Raiders forward Niall Crocker battles for a screen in front of the Cougars net with defenceman Bauer Dumanski. (Prince George Cougars)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders lose 5-4

Four lead changes as Raiders start BC road swing in Prince George

Oct 13, 2024 | 7:28 AM

With the Prince Albert Raiders having lost their last four games, one of which was in overtime, they were looking for a win when they came into Prince George to take on the Cougars Saturday night to start off the five game road swing through B.C. Despite a gutsy effort and an early lead, the Raiders would lose 5-4 in a nail biting finish.

The Raiders struck first and early, just five minutes in when they dumped the puck in behind the Cougars net. Brayden Dube and Doogan Pederson would go after the puck and it looked like they had lost the battle, but Luke Moroz poked the puck free to Dube. He came out from behind the goal line to the side of the net looking to shoot, but instead found Pederson alone in the slot who hammered the one-timer for his second of the year.

At 7:07, the Cougars got it right back when Viliam Kmec sent a hard pass up the ice for Ryley Heidt, springing him on a breakaway and he put the puck five-hole to tie the game.

Before the end of the period, Oli Chenier would knock down Cougars forward Patrick Sopiarz in the corner during a puck battle, and Sopiarz got up swinging. Chenier landed some heavy shots shortly after, and the two would start the second period in the box.

After 1: Raiders 1 – 1 Cougars, shots 11-6 Cougars

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The second fight of the game started when Jonah Sivertson and Hunter Laing decided to drop the gloves behind the Cougars’ goal. Sivertson initially got hit a few times, but Laing tried to pull Sivertson’s helmet off and Sivertson threw some heavy uppercuts as a result.

Shortly after, the Raiders started a flurry of goals in the second when Jett Lajoie tried to clear the puck from the Cougars zone, but he hit Aiden Oiring on the clearing attempt. Oiring sent a quick pass to Niall Crocker to settle the puck down, and Crocker returned the feed to Oiring who had a partial breakaway down the left side, and he fired a wrist shot that Josh Ravensbergen got a piece of, but not all of it, and Oiring had his second of the season at 2:42.

In the seventh minute of the period, the Cougars would tie it again when Jett Lajoie would get the puck at centre and hurry for a 2-on-1 with Borya Valis. Lajoie sent the pass across to set up a perfect one-timer from Valis to tie the game.

The Cougars scored again at 8:10 on their first powerplay of the game when a shot from Koehn Ziemer was blocked by traffic, and the loose puck came to the side of the net for Ryley Heidt. He’d hit the open net for his second of the game.

The third and final fight of the game came at the 12:59 mark when Aiden Foster hit Jonah Sivertson hard in the numbers in the Raiders zone, and Ty Sobry stepped up to protect his teammate. Foster got his gloves off first and landed, but Sobry got the better of him in the end. Both men were given seven minutes in penalties between unsportsmanlike minors and fighting majors, but Foster earned an extra two minutes for instigating, and that put the Raiders on the powerplay.

Late in the man advantage, the Raiders would get it back on their own powerplay goal at 14:01 when Tomas Mrsic got the puck on the right side of the ice and tried to fire a shot on goal. The shot was blocked but bounced directly to Aiden Oiring who was wide open on the left point. He skated in towards the net and fired a hard pass wide of the net where Niall Crocker was waiting with the backhand to tip it in for his second of the season.

At the 18:06 mark, the Cougars got the lead back on their second powerplay of the game. Again it was Ryley Heidt who got the puck on the left side of the ice, and this time he just placed his shot perfectly into the short side corner to give the Cougars the lead and send the hats on to the ice.

After 2: Raiders 3 – 4 Cougars, shots 12-7 Cougars in the period, 23-13 Cougars overall

In the third, Villiam Kmec was called for slew-footing and the Raiders would get a four minute powerplay. The first two minutes looked great, but the Cougars started to put pressure on the Raiders in the second half and earned a faceoff in the offensive zone. At 5:29, the Cougars won the draw back to Bauer Dumanski, who backed into the middle of the blueline and fired for his first of the season shorthanded.

The Raiders would get themselves back to within one goal at the 13:01 mark when Lukas Dragicevic brought the puck down the left side of the ice and tried to cut between a few defenders towards the net. The puck came loose, and Brayden Dube, hustling in from centre, picked up the loose puck before picking his spot and firing it home to put some pressure on the Cougars.

The Raiders would pull Max Hildebrand and get some good zone time 6-on-5, and the Cougars would clear the puck off the side of the net, but with four seconds left on the clock the Raiders would be forced to take a draw outside of the Cougars blueline, and despite winning the draw, they couldn’t find an open man for the shot and the Cougars would sneak away with the win.

Final: Raiders 4 – 5 Cougars, shots 11-6 Cougars in the period, 34-19 Cougars overall

The Raiders have Sunday off before a mid-afternoon matchup against the Kelowna Rockets on Thanksgiving Monday.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com