Tomas Mrsic of the Raiders puts a hit on Marcus Ngyuen of the Wheat Kings at centre ice. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Season series 1-0 Wheat Kings

Raiders and Wheat Kings set to meet for second time

Nov 9, 2024 | 12:52 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders earned a big bounceback win in their last action on Tuesday against the Regina Pats, and have been resting ever since. With four home games in a row looming, the longest stretch of home games so far this season, the Raiders will do battle Saturday night with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Wheat Kings are coming off a matchup with the Regina Pats as well, just last night where the Wheat Kings won 5-2, extending their winning streak to three games and their point streak to six. The Raiders and Wheat Kings have met once so far this season, a 4-1 win for Brandon in the Art Hauser Centre back in September.

The Raiders are slowly clawing their way out of the bottom of the Eastern Conference, currently sitting 8-12-2 on the season and five points behind the Calgary Hitmen for the final playoff spot. The Raiders have won three of their last four games, the lone exception being a poor effort at home against Swift Current.

As for the Wheat Kings, they’re last loss in regulation was a road game on October 12 in Lethbridge. Since then, they’ve won five of their next six games with the lone loss to Saskatoon in overtime breaking up the winning streak. The Wheat Kings sit fourth in the Eastern Conference at 9-4-1-1.

The Raiders offence has been the driving force for their recent success. They’ve only scored less than four goals in a game once in the last month, averaging 3.4 goals per game on the season, but that number goes to 4.4 in their last nine games. With 51 goals for and 67 goals against on the season, the Raiders goal differential sits at -16.

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The Wheat Kings have 53 goals for and league best 41 goals against, good for a +12 differential, averaging just over 3.5 goals per game. Looking at the last month of games for the Wheat Kings since October 9, the Wheat Kings are averaging just under 2.9 goals per game in their last eight games.

The Raiders powerplay could still be a difference maker in the game, now sitting at 28.4 per cent on the year and tied with the Portland Winterhawks for the third place spot in the league, while their penalty kill is tied for third last in the league at 69.5 per cent. The Wheat Kings are almost the exact opposite with the fourth ranked penalty kill in the league at 80.7 per cent, but the fourth worst powerplay at 17.2 per cent.

Niall Crocker was held off the scoresheet against Regina, but his eight points in the three games prior bring him to a team leading 7G-12A-19P. With seven of his eight goals on the powerplay this season, Tomas Mrsic leads the league in powerplay goals with 8G-9A-17P, and Lukas Dragicevic’s 11 assists on the powerplay also lead the league. Dragicevic and Aiden Oiring are also tied for second in team scoring with 1G-16A-17P and 6G-11A-17P respectively.

Marcus Nguyen leads the Wheat Kings with 8G-10A-18P on the season so far, followed by Nolan Flamand at 6G-9A-15P, and Matteo Michels with 4G-9A-13P. Roger McQueen has not played since October 11, but has 8G-3A-11P in eight games this season.

Now to goaltending, Max Hildebrand has played in 14 games so far this season for the Raiders, and would’ve seen a jump to his save percentage if it wasn’t for one of the unluckiest goals you’ll ever see against Regina on Tuesday. He sits with a 5-6-2 record and a 0.894 save percentage. Cooper Anderson has made it into four games this season with a 0-2 record and an 0.802 save percentage.

The Wheat Kings goaltending tandem is a force to be reckoned with whoever they put in net. Carson Bjarnason has the top save percentage in the league at 0.924 per cent, and Ethan Eskit is tied for second in the league at 0.923. The two goaltenders have split their games so far this season, Bjarnason starting eight games for a 4-3-1 record including one shutout, while Eskit has played seven games for a 5-1-0-1 record.

The Raiders take on the Brandon Wheat Kings at 7 p.m., and Nick Nielsen will have all the action for you on 101.5 Beach Radio with the pregame show starting at 6:30 p.m. tonight.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com