Head Coach Jeff Truitt, alluding to the third period success. “I thought that worked quite well, and our penalty kill was outstanding…guys were blocking shots left, right, and centre.”

“We paid a price for it by blocking shots and that’s what you’re going to have to do.”

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Returning Raiders netminder Max Hildebrand made 28 saves to pick up the shutout in his season debut.

“Max Hildebrand stood tall for us,” Truitt said. “And we get the powerplay goal as well. There was a lot of things that we had to work for, but we got on the right side of the ledger for it.”

Friday’s announced attendance at the Art Hauser Centre was over 3,000 as the Raiders began the regular season at home for the third straight year.

Prince Albert has now won five straight games dating back to the beginning of the pre-season.

Next up for the Raiders is a Sunday afternoon showdown at 4:00 in Saskatoon against the Blades. You can catch all the action live on 900 CKBI.

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nolan.kowal@pattisonmedia.com