Raiders set to welcome Seattle for first home game in two weeks
After the road trip through B.C. saw them go 1-4 through their five road games, the Prince Albert Raiders are looking to turn around a rough start to the season heading into Friday night’s action against the Seattle Thunderbirds. The matchup with Seattle is the eighth straight game in a row the Raiders play against a Western Conference opponent.
Aside from their last game against the Vancouver Giants, the Raiders found their offence in B.C. where they managed to score 4.5 goals per game through the first four games of the road swing, 3.8 if you include the Vancouver game. At 2-7-2, the Raiders currently sit both last in the Eastern Conference and last in the WHL.
As for the Seattle Thunderbirds, they sit at 5-7-1 on the season through their first 13 games, good for ninth in the Western Conference. They are in the midst of their own six game road swing, starting with a 4-1 loss in Brandon, an 8-0 loss to Regina, a 4-1 win over Moose Jaw, and most recently a 5-1 loss to Saskatoon in a game Blades broadcaster Les Lazaruk described as having ‘a couple of multi-player testosterone leaks’ with 61 total penalty minutes.
Both teams have been outscored to start the year with the Raiders being outscored 34-51 on the season, good for a -17 differential, but a -8 differential if you exclude the 10-1 loss in Vancouver. For Seattle, they’ve scored 36 compared to being scored on 58 times, good for a -22 differential on the season, but removing the 8-0 loss Seattle suffered to Regina earlier this road trip, that brings them to a -14 differential.