Cristall, former Raiders captain Johnston part of final big WHL trade deadline moves

Eric Johnston in action for the Raiders last season.

Andrew Cristall departed the Kelowna Rockets as a rental, and former Prince Albert Raiders captain Eric Johnston was part of a three-team move.

Those were the two big deals that rounded out the transactions on Wednesday and Thursday leading to the WHL’s trade deadline, which passed at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time Thursday. Outside of those two deals, most of the other trades from Wednesday and Thursday involved usually moving a player to get a fresh start in a new centre for a WHL Prospects Draft pick.

The Cristall deal was the big move that was made on Wednesday. The Rockets sent the star 19-year-old right-winger to the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for 17-year-old centre Hayden Paupanekis, first and third round selections in the 2025 Prospects Draft, second and sixth round picks in the 2026 Prospects Draft, and a first round selection in the 2027 Prospects Draft.

Entering play on Friday, Cristall sat fifth in the WHL scoring race with 60 points coming off 26 goals and 34 assists to go with a plus-22 rating in the plus-minus department. Entering play on Friday, Paupanekis appeared in all of the Chiefs 39 games recording 24 points coming off 11 goals and 13 assists.

Combined with the deal that saw the Rockets ship star 19-year-old defenceman Caden Price to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Monday for six assets that included standout 17-year-old defenceman William Sharpe, the Rockets will have two strong 17-year-olds in Paupanekis and Sharpe who will be 18-years-old in 2025-26, when Kelowna hosts the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Raiders take step forward, show optimism more good to come

The Raiders contemplate their campaign ending this past Friday.

The glass is more than half full for the Prince Albert Raiders.

With the 2023-24 campaign coming to an end on Friday with a 6-2 loss in Game 5 of a first-round post-season series to their archrivals the Blades in Saskatoon, you can rightfully have an optimistic feeling. After a one season absence, the Raiders returned to the WHL Playoffs.

A core group of players has been formed on the roster with Ryder Ritchie, Aiden Oiring, Justice Christensen, Terrell Goldsmith, Eric Johnston and Max Hildebrand. You could project Ritchie, Oiring, Christensen and Goldsmith could be together for the next two seasons without discounting Goldsmith could play in the system of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes in 2025-26.

It is fairly safe to say Johnston, who is the Raiders captain, and Hildebrand, who is the team’s star goalie, will be outstanding and motivated 20-year-olds in 2024-25. Hildebrand was one of the WHL’s best stories rising to be one of the circuit’s top five goalies posting a 25-20-4 record, a 2.88 goals against average, a .907 save percentage and two shutouts in regular season play. He is doing pretty well considering he was taken in the 13^th round and 286^th overall or second last in the then 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.

As 16-year-old rookies this past season, wingers Oli Chenier and Luke Moroz show flashes of possible breakout potential as they gained more game experience. Chenier showed consistent sparks throughout the year and Moroz played some really good minutes the second half of the season.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Christensen takes on offensive load on back end for Raiders

Justice Christensen picked up the back end offence for the Raiders.

Justice Christensen has been the answer to one of the Prince Albert Raiders question marks heading into the current season.

After Landon Kosior graduated following the completion of the 2022-23 campaign, the Raiders faced a question of where would the offence come from on the back end?

Playing out his 20-year-old season on the Raiders defensive unit, Kosior finished second in team scoring with 63 points coming off 17 goals and 46 assists to go with a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department in 60 games. In 2021-22, Kosior also topped the Raiders in defence scoring with 45 points coming off 18 goals and 27 assists to go with a minus-four rating appearing in all of the team’s 68 regular season games.

When he exhausted his major junior eligibility, the Raiders had a crater sized hole to fill when it came to offensive production from their back end. Current Raiders captain Eric Johnston finished second in team scoring from the blue-line with 17 points coming off three goals and 14 assists to go with a plus-six rating in 2022-23.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click right here.

Bedard visit played out perfectly for Raiders fans

Pats C Connor Bedard, left, faces Raiders D Eric Johnston.

