The Cobra Chickens celebrate one of their five goals as they route the Regina Pats. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win 5-0

Cobra Chickens defend nest against Pats

Nov 24, 2024 | 10:11 AM

With the second annual rebrand to the ‘Lake Country Cobra Chickens’, the Prince Albert Raiders welcome the Regina Pats to the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday night for the fourth meeting of the season for the two clubs. Not only did Max Hildebrand stop all 35 shots he faced, but the Cobra Chickens offence went to work for a 5-0 win.

The first period saw no score, but some end to end action along the way entertained the fans in Prince Albert. The lone mark on the scoresheet in the first saw Ryan Gower take a penalty for holding, but the Cobra Chickens defence held strong.

After 1: Cobra Chickens 0 – 0 Pats, shots 11-10 Pats

At 4:15, the Cobra Chickens got on the board first when Aiden Oiring sent the puck to Lukas Dragicevic at the middle of the blue line. Dragicevic had time and he waited for Brayden Dube to get into position for a screen, and once the shot came, Dube made a great deflection to score his eighth of the season.

Then we saw a weird sequence. With the Raiders on the backcheck, Daxon Rudolph took a high stick that was missed by the officials on the ice, Hildebrand would cover the puck to stop play, and play grinded to a halt when the officials sat at the penalty box on the phone with the video review judge. At the end of an over five minute review, Ethan Bibeau went to the box for a high sticking double minor that one of the linesman had called at centre ice, but because the linesman can’t blow the play dead for a penalty it was only called in at the first stoppage of play.

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The Cobra Chickens killed off the double minor and shortly after earned a 5-on-3 powerplay, and the best powerplay in the WHL got it done again at 11:50. Shortly after it returned to 5-on-4, another shot from the point came from Dragicevic, but this time it was Oiring who tipped in his ninth of the season with Niall Crocker picking up the other assist.

Then at 17:04, Ty Meunier added his fourth of the season. Ryan Gower also picked up his first assist as a Cobra Chicken on the play after a pass to Tyrone Sobry on the blueline, and Sobry took a shot that rebounded out to Meunier. The puck forced Meunier to stretch his reach to maintain possession near the left side wall, but he had time to settle down and get a good look at the net, and he wired a wrist shot into the back of the net.

After 2: Cobra Chickens 3 – 0 Pats, shots 17-17, 28-27 Pats overall

The Cobra Chickens had another successful penalty kill early in the period to go 4/4 on the night. The Cobra Chickens penalty kill has not allowed a goal in their last four games now, going 14/14 in that time.

At the 18:04 mark, the offence continued for the Cobra Chickens when Tomas Mrsic found Dube on the far right side of the ice. Dube put the puck back towards the net, looking for Mrsic sneaking in the back door, but Dube hit a defender instead and got a bounce, scoring his second of the game and ninth of the season.

To finish the game off, Riley Boychuk scored his first of the season. On the rush, Luke Moroz burst down the left wall and made a great move to pass to the middle of the slot for Boychuk. His first shot was stopped, but Boychuk followed it up and potted his own rebound with just 29 seconds left in the game.

FINAL: Cobra Chickens 5 – 0 Pats, shots 11-7 Cobra Chickens, 38-35 Cobra Chickens overall

As their identity shifts back to the Prince Albert Raiders, they extend their point streak to six games in a row. Special teams have been humming for the Raiders as of late, going 14/14 on the penalty kill in their last four games and earning at least one powerplay goal in each of the nine games since October 19 in Vancouver.

With Max Hildebrand earning his first shutout of the season, he’s brought his save percentage up to 0.910 on the season. More impressively, in his last four games Hildebrand has stopped 158 of 165 shots faced for a four game save percentage of 0.958.

Aiden Oiring added a goal and an assist to his stat line, extending his point streak to five games with 3G-7A in that time frame.

The Raiders next action will see them hit the road after four games in a row at home. They’ll take on the Swift Current Broncos on Friday, and then back home Saturday to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com