Tikhon Chaika dives to deny the ICE a scoring opportunity. (Zachary Peters/Winnipeg ICE)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Raiders’ attack frozen by ICE in Game 1 defeat

Apr 22, 2022 | 9:18 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders largely kept the high-flying Winnipeg ICE in check on even-strength situations in Game 1 of the WHL opening playoff series Friday. But on special teams, that’s a different story.

The Raiders were 0-5 on their power plays, including a 94-second 5-on-3 man advantage in the second period, in their 3-1 defeat to the ICE on Friday at Wayne Fleming Arena. The ICE, who had the best power play in the regular season, scored twice on four opportunities.

Jakin Smallwood opened the scoring for the ICE 12:03 during 5-on-5 play, after connecting with a neutral ice hit and crashing the net to tap in a pass from the end boards from Cole Muir. Owen Pederson extended the ICE’s advantage in the second period on a tic-tac-toe play on the power play, 9:34 into the second.

Reece Vitelli would get the Raiders right back into the game, scoring on a jumping tip in front of the net 1:45 into the third period. But whatever momentum the Raiders built on the goal faded away after Hayden Pakkala took a high sticking penalty deep in the ICE zone. Connor McClennon took quick advantage, scoring the 3-1 insurance goal just 16 seconds into the ensuing man-advantage.

“The quality of penalties has to be better. We took one right after we scored, it’s 2-1 and we take an offensive-zone penalty,” Raiders assistant coach Jeff Truitt said. “They come back and score on their power play, so those swings are huge that way. You can’t give a good team like this those opportunities.”

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Daniel Hauser made 19 saves on 20 Raider shots. Tikhon Chaika stopped 27 of the ICE’s 30 shots.

“The chances they got were because they were turning over pucks in the neutral zone. I thought we were recovering okay but Chaika played outstanding tonight for us, especially in the first period when they were seeing shots inside the dots,” Truitt said.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, ICE, Jakin Smallwood from Cole Muir and Skyler Bruce, 12:03

Second Period

2-0, ICE, Owen Pederson from Zachary Benson and Benjamin Zloty (power play), 9:34

Third Period

2-1, Raiders, Reece Vitelli from Sloan Stanick and Remy Aquilon, 1:45

3-1, ICE, Connor McClennon from Jack Finley and Zachary Benson (power play), 2:53

The Raiders will remain in Winnipeg for Game 2 on Saturday. Both teams will meet at the Art Hauser Centre for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW