Raiders defenceman Trevor Thurston fights for a loose puck in Tuesday's defeat to the Winnipeg ICE. (Mark Peterson Media)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Raiders Hockey

Raiders have proven themselves when their backs are against the wall

Apr 27, 2022 | 12:21 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders have been in do-or-die, must-win situations before, and are still playing hockey now because of their successes when they needed them the most.

The Raiders defeated the Swift Current Broncos 4-1 on April 15 to avoid elimination, and then beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 5-1 April 16 to not only avoid possible elimination or tiebreakers but to outright clinch their playoff spot.

The Raiders find themselves in that same sink-or-swim position again now, and for as long as their WHL opening playoff series lasts against the Winnipeg ICE.

The ICE have won all three games of the series so far, a tight-checking 3-1 game, showing off their lethal power play in a 5-2 victory, and Tuesday’s 10-1 blowout. No WHL team has scored that many goals in a playoff game since the Brandon Wheat Kings defeated the other WHL monarchy, the Edmonton Oil Kings, 10-3 on April 5, 2016.

The Raiders have had their backs against the wall before and have played some of their best hockey because of it. They haven’t had to rebound after a 10-1 loss on home ice this season yet, in a playoff series against the WHL’s best team and the nation’s second-ranked squad.

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But Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, the man who knows his team better than anyone, had no doubts that his team would be prepared for a rebound game.

“Oh, they’ll be ready,” Habscheid said moments after Tuesday’s 10-1 defeat. “They’ll be ready. Will we come back four straight? Who knows. But we’ll chip away—Raider pride. We’re still defending champs. We’re not going down without a fight. We’ll be ready.”

The Raiders will have to keep the ICE’s power play with as few chances as possible, as they have proven themselves incredibly lethal. The ICE have already scored seven power play goals on 12 attempts, for 58.3 per cent this series. They scored three goals on the man-advantage in Tuesday’s win, two on their first two man advantages in the opening 7:03 to set the tone early.

Check out voice of the Raiders Rob Mahon’s call of the action on CKBI, with pre-game coverage starting at 6:30 p.m.

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW