Raiders forward Max Heise battles with Matt Paranych of the Pats during the Feb. 10 matchup between the Raiders and the Pats. (Image Credit: Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Final week

Raiders kick off final week of regular season with Pats rematch

Mar 17, 2026 | 11:00 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders played two dominant games over the past weekend with very different results, and now to kick off the final week of the season the Raiders are getting set for a rematch of the Saturday game. On Tuesday, the Raiders will welcome the Regina Pats to town.

This is the eighth and final meeting of the season between the Raiders and Pats. In the most recent matchup, the Raiders outshot the Pats 53-17, but the Raiders never scored until the final minute of the game to tie it and send it to overtime, where they would kill off a penalty and earn a 2-1 in a shootout. In the previous five meetings, the Raiders have won 5-2 on Feb. 10, 9-2 on Jan. 2, and 6-5 on Oct. 17 at home, and one win on the road 6-4 on Sep. 26. Regina’s lone win of the series came on home ice on Dec. 17.

In the standings, the Raiders are still sitting as the top team in the Eastern Conference with a record of 49-10-6 (Wins-Losses-Overtime Losses). The Raiders are still tied for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with the Medicine Hat Tigers, but the Raiders have three games left to play compared to the Tigers’ two. If the two teams finish the season tied with one another, the tiebreaker goes to the team with more wins on their record, and that is the Raiders.

The Raiders are also riding a three-game winning streak with the 2-1 shootout win Saturday in Regina, a 11-0 dismantling of Moose Jaw on Saturday, and a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings the previous Sunday. In their last 10 games, the Raiders are 7-2-1.

As for the Pats, they are sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference with a record of 25-31-9, and with three games left to play on the season the Pats are one point away from securing a playoff. A loss from either Moose Jaw or Red Deer on the final weekend of the season would also secure Regina’s spot in the playoffs.

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The Pats played Sunday night where they lost 5-2 to Moose Jaw, leaving the door open for Moose Jaw to still make the playoffs. That’s two straight losses for the Pats including Saturday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Raiders, but before that they had finished an Alberta road trip with a 4-2 win in Lethbridge. The Pats have a 0.500 record in their last ten games (4-4-2).

On special teams, the Raiders had one powerplay on Saturday that looked great, but was not rewarded. They sit fifth in the league at 28.1%. The penalty kill however was called upon twice including in overtime, and a crucial kill helped the Raiders improve their standings to 78.7 per cent, or 11th in the league.

The Pats powerplay was 0/2 Saturday, but they managed to hold their 10th place spot in the league at 25.2 per cent. As for their penalty kill, it stayed in its 20th place spot at 72.3 per cent.

Leading the Raiders in scoring is Daxon Rudolph who has pulled away from the pack with 28G-46A-74P. Aiden Oiring sits second on the team with 28G-41A-69P, then Brandon Gorzynski with 27G-40A-67P, and Max Heise rounds out the top four with 28G-33A-61P.

Scoring streaks: 

• Braeden Cootes has 1G-6A in his last three games
• Max Heise has 3G-0A in his last three games
• Brayden Dube has 0G-2A in his last two games

Leading the Pats in scoring is Caden Brown with 28G-32A-60P. Keets Fawcett sits second with 29G-29A-58P, and then there’s a tie for third between Zach Lansard with 23G-29A-52P and Ephram McNutt with 12G-40A-52P. 

There are no active scoring streaks on the Pats roster.

On to goaltending, and Raiders goaltender Michal Orsulak played both games this past weekend, stopping 33 of 34 shots faced plus two saves in a shootout to earn both wins. Orsulak comes into the game with a record of 26-4-4 on the year, a 0.907 save percentage, a 2.23 goals against average that’s tied for the best in the league, and three shutouts on the season.

Steele Bass has been backing up Orsulak, and Bass comes in with a record of 10-4-1 with 0.908 save percentage, a 2.07 goals against average, a two shutouts on the year.

As for the Pats, Marek Schlenker has been the starter for the Pats this year, and he comes in with a record of 18-16-7 on the year as well as a 0.885 save percentage, a 3.76 goals against average, and one shutout this season.

Taylor Tabashniuk has been the backup for the Pats, but he nearly stole the show Saturday against the Raiders as he made 52 stops on 53 shots in the shootout loss. On the season, Tabashniuk has 5-8-1 record, a 0.883 save percentage, and 3.84 goals against average on the year.

The Raiders kick off the final week of the season with a Tuesday night matchup against the Regina Pats for the final time this season. Puck drops at 7 p.m., and you can listen in on Brandt Raider Radio starting at 6:30 p.m. with the pregame show.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com