Never underestimate how much Prince Albert Raiders fans want their team to win even when Connor Bedard is in the house on a rockstar tour.

On Friday, the 17-year-old phenom centre made his only visit to Prince Albert with his Regina Pats for the 2022-23 regular season. Bedard missed the Pats previous two visits to “Hockey Town North” due to his obligations with Canada’s world junior team.

While there was hype around his four visits to Prince Albert last season, Bedard’s most recent visit came after his brand took a huge jump upwards after his play at this past world juniors, where he helped Canada win a gold medal. Canada took the gold medal final 3-2 in overtime over Czechia this past January 5 in Halifax, N.S.

Bedard, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 185 pounds, topped the tourney held jointly in Halifax and Moncton, N.B., in goals (nine), assists (14), points (23) and had the best plus-minus (+13).

The North Vancouver, B.C., product was named the most valuable player at world juniors along with picking up accolades being named the event’s best forward and a tournament all-star.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click the link right here.

Birthday boy Johnston nails two firsts in Raiders win

Prince Albert downs Moose Jaw 5-2 for third straight victory

Eric Johnston gets pumped up after scoring for the Raiders.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – After getting his first WHL career power play-goal and game-winning tally under his belt, it was cake time for birthday boy Eric Johnston.

Ice cream cake time that is.

On Saturday night playing before 2,389 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, Johnson drove home a power-play goal from the point through a screen to give his Prince Albert Raiders a 3-1 advantage on the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors at the 10:44 mark of the second period. That tally ultimately held up as the winner as the Raiders skated to a 5-2 victory in the WHL regular season clash.

That marked the first time Johnston scored both a power play and winning goal in his WHL career. As a bonus for the sophomore defenceman, it all happened on his 19^th birthday.

The Raiders celebrate Eric Johnston’s power-play goal.

When the game wrapped up as a third straight win for the Raiders, Johnston had his mind set on enjoying some birthday cake time at his billet home.

“I’m doing it tonight,” said Johnston, who is from Regina, Sask. “I’m pretty pumped about that to get some ice cream cake in me.”

Johnston’s power-play goal came off an offensive zone faceoff with 10 seconds remaining in the Raiders third chance with the man advantage. With the draw in the left faceoff circle, Raiders captain Evan Herman drew the puck back to the left point to 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior.

Kosior fed a pass over to the right point that Johnston one-timed past Warriors netminder Jackson Unger.

Jagger Firkus was unable to score on a first period penalty shot.

“I loved it,” said Johnston. “It wouldn’t have happened without (Landon) Kosior.

“He made a great pass. Luckily, it (the puck) went through his (Unger’s) glove. It was good to get that one in.”

After downing Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats 6-5 on Friday before the first sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators of the season at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders got off to a sluggish start on Saturday. The Warriors recorded the first four shots on goal in the game including a penalty shot at the 2:30 mark of the opening frame.

Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus was awarded the penalty shot after he got a couple of strides ahead of Kosior on the break towards the goal and took a slash from the Raiders rearguard. On the penalty shot attempt, Firkus tried to put on a series of deke moves, but he was run out of room by Raiders import netminder Tikhon Chaika, who turned away the scoring opportunity.

Niall Crocker scored a pair of goals for the Raiders.

The Raider didn’t register a shot on goal until they got their first power-play chance at the 9:12 mark of the first. Just 39 seconds later, the Warriors took another minor infraction, and while the Raiders were unable to score on those power plays, the host side did build momentum.

Playing at even strength, Raiders right-winger Niall Crocker opened the game’s scoring at the 14:19 mark of the first period firing home a short range shot from the front of the Moose Jaw goal. Raiders captain Evan Herman poked the puck off the stick of a Warriors player to Crocker, who was able to shoot it by a startled Unger.

Just under two minutes later, Warriors star centre Brayden Yager, who turned 18-years-old in early January, potted his 24^th of the season to send the teams into the first intermission locked in a 1-1 tie. Yager jetted into the Prince Albert zone down the right wing on a two-on-one break and roofed home a shot to the top right corner of the Raiders goal over Chaika’s shoulder on the short side.

