Raiders defenceman Brock Cripps defends against Caine Wilke as the Hitmen would go on to win 3-2. (Jenn Pierce/Calgary Hitmen)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders lose 3-2

Raiders drop three straight in battle with Hitmen

Dec 5, 2025 | 11:55 PM

After losing two games in a row for the first time this season, the Prince Albert Raiders travelled to Calgary to take on the Hitmen. The Raiders got out to an early lead and controlled the pace of play for most of the night, but the Hitmen found goals when they needed them and took the win 3-2.

At the 4:31 mark of the first period, the newly acquired Maddix McCagherty made an immediate impact for the Raiders. He started a great forecheck with Jonah Sivertson, and Sivertson sent the puck out front for McCagherty. His shot was stopped, but a defenceman trying to clear the puck whacked in the rebound to give McCagherty his first goal as a Raider and his seventh of the season.

Then on the Raiders first powerplay of the game, Daxon Rudolph helped work the puck out of the corner to the right point for Brock Cripps. He then sent a pass across to the right for Riley Boychuk, and he sniped a wrist shot around a screen for his fifth of the season at 7:04.

After 1: Raiders 2 – 0 Hitmen, shots 13-7 Raiders

The Raiders controlled a lot of the play through the second period, but they weren’t able to score. McCagerty blasted a bobbling puck on a onetimer that rang off the crossbar, and the Raiders caused multiple scrums in front of the net but Eric Tu and the Hitmen defence were able to keep the puck out. Other than a fight that saw Benett Kelly take on Axel Hurtig in the first period, the Raiders had not taken a penalty at all either, and they were controlling the game physically as well.

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The Hitmen still were the ones that found the back of the net in the second though. Off a faceoff, the puck came to Wyatt Pisarcyk at the point, and he fired around a screen and found the back of the net at the 12:09 mark.

After 2: Raiders 2 – 1 Hitmen, shots 10-9 Hitmen, 22-17 Raiders overall

The third period still felt like the Raiders were controlling the play, especially early, but another point shot from Pisarcyk found its way into the back of the net. This one came at 5:06, and with both Ethan Moore and Kale Dach standing in front of the net, Dach was the one that got the tip and found the game tying goal.

Then with Brayden Dube in the box for a crosscheck, the Hitmen found the go ahead goal. In the corner, it was defenceman Calder Hamilton who was given room on a sharp angle from the left wall. It looked like he was looking for a backdoor pass, but instead he shot low to catch Orsulak by surprise at 9:30.

From there the game was played clean, no penalties, not too much rough stuff after the plays, and the Raiders again started to find chance after chance, but still they couldn’t find a way to solve Eric Tu in goal for a third time, and the Hitmen took the 3-2 win.

FINAL: Raiders 2 – 3 Hitmen, shots 9-6 Raiders, 31-23 Raiders overall

The Raiders have now dropped three straight games after not surrendering two straight losses through the first 23 games of the season.

The Raiders will now play their second game in as many nights against the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Saskatchewan time, and the pregame show begins at 6:30 p.m. on Brandt Raider radio.