Raiders defenceman Brock Cripps makes a pass during the last matchup between the Raiders and Hitmen back in February. (Image Credit: Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton

Weekend Preview: Raiders gear up for final road swing of regular season

Mar 6, 2026 | 1:01 PM

For the fourth time this season, the Prince Albert Raiders are gearing up for three games in three nights.

The Raiders come into the weekend tied for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with the Medicine Hat Tigers, but the Raiders have one extra game left on the season with a record of 45-9-6 (Wins-Losses-Overtime Losses). The Raiders are also five points back of the Everett Silvertips in the race for the top spot in the league. 

The Raiders lost earlier this week, 4-3 to Red Deer. That broke up a six game point streak for the Raiders which saw them pick up wins over Saskatoon, Prince George, Swift Current, and two wins over Moose Jaw, along with a shootout loss to Penticton. 

On special teams, the Raiders powerplay has continued to struggle as of late but is still sitting fifth in the league at 27.8%. The penalty kill is still right in the middle of the league at 77.4%. 

Despite three different goal scorers in the last game, there is no change whatsoever in the three way tie at the top of the Raiders scoring. Aiden Oiring and Brandon Gorzynski both have a dead even 27G-39A-66P, also tied with Daxon Rudolph at 25G-41A-66P. Max Heise rounds out the top four with 24G-33A-57P. 

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Scoring streaks: 

• Jonah Sivertson has 2G-1A in his last three games 

• Brock Cripps has 0G-3A in his last three games 

• Brayden Dube has 1G-1A in his last two games 

Raiders’ goalie Michal Orsulak comes into the weekend with a record of 22-4-4 on the year, a 0.904 save percentage, a second in the league 2.37 goals against average, and two shutouts on the year. 

Steele Bass played the last game for the Raiders; he comes in with a record of 10-3-1, a 0.908 save percentage, a 2.07 goals against average, and two shutouts on the year. 

Friday @ Calgary 

The Raiders will face the Hitmen to start off the road swing Friday. Prince Albert has not beat Calgary yet in three contests. Most recently, the Hitmen beat the Raiders 5-4 in overtime on Feb. 4 in Prince Albert, then 3-2 in regulation Dec. 5 in Calgary, and another 3-2 overtime win in Prince Albert Oct. 31. 

Aside from the season series with the Raiders, the Hitmen are fourth in the Eastern Conference and third in the Central Division with a record of 34-17-9. The Hitmen are pretty locked into their position in the standings with a six-point lead on Brandon, and a seven-point deficit to Edmonton. 

The Hitmen were in Saskatchewan earlier this week when they won 3-2 in Swift Current on Wednesday, but lost 4-2 to Moose Jaw on Tuesday. The Hitmen had lost three games in a row including Tuesday’s loss to Moose Jaw, but the other two losses happen to be to Medicine Hat. 

A big reason for the Hitmen’s success this year has been the league’s second ranked powerplay that’s operating at 31.9%. Their penalty kill is also in the top half of the league, ranked ninth at 79.4%. 

Leading the Hitmen in scoring is Julien Maze with 34G-36A-70P on the year. He’s followed by Kale Dach with 33G-36A-69P, and then there’s a bit of a dropoff. Andrei Molgachev sits third with 25G-28A-53P, and Ethan Moore rounds out the top four with 23G-24A-47P. 

Scoring streaks: 

• Julien Maze has 3G-5A in his last six games 

• Ethan Moore has 1G-4A in his last three games 

• Ty Meunier has 1G-2A in his last two games 

• Andrei Molgachev has 1G-1A in his last two games 

In goal, Eric Tu has a record of 21-11-6 on the year including two wins over the Raiders, a 0.902 save percentage, a 2.72 goals against average, and two shutouts. Behind him is Aiden Hesse, who also has a win over the Raiders this year, with a record of 11-5-3, a 0.878 save percentage, and a 3.23 goals against average.  

Saturday @ Red Deer 

On Saturday, the Raiders will face off against the team that beat them 4-3 on Tuesday, the Red Deer Rebels. Despite that win, the Raiders have the wins in the previous two matchups 4-1 on Oct. 4 in Prince Albert, and 7-3 in Red Deer on Dec. 6. This will be the fourth and final meeting of the season between the two teams. 

In the standings, the Rebels are still fighting for their playoff lives. They sit in the eighth place spot in the Eastern Conference, just one point ahead of Moose Jaw, and three points back of Regina. 

The Rebels will play Medicine Hat Friday night before their matchup with the Raiders, and the Rebels are actually coming off a loss Wednesday 3-2 in Saskatoon. The Rebels have lost five of their last seven games. 

On special teams, the Rebels are near the bottom of the standings in both powerplay, 18th in the league at 18.7%, and their penalty kill which sits 17th in the league at 73.2%. 

It’s Beckett Hamilton leading the Rebels in scoring this year with 21G-29A-50P. Poul Anderson has jumped into second with 19G-16A-35P, Talon Brigley sits third with 19G-15A-34P, and former Kelowna Rocket Calder Varga sitting fourth at 15G-15A-30P. 

In goal for the Rebels, Matthew Kondro has lead the charge with a record of 16-17-3 on the year, along with a 0.896 save percentage, a 3.32 goals against average, and one shutout. Peyton Shore has backed him up with a record of 4-11-1, a 0.863 save percentage, a 4.37 goals against average, and one shutout this year. 

Sunday @ Edmonton 

The final game of the weekend sees the Raiders take on the Edmonton Oil Kings. So far, the Oil Kings won the first matchup 3-2 in overtime in Prince Albert on Oct. 18, the Raiders won the next one 4-3 in Edmonton on Dec. 7 in overtime, and in the most recent matchup on Jan. 10, the Oil Kings won 5-3 in Prince Albert. 

The Oil Kings are pretty much locked into the third place spot in the Eastern Conference and second place in the Central Division.

The Oil Kings last played on Sunday when they hosted Swift Current in a 3-2 overtime win. That caps off a three-game winning streak with a 6-0 win over Lethbridge and a 2-0 win over Red Deer. The Oil Kings will have Friday off, but they will play Saturday against Medicine Hat before they meet the Raiders on Sunday. 

For how good their team has been overall this year, the Oil Kings are surprisingly in the bottom half of the league powerplay rankings at 14th, or 20 %. As for their penalty kill, the Oil Kings are seventh in the league at 79.7%. 

Lukas Sawchyn is the leading scorer for the Oil Kings with 22G-56A-78P, sitting third in league assists. After that, it’s Miroslav Holinka with 35G-41A-76P, then Carter Sotheran with 17G-46A-63P, and Ethan MacKenzie rounds out the top four in scoring with 20G-34A-54P. 

Finally on to the Oil Kings goaltending tandem, which is lead by Ethan Simcoe with a record of 22-9-4 on the year, as well as a 0.884 save percentage, and a 3.04 goals against average. His counterpart, Parker Snell, has a record of 17-7-1, a 0.886 save percentage, a 2.94 goals against average, and three shutouts this year. 

Each game this weekend starts at a different time: Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.. All three games can be listened to on Brandt Raider Radio and 900 CKBI starting with the pre-game show half an hour before puck drop.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com