Brayden Yager scored the Warriors first goal on Saturday.

The tally allowed Yager to increase his consecutive games goal scoring streak to four contests and consecutive games point scoring streak to five contests. Over his last five games, Yager has four goals and four assists.

“I didn’t like our first period at all,” said Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt. “I thought there was an emotional letdown (after beating the Pats 6-5 on Friday night).

“I thought that we were slow. I don’t what they were thinking, but we weren’t at the top of our game. It was a grind it out type of game from there on in.

“It certainly wasn’t pretty. There were lots of turnovers and misplays and missed coverages. Sometimes, that does happen with a group that comes off an emotional win like that.”

Aiden Oiring had a goal for the Raiders on Saturday.

Even with the auspicious start, the Raiders were able to jump ahead 3-1 in the second period. Just 1:41 into the second, the Raiders took a 2-1 lead on a goal from 17-year-old rookie centre Aiden Oiring, who blasted home a mid-range shot from the front of the Moose Jaw goal. Raiders standout 16-year-old rookie Ryder Ritchie went in on the forecheck in right corner of the Moose Jaw zone, and a pass by a Warriors player deflected off Ritchie to Oiring.

Oiring made no mistake firing a shot past a once again startled Unger. The young forward came to the Raiders in a trade with the Winnipeg Ice on December 31, 2022.

In 18 games with the Raiders, Oiring’s 10 points coming off five goals and five assists has surpassed the eight points he put up in 32 career games with the Ice. With the Ice having a stacked roster that has allowed them to post a WHL leading 43-7-1 record, Oiring wasn’t seeing that much Ice time with the Winnipeg side.

Ryder Ritchie had three assists for the Raiders on Saturday.

He is getting more opportunities with the Raiders including playing first line minutes with left-winger Sloan Stanick and Ritchie.

“It is amazing developing a bit more with all the ice time,” said Oiring. “Just the players, I feel I got more chemistry, especially with this top line with Stanick and Ritchie.

“We know where we are going, and we’re passing the puck well and putting it in the net.”

After Johnston’s tally put the Raiders up 3-1 heading into the second intermission, the host side appeared to be set to cruise to victory.

The Warriors came out with a push back effort in the third, and with 8:15 remaining in the frame, Warriors 19-year-old centre Josh Hoekstra potted an off-speed shot from the point to cut the Raiders lead to 3-2.

Josh Hoekstra had the Warriors second goal on Saturday.

The Raiders sealed the game with goals from Kosior and Crocker to close out the frame. With 2:59 remaining in the third, Kosior scored with a backhander from close in to give the Raiders a 4-2 advantage.

Just 31 seconds later, Crocker scored a power-play goal shooting the puck home from the red line to account for his second tally of the contest. When Crocker scored that second marker, Unger was trying to skate to the Warriors bench for an extra attacker and tried to skate back to make a diving attempt to unsuccessfully get to the veteran winger’s shot.

Chaika stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders (22-28-3). Jackson Unger turned away 18 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors (33-18-0-3).

Landon Kosior (#12) had a goal and an assist for the Raiders.

Ritchie finished the contest collecting three assists for the Raiders.

The Raiders return to action on Monday when they travel to Brandon to play the 22-24-7 Wheat Kings (2:30 p.m. local time, Westoba Place).

The Warriors get back at it on Tuesday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre).

Following the completion of Saturday’s games in the WHL, the Raiders sat 11^th in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and six points back of a playoff position. The Pats (25-24-2-1), the Swift Current Broncos (25-24-1-2) and the Medicine Hat Tigers (22-22-8-1) sit tied for seventh to ninth in the Eastern Conference standings with 53 points.

Sloan Stanick jets up ice for the Raiders on Saturday.

The conference’s top eight teams qualify for the WHL Playoffs.

The Wheat Kings sit 10^th in the Eastern Conference four points ahead of the Raiders and two points back of the Pats, Broncos and Tigers. 

While the Raiders pulled out a win on Saturday, Truitt is looking for a better effort from his club against the Wheat Kings on Monday.

