Scorzynski in overtime: Raiders move to round two with win over Rebels

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In the later part of the third, Rebels goaltender Matthew Kondro made two phenominal saves on the Raiders to keep the game tied, both of which were in doubt until the overhead view of the camera clearly showed he made both saves. First, Justice Christensen took a shot from the middle of the blueline that Kondro stopped, the rebound bounced off traffic in front and slowly skittered to the goal line before Kondro dove back and swatted it away with his glove. The second saw Brayden Dube use his speed looking like he was going to cut around the front of the net, but instead went behind for a wraparound that Kondro was able to somehow cover up.

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After 1: Raiders 1 – 1 Rebels, shots 20-7 Raiders

In the second period, the shots were closer, but the Raiders still broke through twice to take back the lead. The first one came right away, just 2:08 into the period, when Brock Cripps passed out of his zone to centre for Owen Corkish on the right wall. He made a give and go play with Evan Smith that saw Smith enter the zone with the puck to draw a defender down low, then drop the puck back for Corkish who fired a wrist shot for his second of the playoffs.

After the middle of the period, both Justice Christensen and Aleksey Chichkin took each other to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, creating a full two minutes of 4-on-4. During that time, Matyas Man would lay the hit of the game when he stapled Rebels defenceman Jiri Kamas to the wall behind the net. Man didn’t get an assist but his hit freed the puck up for Brayden Dube, and he played it out to centre off the left wall to give Linden Burrett the puck a 2-on-1 rush. The passing lane to Aiden Oiring was taken away, so Burrett stared the goaltender down forehand, then made a move backhand and tucked it in around a frozen goaltender for Burrett’s first goal of the playoffs at 14:26.

The Rebels refused to go away though, and at 17:28 they would get back to within one goal out of nowhere. Again Kalder Varga picked up the primary assist when he carried the puck over the right side of the line, then passed across to Kohen Lodge trailing in from the left. Lodge was on the wrong side of the ice for a slapshot onetimer, but his snap shot came off his stick just as quick to fool Orsulak and bring the Rebels back to within one.

After 2: Raiders 3 – 2 Rebels, shots 17-11 Raiders, 37-18 Raiders overall

The third period saw the Raiders get a chance to put some distance between themselves and the Rebels with just the second powerplay of the game, but the Rebels were able to kill it off and start to slow the game down again. Both teams got good chances but were starting to pick their spots more compared to the end to end action of the first two periods.

At the 19:13 mark, the Rebels finally got some luck though and managed to tie the game. Just moments after pulling goaltender Matthew Kondro to make it 6-on-5 chance, the Rebels cycled the puck around to the left wall where Nate Yellowaga fired and bounced the puck in off a defenceman to tie the game at three.

After 3: Raiders 3 – 3 Rebels, shots 10-5 Raiders, 47-23 Raiders overall

The third period saw the least amount of chance for the Raiders, but they turned the heat up right out of the gate in overtime. First, Brayden Dube was again denied on his second wraparound attempt of the game, he’d instead pick up an important assist on the game winning goal.

Brock Cripps again made the pass out of his own zone for Brandon Gorzynski skating up the left wall, and he dropped the puck back for Dube as Gorzynski drove down low. Dube fired a shot that was stopped, and Gorzynski found the rebound, wrapped around the net, and ended it in overtime with his second of the playoffs at 1:21.

FINAL (OT): Raiders 4 – 3 Rebels, shots 5-0 Raiders, 52-23 Raiders overall

With the win, the Raiders also win their first round series 4-1 and will now wait for their next opponent. Possibilities include the sixth in the Eastern Confernce Saskatoon Blades, seven seed Regina Pats, or the fourth seed from his home team of the Calgary Hitmen.