Weekend Preview: Raiders break up home games with two game trip in Alberta

In the lone piece of news for the Raiders this week, Athens Shingoose made his return to the Raiders lineup on Wednesday for the first time since October 18.

On the powerplay, the Raiders went 0/2 on Wednesday, but still stand fifth in the league at 24.2 per cent. As for their penalty kill, the Raiders didn’t take a single penalty on Wednesday, so they stayed at 76.8 per cent, or 20th in the league.

Leading the Raiders in scoring is still Brock Cripps with 1G-18A-19P and his 18 assists has him tied for the league lead. Alisher Sarkenov sits second with 9G-8A-17P, followed by Ben Harvey with 6G-8A-14P and Brandon Gorzynski with 9G-4A-13P.

Scoring streaks:

Brandon Gorzynski: nine games, 8G-4A
Alisher Sarkenov: eight games, 6G-7A

Ben Harvey also had a point in the loss on Wednesday, so he has 1G-3A in his last four games. Aside from that, Brock Cripps just had a seven-game streak of multi-point games broken, finishing with 1G-14A. Riley Boychuk just had his four-game streak snapped with 1G-3A, and Jordan Murray had 0G-4A in the previous three games.

Finally in goal, the Raiders had Michal Orsulak in goal Wednesday, and he comes into the weekend with record of 5-5-2, along with a 0.898 save percentage and a 3.03 goals against average. Steele Bass will likely get one of the starts this weekend as well, he has a record of 1-2-1, a 0.883, and a 3.12.

Saturday at Red Deer

The Rebels are one of this year’s surprises out of the gate, coming into the game as the top team in the Eastern Conference and the entire WHL. Their record sits at 11-4-3.

The Rebels played last night on the road, losing 5-4 in a shootout in Lethbridge. Before that, the Rebels had won four straight, including wins over Kamloops at home 5-2, an overtime road win in Edmonton 3-2, a 5-2 win over Calgary at home, and a 6-4 win at home over Saskatoon.

This is just the second of four games between the Raiders and Rebels this year. Last time, in Prince Albert, the Raiders took a 4-1 win over the Rebels back on Sept. 30. The Rebels host the next match on Dec. 5, and the Raiders host the finale on Dec. 11.

Despite sitting at the top of the league, the Rebels powerplay is in the bottom half of the league at 18.3 per cent, ranked 15th in the league and has surrendered a league high six shorthanded goals. The penalty kill however is ninth in the league at 81.3 per cent.

The Rebels are coming into the game with the two top scorers in the league. Poul Anderson leads the league in both points and goals with 16G-15A-31P. Beckett Hamilton sits third in the league in goals with 13G-14A-27P. Cameron Kuzma sits third on the team with 6G-13A-19P, and Matus Lisy rounds out the top four with 2G-13A-15P.

Scoring streaks:

Poul Anderson: five games, 5G-4A
Matus Lisy: four games, 1G-6A
Cameron Kuzma: two games, 2G-4A
Patrick Sopiarz: two games, 2G-2A
Jake Banicevic: two games, 1G-2A

Beckett Hamilton had an assist last night after having a three-game streak snapped the night before. Hamilton has 4G-3A in his last five games.

Looking at the Rebels goaltending, they’ve relied heavily on Matthew Kondro. He comes in with a 8-3-3 record, a 0.910 save percentage, a 2.76 goals against average, and one shutout this year. Behind him is Nathan Salisbury with a 3-1-0 record, a 0.877, and a 3.20.

Sunday at Edmonton

The final game of the weekend for the Raiders will see them head to Edmonton to take on the Edmonton Oil Kings. With points in each of their last two games, the Oil Kings are sitting just one point ahead of the Raiders.

Sunday’s matchup with the Oil Kings will end a seven game homestand for the Oil Kings, and they are rested since last Wednesday where they picked up a 4-1 win over Lethbridge. Before that, the Oil Kings lost 3-2 to Red Deer in overtime, 4-1 to Kamloops, 4-1 to Penticton, and a win five games ago 3-2 over Saskatoon.

This is the first matchup of four between the Raiders and Oil Kings, with a rematch in Prince Albert set for Friday. Last year, the Raiders and Oil Kings split the season series, each team winning once in overtime. The Oil Kings outscored the Raiders last year 13-12.

The Oil Kings powerplay is just below the league average right now, ranked 13th in the league at 19 per cent. As for their penalty kill, it’s near the top at seventh in the league, or 81.7 per cent.

Kayden Stroeder leads the Oil Kings in scoring with 8G-7A-15P. Then there’s a tie for second between Aaron Obobaifo with 6G-5A-11P, and Jonas Vanicek with 4G-7A-11P. There’s a tie for the fourth-place spot too between Jensen Marsh (4G-5A-9P) and KJ Sauer (4G-5A-9P).

Scoring streaks:

KJ Sauer: two games, 1G-2A
Kanjyu Gojsic: two games, 1G-1A

Luke Melnik was held pointless two games ago, but has 0G-3A in his last four games.

Finally in goal, the Oil Kings have split time between Parker Snell and Ethan Simcoe. Snell has appeared in eight games for a record of 5-3-0, along with a 0.914 save percentage and a 2.85 goals against average. As for Simcoe, he comes into the weekend with a 2-2-2 record, a 0.891, and a 3.28.

The Raiders take on the Red Deer Rebels at 7:00 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Saturday, and you can listen in to all the action on Brandt Raider Radio on 900 CKBI starting with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m.

Then on Sunday, it’s a 4:00 p.m. matinee as the Raiders take on the Edmonton Oil Kings for the first time this season. Pregame show starts at 3:30 p.m.

—

nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com

by Nick Nielsen

Weekend Preview: Raiders break up home games with two game trip in Alberta

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