Michal Orsulak earned his second win in as many nights, also facing 32 shots for the second straight night. (Keith Dwiggins/Portland Winterhawks)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win 4-2

Raiders steal one late in Portland

Nov 13, 2025 | 1:13 AM

After one of the biggest wins of the season against the Everett Silvertips, the Prince Albert Raiders went in to Portland to take on the Winterhawks. The Raiders did not look like themselves through the first two periods, but they started to find their groove in the third period and found a way to comeback for a 4-2 win.

The Winterhawks came out hard in the first period and put the Raiders on their heels through the early goings, but through the middle of the period the Raiders started to find a bit of traction. Michal Orsulak got the back to back start for the for the first time this seaosn, and he made some big saves early to keep the game tied.

Then, the Raiders got their first powerplay with a little over three minutes left in the period, and things went south. On the penalty kill, defenceman Carter Sotheran stole the puck and carried it out to centre on a 2-on-1, and he fed Alex Weiermair for a picture perfect onetimer to beat Orsulak to give the Winterhawks in the lead.

The Raiders got another powerplay in the final minute of the period, but again gave up a 2-on-1 in the dying seconds of the period that Orsulak was able to make a stop on.

After 1: Raiders 0 – 1 Winterhawks, shots 11-7 Raiders

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At the 10:55 mark, the Winterhawks scored again at even strength this time. Carter Sotheran helped turn the puck over for the Winterhawks and found Ryan Miller on the half wall. He gave it to Sam Spehar at the side of the slot, and he fired a great shot to give the Winterhawks a two goal lead.

The Raiders took three straight penalties in the second, and five straight penalties including the ones in the third period, but managed to keep the puck out of the net thanks to some decent defending and some great saves by Orsulak. The third one came right at the end of the second, meaning they’d start the third shorthanded.

After 2: Raiders 0 – 2 Winterhawks, shots 11-4 Winterhawks, 18-15 Winterhawks

For the second straight night, it was Evan Smith was the one that started the scoring for the Raiders. At 4:54, the Raiders entered the zone on a great tic-tac-toe play as Ty Meunier entered the zone from the left blueline and stopped, then fed the puck across for Linden Burrett streaking in down the right side. He walked into the slot, then sent a pass across for Smith on the back door who hammered home his seventh of the year.

At 10:24, the Raiders got given a gift thanks to what should have been an offside call. At centre, Brayden Dube gave the puck to Brock Cripps on the right side, and Dube was about half a foot offside as he entered with Cripps, but the unreviewable play continued and Cripps found Alisher Sarkenov at the back door who faked out the goaltender and roofed it for his fifth of the season.

Then after Aiden Oiring was slew-footed and the Raiders got a four minute powerplay, Oirng was then called for tripping during a puck battle in the corner. On the 4-on-4, Evan Smith took over the puck at centre and fed it to Brayden Dube on the right side, and as he entered he fired a shot under the bar short side for his eighth of the year at 18:05.

The Winterhawks pulled their goaltender to make it 5-on-4, then 5-on-5 after Oiring left the box, and the Winterhawks put the pressure on before Sarkenov managed to find the puck in the corner, cleared it down the length of the ice, and hit the empty net for his sixth of the season and second of the night.

FINAL: Raiders 4 – 2 Winterhawks, shots 14-12 Winterhawks, 32-27 Winterhawks overall

For the second straight night, Evan Smith opened the scoring for the Raiders and had a two point night. In the last two games, the Raiders centreman has 3G-1A and has driven the play to help spark the Raiders.

In goal, Michal Orsulak looks to be defending his spot as the WHL Goaltender of the Week with his second win in two nights. In the wins over Everett and Portland, Orsulak has stopped 61 of 64 shots faced, good for a combined save percentage of 0.953 save percentage in those two games.

The Raiders have Thursday off before they will head to Seattle to take on the Thunderbirds, and then finally finish up the road swing in Wenatchee against the Wild on Saturday.