Banner raising night success in Raiders season opener

In the middle of the period, a scrum started by an illegal hit from Raiders forward Cash Lanigan for kneeing lead to a mess of penalties from both sides. Lanigan got a five minute major and a game misconduct, and his teammate Evan Smith also went to the box for roughing, and Zach Moore, Mathis Paul, and Aiden Wagner also went to the box for the Pats for roughing as well.

While play was already reduced to 4-on-4, the Pats were about to take a penalty so the Raiders pulled their goaltender on the delayed penalty, and it felt like a regular powerplay. At 14:14, Ben Harvey worked the puck down to the goal line for Riley Boychuk, he put the puck back through the slot, and Connor Howe hammered in a onetimer for his second of the night.

The Pats got on the board before the end of the period with a powerplay of their own at 14:59. The puck came to Keets Fawcett on the left faceoff dot, and he fired top shelf to get the Pats on the board.

After 1: Raiders 3 – 1 Pats, shots 13-9 Raiders

At 5:29, the Raiders took back their three goal lead. For the second time of the night, Connor Howe started the scoring play but didn’t get the point when he took a hit in his own zone to make a pass to Ben Harvey skating up the right side on a 3-on-2 chance. Harvey passed back to the trailing Darius Hordal who fired a wrist shot, and Maddix McCagherty swatted home the rebound for his first of the season.

The Pats scored to keep the game close though at 9:30. This time it was Jace Egland, the recipient of Cash Lanigan’s knee back in the first, who made a nice move by cutting into the middle, back towards the outside, then back inside before firing a wrist shot in.

The Raiders restored their three goal lead again at the 12:12 mark with a couple of the new guys combining on the game winning goal. Darius Hordal picked the puck up in the right corner of his own zone. He looked up ice and saw Carsyn Dyck pointing up ice while streaking behind the defence, Hordal flipped the puck out to centre, Dyck chased it down for a short breakaway, and Dyck fired a wrist shot off the post, off the goaltender, and in for his first as a Raider.

From there though, the Pats started to mount a comeback. At 14:21, Keets Fawcett got a great bounce when he fired a shot wide into the glass, but it bounced over the net, off the back of the goaltender, and in. Then at 19:08, Ellis Mieyette scored on the powerplay similar to the powerplay goal from the first period.

After 2: Raiders 5 – 4 Pats, shots 8-6 Pats, 19-17 Raiders overall

In the third, it took the Raiders a while before they finally were able to extend their lead once again. On the powerplay, goaltender Michal Orsulak came out of his net to set up the breakout, and he passed the puck out to Riley Boychuk skating up the right wall. Boychuk crossed centre, moved into the middle through the blueline, made a move between two defenders to get in close to the goal, then pulled the string on everyone by passing the puck to Alisher Sarkenov, and he buried it for his first of the season.

Then with the Raiders on the penalty kill, Liam Myhre collected the puck in the corner of his own zone just as the Pats goaltender got to the bench. Myhre passed ahead to Ben Harvey, and from the hashmarks Harvey hit the empty net at the other end for the Raiders first shorthanded goal of the season.

FINAL: Raiders 7 – 4 Pats, shots 10-7 Raiders, 29-24 Raiders overall

The line of Connor Howe, Ben Harvey, and centreman Maddix McCagherty was dominant on the night. Harvey (1G-3A), McCagherty (1G-2A), and Howe (2G-0A) combined for a nine point night, and Howe started two of those scoring plays without earning an assist.

For Michal Orsulak, he made 20 stops on 24 shots, good for a 0.833 save percentage on his return on opening night, while also earning his second career assist.

The Raiders head out on the road for their second game of the season Saturday to take on the Swift Current Broncos.

by Nick Nielsen

Banner raising night success in Raiders season opener

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