Raiders forward Ethan Bibeau drops the gloves with Broncos' Sawyer Dingman during the last time the Raiders and Broncos met. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Home Sweet Home

Weekend preview: two potential playoff matchups for Raiders in two home games

Feb 14, 2025 | 1:12 PM

With a win on the road and a loss at home in their last two games, which were both against the Medicine Hat Tigers, the Prince Albert Raiders had a very playoff atmosphere in those two hard fought games.

This weekend the Raiders play twice at home in potential first round matchups, first against the Swift Current Broncos on Friday, and the Calgary Hitmen on Saturday.

The Raiders have had a tough schedule in the four games since having their nine game point streak snapped where they’ve faced all three teams at the top of the Eastern Conference. First was a loss in Calgary 3-1, then another in Lethbridge 6-1, followed by a 5-4 win in overtime in Medicine Hat, and finally a loss on home ice to Medicine Hat 3-1.

The Broncos lost their last game 7-4 to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday, which broke up a three-game winning streak for Swift Current. Those wins were a 2-1 win at home over Wenatchee, a big 5-3 win over Medicine Hat, and a 6-3 win in Kelowna at the end of the Broncos’ B.C. road swing. In that road swing, the Broncos went 3-2 with two wins in overtime.

So far this season, the Raiders and Broncos have met six times. The Broncos won the first two 5-4 and 9-4, but the Raiders have won the last four games 6-5, 2-1, 7-5, and most recently a dominant 7-1 in Prince Albert on January 17.

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In the standings, the Broncos and Raiders are three points away from being a first round playoff matchup. The Raiders sit at the top of the East Division, second in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 28-18-3-1 (W-L-OTL-SOL) on the year, good for 60 points. The Broncos sit eighth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 27-21-1-1 on the year, good for fourth in the East Division.

Goal scoring wise, the Raiders are up to 190 goals for on the year, which averages to 3.8 goals per game this season. With 181 goals against, the Raiders are sitting at a +9 rating.

For the Broncos, they have given up as many goals as they have scored at a dead even 188 goals for and against.

On special teams, the Raiders powerplay has not had the same success as of late that they’ve enjoyed all season, but they still sit top three in the league at 28.1 per cent. The penalty kill for the Raiders however has been getting better and better, now third last in the league at 72.4 per cent.

For their powerplay, the Broncos sit at a solid 25 per cent on the year which is good enough for ninth in the league. The Broncos penalty kill sits just below the halfway mark, 13th in the league at 75.6 per cent.

Tomas Mrsic continues to lead the Raiders on the season with 30G-43A-73P on the year. Aiden Oiring is coming off a game where he was held without a point, and he has not went two games in a row this season without a point, he sits second with 21G-46A-67P this year. Lukas Dragicevic sits third in scoring both for the Raiders and for defenceman in the WHL with 12G-44A-56P.

With just one goal in Wednesday’s game, most of the point streaks for the Raiders came to an end. The exceptions are Lukas Dragicevic, who managed an assist to extend his streak to five games with 2G-4A to show for it, and Niall Crocker, who added an assist to give him 2G-1A in the last two games.

For the Broncos, Luke Mistelbacher is tied with Mrsic at 35G-38A-73P on the year to lead the Broncos. Clarke Caswell sits second with 16G-49A-65P, and former Prince George Cougar Carlin Dezainde sits third with 25G-33A-58P.

Rylan Gould has been hot lately for the Broncos with 5G-4A in his last six games. Former Red Deer Rebel defenceman Hunter Mayo has a four game streak with 1G-5A. Carlin Dezainde has a goal in each of his last two games and points in nine of his last ten games (7G-7A).

Finally in goal, Raiders netminder Max Hildebrand’s save percentage still sits at the top of the league after improving to 0.914 in Wednesday’s effort. He also has the third most wins this season with a 24-12-3-0 record. Dimitri Fortin is the backup with a save percentage at 0.881 and a record of 5-6-0-1 on the year, but those numbers improve to 0.889 and 4-4-0-1 since joining the Raiders.

In goal for the Broncos is the combination of Reid Dyck and Joey Rocha. Dyck has made the most starts with a record of 17-17-1-0 on the year an a save percentage sitting at 0.893. Rocha is 10-4-0-1 on the year with a 0.880 save percentage.

Saturday vs. Calgary

In Saturday’s matchup, the Raiders will welcome the Calgary Hitmen to town for the fourth and final matchup of the season between the two teams. The home team has won each game this season, the Raiders picking up the win first 4-3 in December, then 8-5 for the Hitmen also in December, and most recently Calgary won 3-1 on February third.

The Hitmen have a better record on the year than the Raiders at 33-13-3-2 on the year, good for an 11 point lead over the Raiders in the standings, but with the Raiders leading their division the Raiders sit second in the conference while Calgary sits third. The Hitmen are three points back of the Medicine Hat Tigers at the top of the Eastern Conference.

The Hitmen will play the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night. Coming into that Friday game, the Hitmen have two overtime wins in a row 3-2 over Lethbridge and 4-3 over Edmonton, and then that 3-1 win over the Raiders before that to give them a three game winning streak.

Goal scoring wise, the Hitmen have 199 goals for this season, good for an average of 3.9 goals per game. Their 147 goals against makes them one of the best defensive teams in the league with the third least amount of goals against, giving them a +52 differential.

Special teams have been fairly average for the Hitmen so far this year with their powerplay ranked 17th in the league at 19.8 per cent. Their penalty kill sits 10th at 76.8 per cent on the year.

The Hitmen are lead by the third and fourth top scorers in the entire WHL. Oliver Tulk has 32G-52A-84P so far this season to lead his team, and Ben Kindel is right behind him with 29G-54A-83P. Connor Hvidston sits third with 15G-32A-47P.

The Hitmen are carrying three goaltenders through the rest of the season, but it’s mainly been the duo of Anders Miller and Daniel Hauser getting the starts. For Miller, he boasts a record of 11-2-0-1 on the year with a 0.912 save percentage. Hauser was acquired from Wenatchee earlier this year, and he sits at 0.907 on the year with a 18-11-2-1 record. Eric Tu was in goal the game the Raiders won, but he has not dressed since December 30.

The Raiders start the weekend on Friday against the Swift Current Broncos, and continue the action on Saturday against the Calgary Hitmen. Puck drops at 7:00 pm both nights, and you can listen to the pregame show starting at 6:30 on Brandt Raider Radio 900 CKBI.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com