Bass Steeles the show as Raiders win third straight

Then at the end of the period, Eli Molde set up a great play by driving the puck in deep and around the back of the net, drawing all five defenders down low in the zone. The rest of the Raiders came crashing into the zone, and Molde found Benett Kelly streaking in the left with a wide open lane to the net. Kelly fired hard for a rebound, but instead found the back of the net for his second of the year at 19:35.

After 1: Raiders 2 – 1 Wheat Kings, shots 13-5 Raiders

The second period went by quickly with only 11 faceoffs through the first 15 minutes, and only one unsuccessful powerplay a side. Connor Howe was robbed on a onetimer short side, and later just missed putting a loose rebound into the net thanks to a defender’s stick in the lane.

Steele Bass’ best save of the period came on a turnover low in the Raiders zone. Jaxon Jacobson set up Aiden Foster for a onetimer short side, but Bass easily swatted the shot away with his blocker.

After 2: Raiders 2 – 1 Wheat Kings, shots 9-9, 20-14 Raiders overall

Early in the third, the Raiders got their sixth powerplay of the game, and they capitalized. Again the play started from a Ben Harvey onetimer that was stopped, but the threat of another drew the defence to him. When the rebound came out to Brock Cripps again, Cripps passed the puck to the goal line for Riley Boychuk. He turned and jammed his third of the season in at 1:20, leading to a dust up between both teams after the play.

Then came Steele Bass’ save of the night. As Bass was extending out to his left to stop a backdoor feed, the puck was slowed down on its way. That meant Bass was sliding out to his left too far, so he turned to his right to block the shooter’s lane down low. That shooter was Aiden Foster, who tried to flip the puck over Bass’ pad, and Bass dove forward with his glove hand backwards and snared the puck out from under the crossbar.

The Wheat Kings, and Foster specifically, would get one past Bass before the end of the game. Like the first Wheat Kings goal, Jaxon Jacobson stopped another Raider breakout on the right wall, then gave it to Aiden Foster skating in, and he fired a shot off the blocker and in at 15:27.

From there, the Wheat Kings put a ton of pressure on to try and tie the game, but the Raiders held strong. At the 19:24 mark, Jordan Murray got the puck out to centre which sprung Owen Corkish and Jonah Sivertson on a tired 2-on-1. The defenders were about to catch Corkish, so he fed Sivertson, and Sivertson buried his third of the season into the empty net at 19:24.

FINAL: Raiders 4 – 2 Wheat Kings, shots 19-7 Wheat Kings, 33-29 Wheat Kings overall

Steele Bass made 31 saves on 33 shots on the night including that phenominal save in the third. During the post game show, Bass was asked about how he’s able to reset after being beat early in the game on the breakaway, and he said he simply ‘keeps smiling’ and feeds off the crowd of the Art Hauser Centre.

Seven Raiders entered the game with points in consecutive games, and all seven of them continued their streaks.

Brandon Gorzynski: one goal on the night, seven games, 5G-4A

Brock Cripps: two assists on the night, six games, 1G-12A

Alisher Sarkenov: one assist on the night, six games, 5G-4A

Benett Kelly: one goal on the night, three games, 1G-3A

Jonah Sivertson: one goal on the night, three games, 3G-0A

Riley Boychuk: one goal on the night, three games, 1G-2A (2G-4A in last six games)

Owen Corkish: one assist on the night, three games, 0G-3A (1G-4A in last six games)

The Raiders play host to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday.

by Nick Nielsen

Bass Steeles the show as Raiders win third straight

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