Raiders forward Oli Chenier celebrates one of his three goals against the Vancouver Giants last season. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

BC Road Trip Games 4 and 5

Raiders gearing up for final two games in BC

Oct 17, 2024 | 6:09 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders have officially crossed the halfway mark of their road swing in British Columbia, getting there with a 5-2 win over the Kamloops Blazers on Tuesday. The team traveled to Victoria Wednesday, and they’ll have one day to practice before they take on the Victoria Royals on Friday, and the Vancouver Giants on Saturday.

Heading into Friday’s matchup, the Raiders have scored at least four goals in their last three games, having snapped a six game losing streak in their most recent game with the Kelowna Rockets. They currently sit last in the Eastern Conference with a 2-4-2 record through their first eight games.

The Victoria Royals are also eight games into the season with a 5-1-1-1 record, good for fifth in the Western Conference and second in the B.C. Division. The Royals have played three straight games against the Wenatchee Wild, winning the first on the road 3-0, losing 4-3 at home in a shootout, and then winning the next night at home 6-3.

Looking at the goal differentials, the Raiders are still being outscored by their opponents 35-29 so far for a -6 differential, but if you look closer at the numbers you find that the Raiders have still outscored their opponents in the first and third periods overall 8-7 and 12-9 respectively. While the second period has been a problem with the Raiders being outscored 17-9 over the course of the season, the Raiders have outscored their opponents 7-6 during the B.C. road swing. Victoria has outscored their opponents 31-24 so far this season for a +7 differential.

On special teams, the Raiders powerplay went 2/2, both goals scored in the third period, bringing their powerplay up to ninth in the league at 23.7 per cent compared to the Royals who sit 19.4 per cent for 16th in the league. On the penalty kill, Raiders barely hold the edge at 74.4 per cent so far, tied with the Red Deer Rebels for 14th in the league, with the Royals right behind that at 74.3 per cent.

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While Aiden Oiring continues to lead the Raiders in points, he’s now in a three way tie with Tomas Mrsic and Niall Crocker who all sit at ten points on the season, Mrsic with 5G-5A, while Oiring and Crocker both have 3G-7A. Krzyzstof Macias has posted a goal in each of his two games since his return.

As for the Royals, they’re lead by 2007 born centre Cole Reschny who has 1G-9A-10P on the season through eight games, followed by 2005 born forward Teydon Trembecky with 2G-7A-9P and overage forward Tanner Scott with 5G-3A-8P.

In goal, Max Hildebrand’s 37 saves on 39 shots on Tuesday have brought him back above a 0.900 save percentage at 0.901, good for a 2-3-2 record. Cooper Anderson has not played since September 28 against the Swift Current Broncos where he went 0.773.

The Royals have played 2006 born goaltender Jayden Strauss in six games so far this season, and his 0.902 save percentage has helped his team to 3-1-1-1 when he’s in net, while Spencer Michnik, also a 2006 born goaltender, is 2-0 through three games played with a 0.937 save percentage.

Moving on to Saturday’s matchup with the Vancouver Giants, they sit 5-4 through nine games, good for third in the B.C. Division. They played Monday against the Edmonton Oil Kings where they lost 5-4, but won their previous matchup 5-2 in Medicine Hat.

The Giants have also given up 37 goals while scoring the same, averaging 4.1 goals a game.

Vancouver will come in with the best powerplay in the league sitting at 31.6 per cent, a full 3.5 per cent ahead of Lethbridge behind them, but their penalty kill has been a different story at 17th in the league at 73.0 per cent.

Cameron Schmidt leads the league in goals and leads the Giants in points with 11G-4A-15P in nine games, while 2005 born defenceman Mazden Leslie and 2008 born forward Ryan Lin both have 11 points with 3G-8A-11P and 0G-11A-11P respectively.

Finally looking at their goaltending tandem, 2007 born rookie Burke Hood has played in four games with a 0.865 save percentage and a 1-2 record, while 2006 born Matthew Hutchinson’s 0.898 save percentage has been good enough for a 4-2 record.

The Raiders will battle the Royals on Friday at 8:00 p.m. Saskatchewan time, with the pregame show on 900 CKBI starting at 7:30 p.m. As for Saturday’s action against the Giants, it will start at the same time the following night.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com