By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders outlasted by Hitmen 3-2

Feb 7, 2015 | 9:32 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders played Saturday’s game as tough and as intense as you could ask for against an in-form Calgary Hitmen side.

But as the Raiders are trying to scrap and claw into the playoffs in the last stretch of the season, tough and intense along won’t cut it—they need wins.

They didn’t get their wish Saturday against the Calgary Hitmen, as the Raiders fell 3-2 in regulation.

With the loss, the Raiders are now 11 points behind the Swift Current Broncos for third in the WHL East Division playoff race with 18 games remaining.

“I really liked the effort, but I didn’t like the result and neither did the guys,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “We got it back to the culture that we want, flying around, blocking shots, finishing checks and facing adversity.”

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Their new-found culture wasn’t enough against the tough Hitmen side, who won their seventh game in a row, including the 10-1 drubbing they handed the Raiders in Calgary last Friday.

The Raiders have now lost their last four games, three in regulation as they remain fifth in the WHL East Division race.

“We’re kinda disappointed in ourselves knowing we have better,” said Raiders defenceman Brendan Guhle. “We played good, but we don’t want to play good, we want to play great.

“That’s the thing we’re really trying to preach right now.”

Despite being outshot 15-8 in the first period, the Raiders led after the opening 20 minutes as Simon Stransky buried a rebound on the power play.

The Raiders were lucky to lead after the first, as Jake Virtanen’s wrister from distance beat Nick McBride and trickled dangerously close to the goalline. Although it was called a goal on the ice, it was disallowed after a video review.

The Hitmen would gain the lead on a pair of power play goals by rookie Pavel Karnauhkov in the second period. With the two goals, Karnauhkov is now up to 10 power play goals on the year and is tied for the WHL PP goals lead among rookies with Brandon Wheat Kings standout Nolan Patrick.

Chase Lang gave the Hitmen a 3-1 lead in the third with just 3:36 left in the game, but 14 seconds later, Raiders forward Craig Leverton scored to make it 3-2 keep the Raiders alive. Leverton scored his first goal in nine games, but has a goal and five assists in a five-game points streak.

The Raiders caused a flurry in front of the Hitmen goal, but couldn’t find an equalizer.

Iron man Yorke

In Friday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Swift Current Broncos, Raiders defenceman Dalton Yorke laid in a heap after taking a puck to the face during an attempted clearing attempt. Yorke left the game in the second period and didn’t return. That was after he was in an absolute furious tilt with Broncos forward Tanner LeSann. But against all odds, Yorke somehow suited up for Saturday’s game, much to the surprise of his teammates.

“Nobody thought he was going to be playing tonight, he was pretty mangled up,” said Raiders defenceman Brendan Guhle. “It shows true character for the Raider organization. It shows we have true character guys.”

Habscheid really appreciated Yorke’s efforts as well.

“Dalton Yorke plays after that? That’s a Raider,” said Habscheid. “That’s a Raider and it’s a mentality of never giving up and doing what you have to do to win.”

Although Yorke’s upper lip is still in rough shape, with freshly sown stitches poking out like whiskers, he put on the full face-shield and suited up without complaints.

“I can’t help but have that in the back of my mind but you have to just go out there and play it like any other game. You play for your teammates,” said Yorke. “I got the go-ahead from the doc. You just have to keep in mind that (the wound) is a long way from the heart, and just go out there and give it your all.”

The Raiders were down second leading scorer Jayden Hart and the highly skilled Kris Schmidli as they continued to juggle lines just to get 20 skaters out there.

McBride finally returns home

Raiders goaltender Nick McBride has barely played in the Art Hauser Centre this year, as Rylan Parenteau has dominated games in Prince Albert. Heading into Saturday’s game, McBride’s last appearance at home was Nov. 29 to relieve Parenteau. His last start in the Art Hauser Centre was Nov. 14 against the Moose Jaw Warriors.

McBride was sharp as he made 30 saves on 33 shots on Saturday and couldn’t be blamed on any of the goals as they were all cross-crease chances. Although McBride has probably deserved to win a few, he hasn’t won a game since Oct. 28, having lost 11 games since.

Cool Bean

Hitmen defenceman Jake Bean has come out of nowhere to quarterback one of the best power plays in the WHL. Despite being undrafted, Bean made the Hitmen out of training camp as a free agent invite. After starting the year out with limited ice time and the occasional healthy scratch, Bean now has 32 points, tying a Hitmen franchise record for rookie defencemen points with Matt Kinch, who had 32 in the 1996-1997 season.

Jordan Tkatch played his 250^th career game Friday at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders will travel to Swift Current to play the Broncos on Tuesday, the fifth of eight meeting against the Broncos this year.

The Raiders will then return to the Art Hauser Centre the next night to take on the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea