The Raiders celebrate Lukas Dragicevic's first of two goals on the night as the Raiders defend home ice with a 4-2 win in Game 5. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders trail series 3-2

Raiders feed off Art Hauser crowd for clutch game five win

Apr 5, 2025 | 12:49 AM

With their backs against the wall and a 3-1 series deficit, the Prince Albert Raiders entered do or die territory on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre for Game 5 against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Not only did the Raiders come out swinging, but they kept swinging all the way to a 4-2 victory to extend the series.

The Oil Kings pressed early, getting out to a 6-0 shot lead over the Raiders including a three shots in the span of seconds from Marshall Finnie fighting for a rebound in front. The Raiders would start to find their step as the period went on as the crowd at the Art Hauser started to roar.

At the 6:17 mark, Tomas Mrsic got on the board with his first of the playoffs. Aiden Oiring wouldn’t pick up an assist for his faceoff win, but he got it back clean to Vojtech Vochvest on the left side, he sent it to the right point for Lukas Dragicevic, and he fed the puck to Mrsic at the top of the slot who backhanded a shot through traffic for his first of the series.

Shortly after, Mrsic would get hit with some bad luck as he put a colossal hit on Blake Fiddler in the corner on the forecheck, so hard that Fiddler’s skate came up and caught Mrsic in the face. He’d leave the game under his own power, but he wouldn’t return.

At the 16:58 mark with the Oil Kings Jack Toogood in the box for hooking, the Raiders would score. Daxon Rudolph would send a breakout pass to the left side of his own blueline for Oiring, and Oiring would feed Dragicevic in the middle of the ice. Dragicevic would send the puck to the right wall for Niall Crocker who immediately gave the return feed to Dragicevic, and he’d finish the play by ripping the shot on goal for his second of the playoffs.

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After 1: Raiders 2 – 0 Oil Kings, shots 13-10 Oil Kings

Matteo Fabrizi nearly made it 3-0 Raiders at the start of the period when the big defenceman carried the puck down the left wall and made a move to his backhand. He tucked the puck fivehole on Ethan Simcoe, but an Oil Kings defender swept the puck off the goal line before it could cross.

With Harrison Lodewyk in the box for boarding, the Oil Kings would score on their second powerplay of the game. Gavin Hodnett would send a pass from the left wall to the middle for Ethan MacKenzie in the slot, and he’d fire through traffic to get the Oil Kings on the board at 11:59.

The Raiders would fire back though at 16:23 with some 4-on-4 with Rylen Roersma in the box for roughing and Dayce Derkatch for embellishment. On an offensive zone draw, Oiring would win the puck clean back to Dragicevic in the middle, and Dragicevic would walk in unopposed and fire for his second of the game and his third of the playoffs.

At the 18:27 mark, the Oil Kings would pull within one once again. As the 4-on-4 ended, the Raiders would get caught on a bad line change and as a result Landon Hanson would cut down the right wall and wait until the last moment before he fired his second of the series.

After 2: Raiders 3 – 2 Oil Kings, shots 15-8 Oil Kings, 28-18 Oil Kings overall

The third period saw chances from both sides. For the Raiders, Crocker would battle a puck loose behind the goal and feed Ethan Bibeau in the slot, but he was stopped point blank by Simcoe. Vochvest and Bibeau would also get a 2-on-1 where Vochvest got a great shot away but was denied, and the rebound came to Dayce Derkatch and he’d send it wide, but then recollect it and find Evan Smith in the slot who was blocked.

In the dying minutes of the game, Gracyn Sawchyn would carry the puck out of the Oil Kings zone while his goaltender Simcoe skated to the bench. As Sawcyhn got to centre, he blew a tire trying to cut away from Oiring, and Oiring scooped up the loose puck before firing at the empty net for his third of the series and his third point of the night at 18:48.

FINAL: Raiders 4 – 2 Oil Kings, shots 10-8 Oil Kings, 38-26 Oil Kings overall

Max Hildebrand was excellent in net for the Raiders, posting a 0.947 save percentage on the night. His best save came in the second period, robbing Marshall Finnie on a point blank chance from the slot on a sprawling glove save.

The Raiders will now head to Edmonton for Game 6 on Sunday.