Max Hildebrand plays the puck away from Tigers forward Schaeffer Gordon-Carroll as Hildebrand makes 52 saves on 55 shots. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders lose 3-2 (OT)

Raiders unbeaten streak continues with overtime loss to Medicine Hat

Nov 21, 2024 | 6:53 AM

Coming in to Wednesday night’s action against the Medicine Hat Tigers, the Prince Albert Raiders were riding high after wins in their last four straight games. In a fast, hard fought effort, the Raiders forced overtime to keep their point streak alive as they fell 3-2.

Max Hildebrand opened the night with another of his incredible saves on the season. After making a save on the right side of his net, Hildebrand kicked across the net to deny a wraparound from Bryce Pickford, trapping the puck under Hildebrand’s skate just barely above the goal line to keep the game scoreless.

The Tigers did open the scoring at 7:32 on the rush. On a 3-on-2 rush, the puck came over to Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll on the left side of the crease, and he sent a pass through the slot to Liam Ruck crashing the net to score the game’s first goal.

The Raiders powerplay, still the hottest in the league at 29.6% coming into the game, got the Raiders on the board at 18:01. After a shot from the point by Lukas Dragicevic, the puck would bounce around the crease and all kinds of bodies would find their way out front. Niall Crocker got a whack at the puck to get an assist, but Aiden Oiring would find the loose puck and the back of the net in his 150th game as a Raider for his eighth of the season.

After 1: Raiders 1 – 1 Tigers, shots 17-16 Tigers

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No scoring in the second period, but we did see some back and forth. Early in the period, Tomas Mrsic stripped Gavin McKenna of the puck at the Raider blueline for a breakaway. Mrsic got a good wrist shot away with defenders closing in, and the Tigers sent a quick pass ahead for a partial breakaway from Oasiz Wiesblatt who was stopped as well.

Each team had a powerplay in the tail end of the period, but neither team could score.

After 2: Raiders 1 – 1 Tigers, shots 12-6 Tigers, 29-22 Tigers overall

Still no scoring through the early goings of the third period, but just as Oli Chenier was getting out of the penalty box for the Raiders, the puck bounced to Gavin McKenna in the corner. The league’s leading scorer put the puck towards the front of the net and hit the back of Hildebrand’s pad, bouncing the puck to give the Tigers the lead at 12:14.

At the 18:36 mark, the Raiders tied it with Hildebrand just about to step off the ice. On the rush, Dragicevic again started the play with a great breakout pass but won’t get an assist. Harrison Lodewyk from centre ice sent the puck ahead to the right for Crocker, and as Lodewyk crashed the net it opened a seam across the ice where Crocker found Krzysztof Macias on the left. He fired to score his third goal in three games to tie it for the Raiders.

After 3: Raiders 2 – 2 Tigers, shots 24-6 Tigers, 53-28 Tigers overall

Just 1:18 into overtime, the Tigers would end the game when McKenna stripped the Raiders of the puck in their own zone. He skated to the left of the slot, drawing the defender and opening up the right for a Hunter St. Martin onetimer to end the game.

FINAL (OT): Raiders 2 – 3 Tigers, shots 2-0 Tigers, 55-28 Tigers overall

The Raiders have Thursday and Friday off before they welcome the Regina Pats to town on Saturday.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com