“We’ll obviously take a look at the video here tomorrow morning before we go to Brandon,” said Truitt. “We’ll put in their heads the corrections that we have to make.

The Raiders salute their fans after their win on Saturday.

“That is a team we are chasing, and that is a game we have to have. We have to be able to win on the road, so if you can’t get up for that one, there is something wrong with you.”

NOTES – The Raiders wore old school retro reverse jerseys for their clash with the Warriors on Saturday. The jerseys were designed by team photographer Mark Peterson and were reverse retro uniforms from the ones the club work in the late 1970s and early 1980s while playing in the junior A ranks. The Raiders raised over $10,000 in an online jersey auction of those jerseys with the proceeds going to President’s Choice Children’s Charity.

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Raiders stay alive with gutty 3-1 win over Ice

Winnipeg still leads WHL first round series 3-1

The Raiders celebrate Eric Johnston’s third period goal.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Is the dream alive like in 1979?

On Wednesday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Prince Albert Raiders staved off elimination in the WHL Playoffs pulling out a gutty 3-1 victory at the Art Hauser Centre in Game 4 of their best-of-seven first round series against the Winnipeg Ice. Prince Albert’s victory trims the Ice’s lead in the series to 3-1.

Due to the Prince Albert win, the series now shifts back to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Friday set for 7 p.m. local time at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

With their triumph on Wednesday, the Raiders took the first step in trying to rally back from a 3-0 series deficit, which is something they have done once in team history back in their junior A days.

In the 1979 SJHL Playoffs, the Raiders trailed the junior A version of the Swift Current Broncos that existed at the time 3-0 in a best-of-seven second round series. The Raiders stormed back to take that series 4-3 and moved on to win the Centennial Cup as national junior A champions.

Eric Johnston scored the winning goal for the Raiders in Game 4.

Current Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid gave a smile when told about the historic note but pointed out that was a great chapter in team history written in a different time.

“That is ancient history for us,” said Habscheid, whose team received a warm standing ovation salute from the 2,568 spectators in attendance as the contest’s final seconds ticked away. “We’re just trying to win a game, and we’re just trying to win a shift and worry about that.

“We’re not going to Winnipeg to participate, so they get another home date. We’re going there to win. We have a little bit of momentum and believability, and when you have that, that is pretty powerful.”

Raiders RW Harrison Lodewyk, left, battles Ice RW Evan Friesen.

Habscheid’s Raiders face a loftier challenge than the junior A version of the club took on in 1979. Heading into the 1979 post-season, the Raiders topped the SJHL standings with a record of 44 wins, 13 losses and 3 ties.

Swift Current had the circuit’s second best record in that campaign with a 40-19-1 mark. Due to the fact the Raiders and the Broncos were both in the then North Division of the SJHL, the latest they could meet in the post-season was the second round of the SJHL Playoffs.

The current day major junior Raiders are massive underdogs in their series against the Ice. The Ice topped the WHL regular season standings with a 53-10-3-2 record, and they were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Matthew Savoie sets to fire a shot on goal for the Ice. 

The Raiders squeaked into the WHL post-season taking eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with a 28-35-4-1 mark. One night earlier in Game 3 at the Hauser, the Ice romped to a 10-1 blowout victory over the host Raiders.

Habscheid was proud that his team put in the effort they did in Wednesday’s win to rebound from the drubbing they took one night earlier.

“It is the Raider way (you) find a way, character all the way,” said Habscheid, who sits fifth all-time on the WHL’s career regular season wins list. “We got shellacked last night, and guys came back and laid it on the line.

“We deserved to win.”

Tikhon Chaika made 26 saves for the Raiders in Game 4.

In Wednesday’s clash, both teams jumped out of the gate with an intense start that saw them play through a scoreless opening 20 minutes with the Ice holding a slim 9-8 edge in shots on goal.

Just over three minutes into the first, Raiders winger Sloan Stanick broke into the Winnipeg zone on a breakaway, but he was stoned by Ice star netminder Daniel Hauser.

