Raiders forward Brayden Dube battles with Thunderbirds forward Matej Pekar during the Raiders 4-3 win last year over the Thunderbirds. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders 4-1 on road swing

Weekend Preview: Raiders set to wrap up U.S. road swing with battles in Seattle and Wenatchee

Nov 14, 2025 | 9:42 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders are looking to finish strong in the final weekend of their seven-game road swing. With a record of 4-1 since hitting the road, the Raiders will next face the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday, and the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday.

The Raiders enter the weekend one point out of first place in the WHL behind the Everett Silvertips and the Edmonton Oil Kings, but the Raiders have at least two games in hand over both teams ahead of them with a record of 14-1-3 on the season. The Raiders have won two games straight, most recently an ugly come from behind 4-2 win over the Portland Winterhawks, and one of their best games this season in a 4-1 win over Everett.

Friday vs. Seattle

The Thunderbirds are currently sitting ninth in the Western Conference with a record of 8-8-1 on the year. They’ve won their last two games in a row at home – a 4-1 win over the Wenatchee Wild on Tuesday, and a 7-3 win over the Vancouver Giants on Saturday.

On special teams, the Raiders powerplay scored a goal on the empty net to break their scoreless streak at 15 straight powerplays. That has dropped the Raiders down to 12th in the league at 24.2 per cent. On the penalty kill however, the Raiders have been much better at 83.1 per cent so far.

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As for the Thunderbirds, they are sitting 21st in the league at 15.9 per cent on the year, while their penalty kill is at 77.4 per cent to sit them at 11th in the league.

Brayden Dube is one of the players to watch. He leads the Raiders in scoring with 8G-13A-21P on the year. Behind him is linemate Aiden Oiring with 7G-11A-18P, tied with Riley Boychuk at 3G-15A-18P.

Evan Smith has scored the first goal of the game for the Raiders in the last two games in which he has acquired 3G -1A. Brayden Dube also has a two-game streak going with 2G-2A, as does Ty Meunier with 0G-2A.

Leading the Thunderbirds is Antonio Martorana who leads the scoring race with 11G-12A-23P. Matej Pekar sits second with 6G-13A-19P, and Braeden Cootes sits third with 5G-10A-15P, including two shorthanded goals this year.

As of late, Braeden Cootes has been on a six-game heater with 5G-8A in that time. Matej Pekar is next with 2G-3A in the last three games. In the last two, Simon Lovsin has 3G-1A and Antonio Martorana has 3G-2A.

In goal, Raiders goaltender Michal Orsulak leads the league in save percentage at 0.927, shutouts with two, and even goals against average at 1.79. His record sits a 8-0-2, while he has split starts with Dimitri Fortin at a 5-1-1 record, 0.880 save percentage, and a shutout of his own on the year.

As for the Seattle Thunderbirds, they have split starts as well between Marek Sklenicka and Grayson Malinoski. The two goaltenders have identical save percentages at 0.892, but Sklenicka has a 6-3-1 record while Malinoski sits at 2-5-0.

Saturday vs. Wenatchee

The Raiders will catch the Wild on night two of three straight nights on the ice. The Wild will be in Portland on Friday to take on the Winterhawks, then host the Raiders Saturday, and then head back to Portland on Sunday.

On the season, the Wild are 5-9-2, sitting last in the Western Conference. They’re coming into the weekend off a 4-1 road loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday, but won the two previous games 2-1 over Prince George and 6-3 over Portland with both games at home.

The Wild have the second worst powerplay in the league at 13.7 per cent on the year with five shorthanded goals against, meanwhile their penalty kill is the second best in the league at 84.8 per cent.

Three 18-year-old rookies lead the Wild in scoring this season. First is Mason Kraft with 5G-8A-13P, followed by Josh Toll at 0G-12A-12P, and finally Aiden Grossklaus sits with 4G-5A-9P on the year.

The Wild are also running two 18-year-old rookie goaltenders this year, and Tobias Tyrznik sits fourth in league save percentage with a 0.918, a record of 4-6-1, but no shutouts this year. Behind him is Cal Conway with a 0.891 save percentage, 1-3-1 record, and no shutouts this year.

The Raiders will first do battle with the Seattle Thunderbirds at 9 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Friday, and the pregame show on Brandt Raider Radio 900 CKBI will begin at 8:30 p.m.

On Saturday, the Raiders vs. Wenatchee Wild game is moved ahead an hour with puck drop at 8 p.m. and the pregame show at 7:30 p.m.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com