The Raiders have lost both games they've played against Calgary this season. The two teams will meet two more times this season, once Wednesday night, and again on Friday, March 6. (Image Credit: Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders hosting Hitmen

Raiders looking to clinch playoff spot in Wednesday action with Calgary

Feb 4, 2026 | 11:06 AM

With 20 games left on the season, the Prince Albert Raiders are just one point away from securing the first playoff spot in the WHL playoffs this year. The Raiders will look for that point Wednesday night when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen to start off a four game homestand.

The Raiders are winless against the Hitmen in the two games the two teams have played so far. First back on Oct. 21 the Hitmen won 3-2 in overtime in Prince Albert, and then again on Dec. 5 in Calgary where the Hitmen won in regulation this time 3-2.

Recently, the Raiders are coming off of a weekend split with Saskatoon where the Raiders won on the road Sunday 3-1, but were shutout on Saturday at home 4-0. The Raiders have won nine of their last 10 games, and they have not lost two games in a row since a three game losing skid back in December. In the standings the Raiders are still the top team in the Eastern Conference with a record of 37-7-4 (Wins-Losses-Overtime Losses), and still with a four point cushion over Medicine Hat. The Raiders are three points back of Everett for the league lead.

The Hitmen played the night before on Tuesday night when they started their road trip with a 7-1 win in Saskatoon. The Hitmen lost to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday however 4-1, but won the previous three before that. Calgary is sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Brandon and ten points behind Edmonton, with a record of 26-13-7.

The Raiders powerplay still sits top four in the league at 29.3 per cent after going 1/4 on Sunday, and the Raiders penalty kill went a perfect 4/4 to keep the 11th ranked spot at 77.7 per cent.

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As for the Hitmen, they come in with the second ranked powerplay in the league at 31.5 per cent on the year. Their penalty kill is sitting sixth in the league at 79.7 per cent.

On to who to watch, and the Raiders still have a tie at the top of the scoring race between Aiden Oiring with 22G-33A-55P and Daxon Rudolph with 21G-34A-55P. Brandon Gorzynski sits third on the team with 23G–30A-53P, and Max Heise rounds out the top four with 24G-25A-49P.

Thanks to being shutout on Saturday, the Raiders don’t have any active point streaks.

As for the Hitmen, they also have a tie at the top of their scoring between Kale Dach and Julien Maze who both have identical 25G-29A-54P stat lines. Andrei Molgachev sits third with 19G-23A-42P, and defenceman Ben MacBeath sits third with 6G-29A-35P.

Scoring streaks:

• Andrei Molgachev has 4G-7A in his last seven games
• Julien Maze has 3G-1A in his last three games
• Caine Wilke has 2G-1A in his last two games

Finally in goal, the Raiders were without Michal Orsulak last weekend, and there’s no word if he’s ready to play Wednesday. If he does, Orsulak comes in with a record of 16-4-3 including two shutouts, a 0.900 save percentage, and the second best goals against average in the league at 2.45.

While Orsulak was gone this past weekend, Steele Bass had back to back starts. Bass has a record of 8-1-0 this season including a shutout, a 0.922 save percentage, and a 1.56 goals against average (but hasn’t played enough games to qualify in the top 10 rankings). Backing up Bass would be Brady Holtvogt, who is spending this season with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. Holtvogt has a record of 4-8-1 with one shutout, a 0.921 save percentage, and a 2.87 goals against average.

As for the Hitmen’s goaltenders, it’s Eric Tu who has had the majority of the starts this season for the Hitmen. Tu comes in with a 18-9-4 record including two shutouts, a 0.907 save percentage, and the fourth best goals against average in the league at 2.59. Tu played last night in Saskatoon.

Backing up Tu has been Aiden Hesse, who boasts a record of 6-3-3 on the year. Hesse also has a 0.879 save percentage and a 3.29 goals against average.

The Raiders and the Hitmen will take each other on for the third time this season Wednesday at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m. and you can listen live on 900 CKBI and Brandt Raider Radio starting with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com