Raiders rookie import netminder Tikhon Chaika came up big too for the Raiders in the opening frame. He stoned Ice star centre Matthew Savoie and star left-winger Mikey Milne on close in chances.

Daniel Hauser makes one of his 20 saves in goal for the Ice.

Savoie returned to the Ice lineup after being injured blocking a shot in the third period of his team’s 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the series last Friday in Winnipeg.

Along with those two saves, Chaika came up with a big glove robbery on a slot shot from Ice star 16-year-old centre Zachary Benson.

The Raiders opened the game’s scoring at the 1:53 mark of the second period, when overage defenceman Remy Aquilon blasted home a point shot through a screen for a 1-0 lead. Aquilon’s goal marked the first time in the series the Raiders held a lead.

Ozzy Wiesblatt sets to fire a shot on goal for the Raiders.

As the Ice pressed for the equalizer as the second frame moved on, both teams started trading firewagon chances over the final five minutes of the period. 

Chaika had to turn away Ice star centre Conor Geekie on a rush down the right-wing and stoned veteran Ice star right-winger Connor McClennon on a shot from the front of the Prince Albert goal off a three-on-one rush.

“I’m always trying to stay under control,” said Chaika. “I’m always focusing on the game and the puck, and I just don’t think about it. 

“After yesterday’s game, we just talk with everybody and decided to be ready today.”

Just 66 seconds into the second, Raiders defenceman Eric Johnston received a gift at the right wing boards in the Winnipeg zone as Ice defenceman Tanner Brown, who was behind his own goal, blindly passed the puck to the Prince Albert rearguard. 

Remy Aquilon had the Raiders first goal in Game 4.

Brown immediately tried to take up a defensive position in front of the Winnipeg net after the giveaway.

Johnston quickly fired the gift off Brown into the Winnipeg goal to push the host’s lead to 2-0.

“Going into the dressing room second intermission there, we just said we have to win a period here,” said Johnston. “Luckily, that one (his goal) went off their D-man, so a lucky goal there.

“The fans were definitely electric there and got the team a lot of momentum.”

After going up two goals, the Raiders really ground down the game defensively as the Ice held a slim 5-4 shots on goal advantage in the third period. 

The Ice celebrate a goal from Mikey Milne (#24).

Still, there were dramatics at the end of the frame.

The Ice received a power play with 2:58 remaining in the frame as Stanick was called for slashing. 

With Hauser pulled for an extra attacker, the Ice cashed in with a power-play goal with 69 seconds remaining in the third.

Geekie had the puck on the right wing, and he found Milne with a backdoor feed, and Milne potted his fourth goal of the post-season to cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.

With 49.3 seconds remaining in the third, Stanick iced the victory with an empty-net goal that rounded out the 3-1 final in favour of the Raiders. 

The fans at the Art Hauser Centre salute the Raiders.

Stanick’s tally went to a video review to determine if Raiders right-winger Evan Herman was offside, but the replay officials ruled that the tally was good.

Chaika stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Hauser turned away 20-of-22 shots to take the setback in net for the Ice.

If the Raiders find a way to pull out Game 5 in Winnipeg, the series will return to the Art Hauser Centre for Game 6 on Sunday for a 6 p.m. start.

After the salute the Raiders received their Game 4 win wound down and after the time elapsed on the clock, Habscheid believes his players received an extra incentive to try and get another home post-season game.

The Raiders celebrate their Game 4 win on Wednesday.

“I think what is important for our guys is with 20 seconds left the whole building got up, and you could feel the energy of the crowd and the appreciation of the crowd for what these guys are doing and the effort that they are showing,” said Habscheid. “That gives them a lot of motivation to comeback for Game 6.”

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Allan ensures Raiders playoff push stays alive

Defenceman picks up four points in 6-1 win

Nolan Allan collected four points for the Raiders on Saturday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Nolan Allan made certain his Prince Albert Raiders stayed alive as far as a playoff push is concerned as the WHL regular season draws to a close.

On Saturday night, the 18-year-old standout defenceman recorded one goal and three assists to power the Raiders to a 6-1 victory over the Regina Pats before a season high crowd of 3,040 fans at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The win allows the Raiders hopes of chasing down a WHL playoff berth to remain very much alive.

