Former Edmonton Oil King Rilen Kovacevic celebrates scoring the emphatic 5-0 goal for the Raiders to close out round one against Edmonton. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win series 4-3

Raiders finish round one with dominant win at the Hauser

Apr 9, 2025 | 6:36 AM

The air was electric well before the puck even dropped Tuesday night at the Art Hauser Centre as fans waited for game seven between the Prince Albert Raiders and the Edmonton Oil Kings. That electric charge only waited seven minutes for the game’s first goal, and the volume never came down as the Raiders went on to win 5-0 to complete the comeback from down 3-1 in the series.

The Oil Kings started with some pressure to try and get the Art Hauser Centre off their game, but a high sticking penalty to Parker Alcos would give the Raiders their first opportunity of the night. As the penalty expired at 7:40, Rilen Kovacevic would send the puck to Lukas Dragicevic, and he’d fire on goal. The puck would squirt past the goaltender, and Aiden Oiring would clean up the loose change into the back of the net for his sixth of the series.

Then at 13:43, Ty Meunier would score on an unassisted effort. The Raiders were heavy on the forecheck and as a result the puck came out of the corner and right to Meunier’s stick with an open lane to the goal. Meunier closed in tight before roofing a wrister for his first of the playoffs.

After 1: Raiders 2 – 0 Oil Kings, shots 13-7 Oil Kings

The Raiders would kill off two penalties in the second period, one with a little help from the post on a Landon Hanson shot, but the Raiders would keep their two goal lead.

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At the 18:32 mark, the Raiders would get on the board again. Oiring and Jackson Kostiuk would pick up assists for getting the puck back to Lukas Dragicevic at the point, and he’d fired off a defender for his fifth of the playoffs.

As the Raiders scored, Riley Boychuk would draw a roughing call from Roan Woodward on the celebration. The powerplay for the Raiders would slow a touch, and the Oil Kings as a result had their best chance of the game shorthanded when Miroslav Holinka stole the puck for a breakaway, but Max Hildebrand would stare him down and stop both Holinka and the rebound from Adam Jecho to preserve the shutout.

After 2: Raiders 3 – 0 Oil Kings, shots 9-9, 22-16 Oil Kings overall

With the Raiders on their third powerplay of the game, the Raiders would score once again at the 10:33 mark. Daxon Rudolph worked the puck to Dragicevic on the right side point, he fired towards the goal, and a picture perfect tip from Niall Crocker deflected it into the back of the net for his fifth of the playoffs.

At the 14:22 mark, Raiders fans got their exclamation point at the end of the night when their chosen enemy #1 Marshall Finnie went to the box for holding. It took the Raiders powerplay seven seconds, at 14:29, to get the puck from Dragicevic on the right, Rudolph in the middle and to the left for Kovacevic who onetimed the puck into his former team’s goal for his fourth of the playoffs.

The Oil Kings would take a too many men penalty in the final minute, and Linden Burrett would get the puck on the right point with a lane to shoot, but instead decided to back out to centre while cheers rang out in the Art Hauser Centre well past the final buzzer.

FINAL: Raiders 5 – 0 Oil Kings, shots 8-7 Oil Kings, 30-23 Oil Kings overall

The Raiders powerplay went 2/5 on the night and was one second away from going 3/5, while their penalty kill went a perfect 2/2 to close out the night.

After Rilen Kovacevic put up four points in game six, Tuesday night was Lukas Dragicevic’s turn with 1G-3A. That brings him to a team leading 5G-7A-12P in the first seven games of the playoffs.

Aiden Oiring is right behind him in scoring after the first round of the playoffs with 6G-5A-11P, including a goal and an assist during game seven. His six goals have Oiring sitting third in goals in the playoffs.

Max Hildebrand earned his first shutout of the playoffs by stopping all 30 shots faced in game seven. Through seven games, Hildebrand’s save percentage sits at 0.941, good for third after the first round.

The Raiders will have a quick turnaround as the Medicine Hat Tigers lie in wait for round two which starts on Saturday.