Dimitri Fortin makes one of his 26 stops during his Raiders debut on Hurricanes forward Shane Smith. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win 3-2

Raiders grind out win over Hurricanes during Fortin’s debut

Dec 1, 2024 | 1:54 AM

Continuing their hot streak, the Prince Albert Raiders returned home from a 6-5 win in Swift Current at about 2:30 in the morning to get ready to host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday. With a seven game point streak coming into the game, the Raiders grinded it out for a 3-2 win over Lethbridge in the first meeting of the season.

The Raiders opened the scoring just 29 seconds in, and it all started with a colossal hit from Justice Christensen when he pinched down the left wall to hold the puck in the Hurricanes zone. The loose puck came to Aiden Oiring, and he sent a pass from the left of the slot to Daxon Rudolph on the right wall, and Rudolph found a great seam back the other direction where Brayden Dube hammered the puck in for his 10th of the season.

After the Raiders got their first powerplay of the night that failed, the Hurricanes got one of their own when Tyrone Sobry was called for slashing. On the powerplay, the Hurricanes set up Blake Edwards for the onetimer and he fired to score at the 13:12 mark.

After 1: Raiders 1 – 1 Hurricanes, shots 9-7 Raiders

It took until the 11:42 mark of the second period for the next goal, and it came at the hands of a former Raider. Working the puck from the half wall and down into the corner, Hayden Pakkala got a centering feed in the slot and used it to score his fourth of the season to give the Hurricanes the lead.

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The Raiders tied it up just two minutes later when Aiden Oiring blocked a shot in his own zone and sent the puck ahead for Brayden Dube to spring him on a 2-on-1 with Tomas Mrsic. Everybody in the building had their eyes on Mrsic after his second hat trick in four games the night before, but it was Dube’s turn for the spotlight as he ripped his second of the night past the goaltender at 13:41 for his 11th on the year.

With less than a minute to play, the Raiders dumped the puck into the Hurricanes zone and again Dube went in on the attack. Hurricanes goaltender Koen Cleaver came out of his net to play the puck, but Dube’s forecheck disrupted the play and the puck bounced off the side of the net to Mrsic on the half wall. He sent the puck back to the right point for Justice Christensen, and he blasted a slapshot into the chaos in front of the net to score his fourth of the year and give the Raiders back the lead at 19:14.

After 2: Raiders 3 – 2 Hurricanes, shots 16-10 Hurricanes, 23-19 Hurricanes overall

The Raiders got their third and fourth powerplay opportunities in the third period, but for the first time in ten games the Raiders powerplay was held off the scoresheet. That can be credited to an excellent job penalty killing by the Hurricanes, because while the Raiders moved the puck around well, the Hurricanes blocked a number of shots on the man advantage.

The Hurricanes would pull their goaltender on an offensive zone faceoff, and the Hurricanes had a good chance at the end of the period as a scramble formed at the left side of the Raiders net, but the Raiders defence held on and secured the puck on the back wall to take the win.

FINAL: Raiders 3 – 2 Hurricanes, shots 7-5 Raiders, 28-26 Hurricanes overall

After being acquired from Moose Jaw earlier this week, Dimitri Fortin was great in his first start as a Raider. His new teammates did a good job of keeping his sightlines and his crease clear, but Fortin made some fantastic saves throughout the process to stop 26/28 shots on the night for a 0.929 save percentage in his debut.

Through the entire month of November, the Raiders lost just a single game in regulation on November 1. Since then, the Raiders are 7-0-1 with the lone loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers in overtime. Since the end of the B.C. road swing ended in Vancouver on October 15, the Raiders have gone from a record of 2-7-2 in the first 11 games to 9-1-1 in the next 11.

Aiden Oiring’s point streak continues to seven games as he added two more assists during the game, now with 5G-11A-16P. He’ll have a shot as one of the top performers of the week in the WHL with 2G-4A-6P in two games on the weekend.

The Raiders are back on the ice at home on Tuesday when they welcome the Red Deer Rebels to Prince Albert.