Raiders captain Justice Christensen battles in front of his own net with Tigers centre Matthew Ward. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders lose 3-1

Playoff atmosphere as Raiders battle Tigers

Feb 13, 2025 | 6:36 AM

After the Prince Albert Raiders finished their Alberta road trip with an electric 5-4 overtime win against the Medicine Hat Tigers, the two teams met for a rematch Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre. The Tigers scored twice in the first, and they’d carry that lead through a tightly contested game for a 3-1 win over the Raiders.

The Tigers scored their first goal of the game at the 9:20 mark on the game’s first powerplay. The puck would get locked in the corner to the right of Max Hildebrand with three Raiders penalty killers and three members of the Tigers all battling in the corner. The puck would come loose to Jonas Woo at the left point, and he’d skate in quickly before ripping a wrist shot short side.

Then at the 15:03 mark, the Tigers would score again on a signature stretch pass to centre. Tanner Molendyk found Oasiz Wiesblatt skating up the right side of centre to give him a breakaway with defenders cutting off the middle of the ice. Wiesblatt faked the shot, freezing Hildebrand outside his crease, and Wiesblatt would tuck it in.

After 1: Raiders 0 – 2 Tigers, shots 14-10 Tigers

The second period was the most lopsided period in favour of the Tigers in the way the game was played, but the Raiders weathered the storm through the period and actually came out of it unscathed. Hildebrand had three huge saves in this period when we negated cross ice onetimers from Wiesblatt, Liam Ruck, and Hunter St. Martin all in the same period.

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The Raiders got their lone goal of the game when Niall Crocker worked the puck in the left side of the zone and dropped it back to the line for Lukas Dragicevic, and he protected the puck before finding Crocker at the top of the slot. Crocker fired, and Harrison Lodewyk tipped it before finding his own rebound and burying it for his eighth of the season.

After 2: Raiders 1 – 2 Tigers, shots 17-10 Tigers, 31-20 Tigers overall

The Raiders put up a good push in the third period to try and tie the game, but Jordan Switzer in goal for the Tigers put together some of his best work in the third period.

The game ended on a wild sequence when the Raiders pulled Hildebrand for the extra attacker, and after some good pressure the puck would come out to centre. The Tigers would get into the Raiders zone and set up Hunter St. Martin with an open look at the empty net, but he took the shot too quick and missed wide, and the Raiders attacked the other way. Ty Meunier would send a pass across the crease for Tomas Mrsic, but he couldn’t quite fine tune the shot and he missed the open net and hit the goaltender.

The Tigers would take the puck the other way, and at the 19:28 mark it would be Marcus Pachecho who hit the empty net, sealing the win for the Tigers.

FINAL: Raiders 1 – 3 Tigers, shots 13-9 Raiders, 40-33 Tigers overall

The Raiders have Thursday off before they welcome the Swift Current Broncos on Friday and the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday.