Raiders comeback disallowed twice in Game 4 loss

The Silvertips were dominant in the first period, but the Raiders hit the post twice in the first five minutes of the second to generate some momentum, and at 9:53 it paid off. Matyas Man held a puck in on the left wall and passed across for Linden Burrett at the right point. Burrett fired a shot, Riley Boychuk redirected it wide, and Brandon Gorzynski tucked in the rebound for his fifth goal of the playoffs, and his first since being injured nine games ago.

Despite the pressure from the Raiders in the second, the Raiders got hit with a high sticking penalty, and the Silvertips powerplay scored again. At 18:43, it was a quick tic-tac-toe play from Landon DuPont on the right point, Julius Miettinen on the goal line, and across the crease to Rylan Gould that gave the Silvertips the lead back.

After 2: Raiders 1 – 2 Silvertips, shots 17-8 Raiders, 23-23 overall

Again on the powerplay in the early goings of the third, the Silvertips scored again. This time it was Carter Bear who curled his way off the right wall, then found a shooting lane around a screen and buried it at 4:24. A replay afterwards showed that it was close to being offside on the zone entry, but it’s a non reviewable call in the WHL.

The Raiders weren’t done though, and at the 6:43 mark it was the captain’s turn to fire up his team. Daxon Rudolph picked up an assist when he passed the puck back to Justice Christensen at the blueline, and Christensen fought through a check towards the right wall before firing through a screen for his third goal of the series and fourth of the playoffs.

Then came the controversy.

Aiden Oiring tried to catch Silvertips goaltender Anders Miller off guard with a surprise stop and wrap around attempt. Miller made the save, a puck battle in front of the net ensued and it came out to Benett Kelly, and he fired it in for his first of the playoffs. Instead, the referee standing on the back of the net had lost sight of the puck, decided to blow the whistle while still looking for the puck at the goal line, just as Kelly’s shot hit the back of the net. No goal despite everyone on the ice still playing.

To add insult to injury, the Raiders came back down the ice again and Owen Corkish put the puck in the back of the net, but again it was waved off. This time replay showed a Raiders forward had pushed a Silvertips defender into the goaltender, and the right call was made.

Two disallowed goals in a row killed the momentum for the Raiders, and the Silvertips took it right back when the last two Raiders back in their own zone fell on the ice, Zack Shantz found the loose puck, then sent it to the front of the goal for Shea Busch to tap in at 10:20.

The Raiders pulled their goaltender early to try and get some momentum, but it was too little too late. Braeden Cootes made a great diving effort to deny the first chance at the empty net, but Matias Vanhanen found his own rebound and tucked it in at 17:35.

FINAL: Raiders 2 – 5 Silvertips, shots 12-10 SIlvertips, 35-33 Silvertips overall

With two points on the night, Silvertips forward Julius Miettinen is now tied with Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who had one assist, for the playoff lead in scoring. Both have 27 points during the campaign.

Now down 3-1 in the series, the Raiders will host Game 5 of the WHL Final, the last game this season played at the Art Hauser Centre, on Friday.

by Nick Nielsen

Raiders comeback disallowed twice in Game 4 loss

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