Raiders can’t hold on to three-goal third period lead, drop 5-4 overtime decision in Brandon

Sarkenov found a loose, bouncing puck in the high slot before turning around and firing it over the glove of Brandon netminder Filip Ruzicka, eight minutes and 26 seconds in.

After 1: Raiders 1-0 Wheat Kings, shots 13-8 Raiders

Prince Albert would double their lead six minutes and 47 seconds into the second period, as Malaki Martin had his first career Western Hockey League marker, which came unassisted.

It was a beautiful move from the young forward, who took the Brandon defenceman and turned him inside out, with a slick forehand-to-backhand move, before shelfing it over the glove of Ruzicka.

Brandon eventually responded later in the frame, as their captain got them on the board for the first time, doing so with six minutes and three seconds left in the period.

Jaxon Jacobson did it all himself for his first of three on the night, as he flew down the right wing side of the ice before sneaking a nifty backhand past Raiders’ goaltender Steele Bass. Wheat Kings tendy Ruzicka actually had the lone assist on the Jacobson power-play goal.

After 2: Raiders 2-1 Wheat Kings, shots 13-12 Wheat Kings, 25-21 Raiders overall

The third period started with a couple of bangs for Prince Albert, as Alisher Sarkenov made it 3-1 for the White and Green, for his second of the night.

The assists went to Eli Molde and Brock Cripps as Sarkenov was able to pounce on a rebound in the low slot just 21 seconds in.

Just over two minutes later, the Raiders would score their fourth and final goal of the match, as Brandon Gorzynski was the recipient of a nice power-play setup, as he blasted a one-timer from the right wing side, going post and in past Ruzicka.

Cripps and Sarkenov got on the scoresheet once more, as they had the helpers on the man-advantage tally.

“Sometimes, this can be a hard building to get going, especially for us with the long travel coming in. It was good to see us get off to a hot start, tough, put them under a little bit of pressure, and play some sharp hockey there at the beginning of this game,” explained Prince Albert assistant coach Cole Bell.

“We talk a lot about process rather than results, and there’s certainly a lot to be happy about, with the first half of the game being one of them. At the end of the day, you certainly can’t get too upset about getting points, because they all add up at the end of the year, and I’m sure this point will be just as big as all the rest of them. Obviously, we would have loved to have two, and we probably should have kept it together and gotten two out of it, but at the end of the day, one is still one, and it’s going to add up at the end of the year, so I guess we’ll take it.”

Unfortunately for the Raiders, that would be as good as it got, as the Wheat Kings would then score three unanswered to send the game to overtime.

It started with Jacobson’s send of the night, as he picked up a loose puck in front and spun around before sliding it by Bass.

The goal just four minutes and 34 seconds into the final frame came with an assist from Chase Surkan.

Brandon then cut it to 4-3 three minutes later as Joby Baumuller was set up right in front of the blue paint, as he tapped it by Bass off the feeds from Brett Wilson and Cameron Allard.

The tying goal for the Wheat Kings then came with three minutes and 39 seconds left as Jacobson completed the hat trick with an in-tight deke around Bass, after splitting a pair of Prince Albert defencemen from the left wing corner.

Kris Muissu had the only assist on the 4-4 equalizer.

After 3: Raiders 4 – 4 Wheat Kings, shots 14-13 Wheat Kings, 38-35 Raiders overall

Only one shot on goal was taken from either side in the five-minute three-on-three overtime, as Brandon defenceman Cruz Jim put away his first WHL goal in style, getting in behind the Raiders defence and tucking one five-hole on Bass for the OT winner.

Baumuller had arguably the best assist on the night for the winning goal, perfectly setting up Jim, in all alone on Bass.

FINAL (OT): Raiders 4 – 5 Wheat Kings, shots 1-0 Wheat Kings, 38-36 Raiders overall

“Give them credit, they certainly had a push in the second half of the game, which we could feel on our bench a little bit, and I just don’t think we elevated with them. We let them win a few too many battles, especially down beneath our goal line or on our net front, and ultimately that’s going to be the difference,” added Bell.

“We’re gonna take a look at the things that didn’t go so well tonight, and make sure we put emphasis on that during the week and in practice, and keep pushing forward. Again, we got two out of four points this weekend, so it wasn’t a total failure or total loss, and there are some positives to build off of, but we know there’s some work to do. Right back to work probably on Tuesday, and then get ready for next weekend.”

Coming up for Prince Albert is a finals rematch with the defending champion Everett Silvertips. The two clubs will meet on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre as Nick Nielsen will be back on the airwaves.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

by Ben Tompkins

Raiders can’t hold on to three-goal third period lead, drop 5-4 overtime decision in Brandon

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