By Trevor Redden

Raiders lose lead, fall in overtime to Wheat Kings

Oct 15, 2017 | 7:45 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders held a two-goal lead on two occasions in the third period, but the Brandon Wheat Kings fought back for a 6-5 overtime victory on Sunday afternoon.

Sean Montgomery and Cole Fonstad had two goals each for the Raiders, while Curtis Miske scored his second of the season on a third period power play. Fonstad’s second of the night put the Raiders up 5-3 with 9:15 remaining in regulation, but the Wheat Kings were able to draw even to force overtime.

“You know what, I thought we played a good game for the most part but at the end of the day we had a 5-3 lead late, and you just can’t let that happen,” said Raiders forward Jordy Stallard.  “You’ve got to play solid defence and take a step up in those situations and we didn’t do that.”

A minute after Fonstad’s marker, Gunnar Wegleitner took a pass into the Raiders zone and fired a short side wrist shot past Curtis Meger to pull the Wheat Kings within one. Then, with Vojtech Budik in the penalty box for delay of game after putting a puck over the glass in the defensive zone, Ty Lewis put home a one-timer on the man advantage, converting a cross-ice pass from Stelio Mattheos to knot the game at 5-5.

In overtime, Wheat Kings defenceman Schael Higson stepped over the blue line and beat Meger with a slap shot to give Brandon the 6-5 victory and a sweep of the Raiders in the two-game weekend set.

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With the win, the Wheat Kings have now rattled off six straight wins, but it looked like the trend was coming to an end in the early going. In the previous five wins, Brandon was the first team on the board, but tonight it was Sean Montgomery getting the Raiders ahead in the opening minute of the contest.

Brandon countered back with a pair of first period power play goals from Tanner Kaspick and Kale Clague to put the hosts ahead 2-1, but Fonstad’s first of the night levelled the game at 2-2 heading into the first intermission.

Once again, it was Montgomery getting the Raiders on the board early in the opening minute of the second to make it 3-2 for Prince Albert, which is how the middle frame ended.

Miske put the Raiders up 4-2 early in the third, but Ben McCartney answered right back for the Wheat Kings to make it a one goal game once again before Fonstad put the Raiders up 5-3 midway through the third.

The Wheat Kings outshot the Raiders 31-25 on the night, and made better use of their power plays with three goals on six opportunities. Conversely, the Raiders struck once on five power plays.

With the overtime loss, the Raiders take two of a possible six points on the weekend, and now look ahead to a home date with the Vancouver Giants on Tuesday.

“We just have to let this one go, learn from our mistakes and get ready,” said Stallard. “It’s a tough four in five so prepare our bodies, prepare our minds, and we know Vancouver is a good team so it will be a good test for us.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Sean Montgomery from Max Martin, 0:50

1-1, Wheat Kings, Tanner Kaspick from Kale Clague and Ty Lewis (PPG), 11:05

2-1, Wheat Kings, Kale Clague from Tanner Kaspick and Stelio Mattheos (PPG), 15:50

2-2, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Jordy Stallard, 17:11

Second Period

3-2, Raiders, Sean Montgomery from Vojtech Budik and Curtis Miske, 0:49

Third Period

4-2, Raiders, Curtis Miske from Cole Fonstad and Max Martin (PPG), 3:25

4-3, Wheat Kings, Ben McCartney from Baron Thompson and Caiden Daley, 3:41

5-3, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Zack Hayes and Parker Kelly, 10:45

5-4, Wheat Kings, Gunnar Wegleitner from Connor Gutenberg and Ty Lewis, 11:57

5-5, Wheat Kings, Ty Lewis from Stelio Mattheos and Gunnar Wegleitner, 14:35

Overtime

6-5, Wheat Kings, Schael Higson from Stelio Mattheos, 1:32

Three Stars

3. Gunnar Weigleitner (goal, assist), Brandon

2. Cole Fonstad (two goals, assist), Prince Albert

1. Ty Lewis (one goal, two assists), Brandon

Homecoming weekend

The weekend trip to Brandon was a homecoming of sorts for many Raiders, including Brandon native Stallard and fellow Manitobans Max Martin, Devon Skoleski, and Justin Nachbaur.

“It never gets old,” said Stallard on playing in his hometown. “It’s always a treat being able to play in front of (friends and family) so I just try to make the most of it.”

Back to home ice

The Raiders head home to meet the Vancouver Giants (2-4-1-1) at the Art Hauser on Tuesday night before hosting the Saskatoon Blades for the first meeting of the season between the two teams on Saturday.

trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nedderrovert