Riley Boychuk carries the puck for the Raiders against Oil Kings defenceman Noa Ta'amu. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders lose 5-3

Playoff level atmosphere as Raiders fall to Oil Kings

Jan 11, 2026 | 12:51 AM

With the Prince Albert Raiders having won their last six games in a row, the Edmonton Oil Kings were coming in on a seven game streak. Both teams had a win over each other in overtime this season, and with both teams having players return with silver and bronze from the World Juniors, both teams tied for second in the Eastern Conference, and both sitting one point out of first place in the WHL, there was a ton to be excited about coming into Saturday’s game.

All the parity leading into the game didn’t disappoint, and the Raiders arguably outplayed the Oil Kings, but an otherwise great game ended in a 5-3 loss for the Raiders with an empty netter.

All four penalties in the game were called in the first period. The Raiders had momentum early and had a solid first crack at the powerplay, but were held off the board. Two straight penalties were called on the Raiders, but the Raiders did well without two of their best penalty killers in Aiden Oiring and Max Heise, and that generated momentum into the second half of the period.

Just after the Raiders killed the second penalty at the 18:11 mark, the Raiders broke open the scoring when Linden Burrett put the puck hard down the right wall, close enough to a defender to negate icing. Aiden Oiring then beat the defender to the puck in the corner, and quickly fed the puck into the slot for Owen Corkish streaking in. Corkish fired a onetimer with just enough on it to ride up the goaltender into the back of the net for Corkish’s 10th of the season.

After 1: Raiders 1 – 0 Oil Kings, shots 12-4 Raiders

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The Raiders had a little over a minute’s worth of powerplay left to start the second period, and they took the momentum early. At the 5:39 mark, the newly acquired Braeden Cootes won the draw to the wall for Maddix McCagherty, and he fed it back to the right point for Linden Burrett. He put one towards the net, and Cootes tipped it in for his 11th of the season and his first as a Raider.

Through the middle of the period, the Oil Kings took the momentum and they scored a few hard working goals in a row. At 7:17, a shot from the the point by Ethan MacKenzie was tipped into the back of the net. Then at 8:27 mark, the Oil Kings won a battle on the wall, and Max Curran sent a pass off the wall for Blake Fiddler skating into the middle of the blueline, he fired around a Raider and scored.

Then at 12:24, Michal Orsulak made a great save on a shot in tight, but the save slipped out of his glove in front of him and caused a scrum at the side of the goal. The Oil Kings Kayden Stroeder was able to control it first, sent it out of the pile for Noa Ta’amu alone at the point, and he fired around the pile to give the Oil Kings the lead.

Then at the 18:47 mark, the Raiders were able to tie it up. Maddix McCagherty got the puck on the left wall, and he spun to absorb a hit while dumping the puck up the wall into the corner for Braeden Cootes. He skated behind the net and found Max Heise coming in from the right, and Heise fired a onetimer for his 19th of the season.

After 2: Raiders 3 – 3 Oil Kings, shots 12-10 Oil Kings, 22-16 Raiders overall

The third period was a battle, but the Oil Kings were the ones who took the lead back at 7:34. Off a feed from behind the net from Gavin Hodnett, Miroslav Holinka backhanded the puck in and the Oil Kings had the lead once again.

The Raiders put a ton of pressure on the Oil Kings through the third period, and Max Heise was robbed on two great onetimers, but eventually the goalie was pulled. At the 19:47 mark, Max Curran managed to chase the puck out into the Raiders zone and hit the empty cage to finish off a fantastic battle.

FINAL: Raiders 3 – 5 Oil Kings, shots 15-5 Raiders, 37-21 Raiders

The loss ends a six game winning streak for the Raiders, and it also ends a 13 game point streak for Daxon Rudolph. During that stretch, Rudolph scored 11 goals and 13 assists.

The Raiders have one more game in this homestand on Tuesday against the Brandon Wheat Kings. After that, the Raiders head to Alberta for the weekend with games against Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.