Raiders Lukas Kral puts a puck on net against an outstretched Kelton Pyne. (Mark Pederson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders lose 3-2 (OT)

Raiders overtime comeback falls short against Pats

Sep 21, 2024 | 9:21 AM

Over 3,100 people came to the Art Hauser Centre Friday night to kick off the 2024-25 WHL season as the Prince Albert Raiders dropped the puck against the Regina Pats.

Despite some late game heroics from Daxon Rudolph, the Raiders dropped the first game of the season 3-2 in overtime.

The Raiders also promised to donate proceeds of the 50/50 to the Ronald McDonald House under Trevor Laplante’s name after his tragic passing, donating $10,000 at the end of the night.

With Harrison Lodewyk in the box for the Raiders and John Babcock in for the Pats after offsetting roughing minors, Niall Crocker would get nabbed for hooking, and the Pats would get a 4-on-3 powerplay. On the rush, Braxton Whitehead would bring the puck down the right side of the ice and curl around behind the net, sending a pass out front to Sam Oremba who sent the puck into the back of the net at the 7:07 mark.

The Raiders got it back before the end of the period when Aiden Oiring put a shot towards the net that was stopped, but Luke Moroz found the rebound to fire again, and his shot trickled behind the goaltender but not the goal line. Crocker would streak in, scoring the first goal of the season for the Raiders and tying the game at 17:59.

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After 1: Raiders 1 – 1 Pats, shots 14-8 Raiders

It didn’t take long for the Pats to score in the second on one of the weirdest goals you’ll see. Zackary Shantz put the puck towards the net from the point, and it was tipped with a high stick by Samuel Laplante of the Pats, but it hit a Raider defenceman after the fact and went in. The goal was immediately waved off, but upon video review it end up counting and the Pats took back the lead at 2:21.

Max Hildebrand had the start for the Raiders and he was fantastic all night, but it was the second period where he really shined. First he made a save about halfway through the period where he was already sprawled on his stomach and redirected the puck away from the net with the handle of his stick, then the rebound came and he kicked it away with the pad.

Then with less than five minutes in the period, Hildebrand took centre stage again when the Pats won a faceoff and had one of their forwards drive the net with the puck, trying to outreach Hildebrand to the far side of the net. Hildebrand extended his stick backwards, sweeping the puck off the defenders stick and outmuscling him to keep it out of the Raiders net.

After 2: Raiders 1 – 2 Pats, shots 10-10, 24-18 Raiders overall

While the Raiders looked good on the powerplay, they couldn’t find the back of the net. The best chance they had came with 12 minutes played when Corben Almen was charged with checking to the head, and the Raiders put five quality shots on goal, but Kelton Pyne stood tall.

Down by a goal, the Raiders were getting close to goaltender pulling territory when Doogan Pederson put a puck around behind the net for Niall Crocker. He took it out the other side and found Daxon Rudolph sneaking in from the blueline, and Rudolph fired a shot past Pyne and ignited the crowd with his first in the WHL.

After 3: Raiders 2 – 2 Pats, shots 13-4 Raiders, 39-25 Raiders overall

The Raiders got the puck first in overtime, and they got shots from Justice Christensen coming down the right side to rip a loose puck on net from in tight, and another from Aiden Oiring in the slot through traffic, but still couldn’t solve Pyne. In the late half of the overtime, the Pats got control of the puck and tested Hildebrand with two quality shots that were stopped with the blocker and with a pokecheck on a move in tight.

The Pats ended the game when Cole Temple brought the puck ahead on the left side on a 2-on-1 with Zach Shantz to his right. Temple found Shantz, he got a shot away, and Hildebrand made the save and sprawled out to try and cover the loose puck. Shantz found the puck before Hildebrand and worked it free behind the net, Temple went behind the net and sent the puck out front for Shantz again, and this time he found the back of the net as Hildebrand just got his feet set.

FINAL (OT): Raiders 2 – 3 Pats, shots 3-2 Pats, 39-25 Raiders overall

Despite some really good looks, the Raiders were 0/3 on the powerplay in the opening game. New additions from earlier this week Cedricson Okitundu and Lukas Kral both spent time on the man advantage, so it’s likely the powerplay finds more chemistry as those two get settled in Prince Albert.

Daxon Rudolph made a statement in his first game. Not only did he score a late goal to tie it, he blocked shots in his own zone, got physical with some hits, and what may have been his biggest highlight was a play where a puck slowly skittered to him at the offensive blue line and he stood his ground, beating two defenders surrounding him before bringing the puck ahead for a shot.

Max Hildebrand in net stopped 22 of 25 shots for a starting save percentage of 0.88% in a night where he was excellent.

The Raiders next action sees them play their first road game against the Moose Jaw Warriors, who will also be looking for their first win after losing on the road to the Brandon Wheat Kings. The game will be on 900 CKBI with the pregame show starting at 6:30, puck drop at 7:00.