Justice Christensen celebrates after firing a wrist shot for his 13th of the season and 50th of his career, which stood as the game winner. (Image Credit: Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win 5-2

Captain Christensen hits 50 to give Raiders 5-2 win over Pats

Feb 11, 2026 | 12:29 AM

For the sixth meeting of the season between the Prince Albert Raiders and the Regina Pats, the start of the week also presented the challenge of securing an East Division title if they played the three games this week perfectly. The game stayed close despite the Raiders pouring on offence, but they eventually took the win 5-2.

Right from the get go, the Raiders were all over the Pats and they got on the board halfway through the period. Daxon Rudolph didn’t get an assist but it was his shot that started the play. It whistled over the net, off the glass, and back into the slot where first Braeden Cootes got a whack, then Alisher Sarkenov put off the pad, and then in came Jonah Sivertson from the other side who tapped it in for his 17th of the year at the 9:34 mark.

After that, the Pats quickly tied it up. At the 11:37 mark, a pass from Shea Rollason from his own blueline gave former Raider Dayce Derkatch some space down the right wall in the Raiders zone, and Derkatch fired a backhand on goal that snuck through Michal Orsulak and into the net to tie the game.

The Raiders took the lead back at the 16:23 though. Although they didn’t get a point, the line of Evan Smith, Connor Howe, and Ben Harvey all created a goal when they managed to hem the Pats into their own zone for a full 45 second shift. With a group of tired defenders on the ice, one by one the Raiders went for a change, and Max Heise first came in to get the puck loose, then fed it along the wall to Owen Corkish, and back to the middle of the blueline for Daxon Rudolph. He finally finished play with a wrist shot through traffic for his 23rd of the year.

After 1: Raiders 2 – 1 Pats, shots 17-6 Raiders

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The second period saw the Pats score first to tie the game against at 10:30. After the Raiders mishandled the puck at the Pats blueline, Keets Fawcett stripped the puck and went on a 3-on-1. Fawcett passed to Zach Lansard, and he fired just through Michal Orsulak, but the third man in Ephram McNutt reached behind Orsulak to tap it over the line.

Then on the Raiders second powerplay of the game, it was the captain’s turn to find the net. At the 18:26 mark, Alisher Sarkenov collected a rebound and dropped it for Justice Christensen in the middle of the blueline. Christensen passed to his right for Brock Cripps, which opened the lane for Christensen, Cripps returned the puck, and Christensen fired a wrist shot for his 13th of the year.

After 2: Raiders 3 – 2 Pats, shots 16-5 Raiders, 33-11 Raiders overall

The Raiders didn’t need long to find the back of the net in the third period, and it was Braeden Cootes who kept his hot streak going. First Brock Cripps at the right point put a pass ahead for Jonah Sivertson, who was hit as he recieved it but still managed to kick it backwards to Cootes, and Cootes then streaked towards the net before lifting a backhand from a ridiculous angle under the bar for his 19th of the season at 2:25.

After some 4-on-4 in the final five minutes of the game, the Pats would eventually get their goaltender Taylor Tabashniuk to the bench for the extra attacker, but the Raiders eventually got the puck under control. Justice Christensen and Evan Smith both got assists for helping get the puck out of their zone, Brandon Gorzynski tracked it down in the Pats zone, and skated to the empty net for his 24th of the year.

FINAL: Raiders 5 – 2 Pats, shots 12-11 Pats, 44-23 Raiders overall

Braeden Cootes, Justice Christensen, and Jonah Sivertson each picked up 1G-1A on the night, while Alisher Sarkenov and Brock Cripps both picked up 0G-2A. Cootes extends his point streak to 5G-5A in his last five games.

While Evan Smith picked up an assist on the empty netter, this is the first time in five games the line didn’t record a point together. However, they were directly responsible for the second goal of the night after keeping the Pats pinned in their own zone for a full shift and through a line change to tire out the defence.

While Justice Christensen hit a milestone goal, his defensive partner Daxon Rudolph is chasing a record. Christensen has officially his 50th career goal for the game winner in career game 248, while Rudolph has now scored his 23rd of the season. With 17 games left on the year, Rudolph is just five goals behind Josh Morrisey’s record of 28 goals by a defenceman in a season.

With 21 saves on 23 shots, Michal Orsulak had great rebound control on the night and didn’t let anything bounce out for a second chance, but the two that got by him were saves he would make most other nights. His best work came in the third period, and he still posted a 0.913 save percentage on the night.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com