Niall Crocker and Tomas Mrsic celebrate after Crocker put home a powerplay goal in the Raiders 5-2 win over Wenatchee. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win 5-2

Raiders extend point streak to nine games with win over Wild

Feb 2, 2025 | 6:43 AM

One of the hottest teams in the WHL right now, the Prince Albert Raiders played host to the Wenatchee Wild Saturday night for the first time since the team moved from Winnipeg. The Raiders fell behind early, but they managed to score five straight goals to earn the 5-2 win.

The Wild got the scoring started at the 3:16 mark when, after the Raiders got the first three shots of the game, the Wild took the puck down the ice on a 2-on-1 when Shaun Rios found a pass to the right side of the net for a streaking Luka Shcherbyna, and he tipped it in to open the scoring on the first shot of the game for the Wild.

Then at 17:58, the Wild made it a 2-0 game when a pass out of the Wild zone would find Rios at centre while the Raiders were in the midst of a change. Rios got a better angle from the middle of the ice as a result of the changing defence, and he fired to score.

It took the Raiders just 16 seconds to get on the board after that, and it was the captain on a set up we’ve seen before. With Rilen Kovacevic helping to hold the puck in on the right wall, he sent it back to the point for Daxon Rudolph, and he put the puck on a tee for a Justice Christensen onetimer for his 16th of the season.

After 1: Raiders 1 – 2 Wild, shots 11-10 Raiders

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No scoring in the second period, but the Wild thought they got one. As Christensen was trying to leave the zone, Rios tried to lift his stick but instead caught Christensen’s hands. Rios took the puck, turned, fired, and scored, and he got to celebrate for a moment before he was sent to the penalty box.

The Raiders had three powerplays in the second, but the Wild did a good job of keeping the Raiders from entering the offensive zone cleanly.

After 2: Raiders 1 – 2 Wild, shots 15-7 Wild, 25-18 Wild overall

The third period was all Raiders, and it started on the powerplay. The play started with a onetimer from the point from Lukas Dragicevic that missed wide but came off the wall towards the front of the goal. Niall Crocker got a touch, but Brayden Dube ultimately put it into the back of the net for his 23rd of the season at 7:08.

Then at 12:07, the Raiders were pressing and a Wild defenceman fell while trying to carry the puck out, and Crocker stole it away on the left wall. He sent the puck across the ice to Aiden Oiring waiting on the right point, and Oiring passed it to the middle for Tomas Mrsic streaking back into the zone. Mrsic got to the slot and fired home his 29th of the year.

On their sixth and final powerplay, the Raiders scored again. All five members of the Raiders deserve an assist on the play after Dragicevic, Mrsic, and Oiring worked the puck around the umbrella incredibly well and drew three Wild defenders towards the blueline. The moment a seam opened, Oiring sent the puck to the goal line for Dube, and Dube sent it to Crocker outside the crease who jammed the puck in for his 18th of the year at 14:04.

Down by two, the Wild would pull their goaltender with over five minutes left. They’d win a couple faceoffs in the Raiders zone, but the Raiders would chip away at the clock with icings and a blocked shots that went out of play. Oiring would then steal a pass in the middle of the slot and fire the puck down the ice, hitting the empty net for his 21st of the year.

FINAL: Raiders 5 – 2 Wild, shots 13-8 Raiders, 33-31 Wild overall

The Raiders have now earned points in nine straight games with wins in eight of those games.

The next action for the Raiders will see them head to Alberta for three games in four days against some of the toughest opponents in the WHL. It will start in Calgary on Wednesday, then Lethbridge Friday, and finally a Saturday against Medicine Hat.