Lukas Dragicevic leads the fly by the benches after scoring his first of the playoffs and the 6-1 goal. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Series tied 1-1

Raiders answer the bell in Game 2 with Oil Kings

Mar 30, 2025 | 8:12 AM

After a disappointing 3-1 loss in Game 1 against the Oil Kings to start the playoffs, the Prince Albert Raiders were tasked with a comeback effort to tie the series before heading to Edmonton. The Raiders not only tied the series, but they did it in impressive fashion with a dominant 6-1 effort.

The Raiders took the first two penalties of the game, and as a result Max Hildebrand was under fire early. During the second powerplay, a scrum at the front of the net would see the puck squirt free in the crease in front of a wide open net while everyone battled for it, but Niall Crocker would find the puck first and swat it off the goal line and down the length of the ice.

There wouldn’t be another mark on the scoresheet until the 19:24 mark when Harrison Lodewyk held the puck in the Oil Kings zone at the right point. He made a bit of a risky pass to get it to Daxon Rudolph in the middle of the blue line, but Rudolph would then set the puck up perfectly for Justice Christensen to blast in a onetimer from the left point.

After 1: Raiders 1 – 0 Oil Kings, shots 19-6 Oil Kings

At 2:35, the Raiders would double their lead when Riley Boychuk collected the puck behind the net on the cycle. He’d send a pass to Linden Burrett on the right wing, and Burrett rifled a perfect pass to the stick of Rilen Kovacevic in traffic in front of the net, and Kovacevic tipped it into the back of the net against his old team.

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Then the penalties would start to come, and for the second straight night Raider fans would not be happy with the calls against their team. Ethan Bibeau would get called for being an ineligible player when he was hit and his helmet came off as the puck landed on his stick, and the Oil Kings would score on that powerplay at 6:01 when Lukas Sawchyn would bang in his own rebound. At the end of the goal, Justice Christensen would get sent to the box for roughing despite being in the middle of a scrum.

The Raiders would kill the Christensen penalty and then get a powerplay of their own. On the man advantage, Lukas Dragicevic would move the puck from the middle of the blueline to Tomas Mrsic on the left. Mrsic sent the puck to Niall Crocker on the goal line, and he made a great power move to the front of the net to bury his second of the playoffs at 6:01.

Another penalty would get accessed to Evan Smith from hooking when his stick didn’t even touch his opponent, but the Raiders would kill it off. It was the non-calls that hurt the Raiders in this period more than anything, particularly two against Harrison Lodewyk where his helmet was ripped off on one shift, and his stick ripped out of his hands on the other, but neither would get calls.

The Raiders would get some help at the end of the third period when they were given a full 2:00 of 5-on-3 to work with when Josh Mori was called for high sticking and Gracyn Sawchyn was called for roughing on the same play, but that 5-on-3 would extend into the third period without a goal.

After 2: Raiders 3 – 1 Oil Kings, 13-12 Oil Kings, 32-18 Oil Kings overall

Unable to score on the 5-on-3, the Raiders would instead score 3:04 into the period 5-on-5. Lodewyk would collect the puck behind the net after some help from Oli Chenier, and Lodewyk would feed Rudolph at the right point. He’d fire a wrist shot into Alex Worthington’s pad, and Crocker in his office would whack the rebound home for his second of the night and third of the playoffs.

After killing another penalty, the Raiders scored again at 7:48. This time Dragicevic sent the puck down below the goal line and Brayden Dube picked it up in the corner. Dube put a great pass into the slot for Aiden Oiring, and he put it into the back of the net with a onetouch onetimer.

Then with Marshall Finnie in the box for goaltender interference, the Raiders powerplay would score again. The Oil Kings got a shorthanded rush, but Rudolph would break up the play and send the puck ahead for Oiring to create a 4-on-2 rush the other way. Oiring entered with speed down the left side but dropped the puck back for Dragicevic, and he found a lane into the middle before firing a bullet into the back of the net at 12:26.

After the 6-1 goal, the Oil Kings looked for a spark and Jack Toogood dropped the gloves with Linden Burrett, a rematch from earlier this year where Burrett didn’t even get his gloves off. This time both guys dropped their gloves at centre, locked up, and then Burrett killed any momentum Toogood put together by holding him at arm’s length, little brothering him into tiring himself out before the refs pulled the two apart without a punch thrown. It may not have been the flashiest fight, but for Burrett the mission was accomplished and the Oil Kings were defeated for the final eight minutes of the game.

FINAL: Raiders 6 – 1 Oil Kings, shots 11-8 Oil Kings, 43-26 Oil Kings overall

Series: 1-1

With the two goals on the night, Niall Crocker leads the series with three goals, but it’s the rookie Daxon Rudolph who leads the series in points with four assists.

The Raiders gave up 10 powerplays Game 2, but they killed off nine. In the first two games, the Raiders are 12/13 on the penalty kill to start the playoffs. On the powerplay, the Raiders went 0/5 in Game 1, but they corrected the ship in Game 2 by going 2/4.

Games 3 and 4 are in Edmonton on Tuesday and Wednesday.