The triumph over the Pats was a big bounce back effort for the Raiders, who dropped a 4-2 decision one night earlier on home ice to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Nolan Allan and his Raiders stayed alive in the WHL playoff chase.

“We were more ready to go tonight I think,” said Allan, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. “We weren’t real happy with our game against Brandon last night.

“We came in prepared today and got the job done. It was just our mindset. We are do or die right now.

“Everyone has to bring more. We need every inch we can get. We have to stick to that mentality and play that way every night.”

With the victory, the Raiders to improve to 26-33-4-1 to jump into ninth place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference standings with 57 points to sit one point ahead of the 24-31-6-2 Calgary Hitmen.

Nolan Allan scored a key second period goal on Saturday.

The Raiders trail the 26-32-5-2 Swift Current Broncos by two points for eighth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Pats fell to 24-33-3-2 with Saturday’s setback to the Raiders. Regina remains 11^th overall in the Eastern Conference six points behind the Broncos for the final playoff berth in the conference.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes gave themselves a little breathing room when it comes to locking up a playoff berth posting a 6-1 road victory over the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Saturday. The Hurricanes improved to 29-30-3-1 to sit three points ahead of the Broncos for seventh in the Eastern Conference.

The Pats have six games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Hurricanes and Hitmen have five contests remaining on their slates, the Raiders have four games left on their schedule and the Broncos are set to hit the ice for three more contests this season.

Keaton Sorensen scored the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said he liked how his players took ownership when it came to playing well in Saturday’s game with the Pats.

“That was all on the players,” said Habscheid. “We had one power play meeting before the game.

“It was time they took over the show. In the end, the players have to own it, and they owned it tonight. They deserved the benefits.”

Just 2:12 into the opening frame, the Raiders jumped ahead 1-0 on a goal from left-winger Keaton Sorensen. Sorensen entered the Regina zone on a rush down the right-wing, cut in close to the Pats goal and tucked home his 10^th tally of the season.

Connor Bedard fires home his breakaway goal for the Pats.

With 7:01 remaining in the opening frame, Pats 16-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard snapped home his 45^th tally of the season on a short-handed breakaway glove side on Raiders import rookie netminder Tikhon Chaika to even the score at 1-1.

Bedard sprung himself on the breakaway intercepting a pass in his own zone from Allan, who was working the point.

On top of evening the score of the contest at 1-1, Bedard tied the Pats record for most goals in a season by a 16-year-old matching the 45 markers former NHLer Jeff Friesen put up in the 1992-93 campaign.

Reece Vitelli scored the winning goal for the Raiders.

While the Pats got even on the scoreboard, Habscheid was pleased to see Allan didn’t get down on himself after Bedard scored.

“It was important the way he (Allan) responded after that first goal,” said Habscheid. “(Connor) Bedard is a pretty good player.

“You can say it was a lucky play, but really it wasn’t. I just like the way Nolan responded.”

The opening frame had an intense playoff feel to it where the Pats held an 11-9 edge in shots on goal, and both sides brought some physical play.

The Raiders started to gain an edge in the second period and ultimately captured the games momentum scoring two goals in a span of seven seconds to go up 3-1 with just under five minutes to play in the frame.

The Raiders celebrate Nolan Allan’s second period goal.

With 4:52 remaining in the third, Raiders captain Reece Vitelli blew home a midrange shot for a power-play goal that put the Raiders up 2-1. Allan and centre Evan Herman combined to set Vitelli up for the one-time chance that resulted in the power-play tally.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Vitelli won the draw to Allan. Allan zipped down the right wing into the Regina zone and banked home a bad angle shot to give the Raiders their 3-1 advantage just seven seconds after Vitelli’s goal.

Allan said that two-goal spark proved to be important in allowing the Raiders to ultimately take the game.

“It was big,” said Allan, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 184 pounds. “I think it turned the momentum our way.

The Raiders celebrate an Evan Herman power-play goal.

“We obviously got a couple of more on the power play to kind of put them to bed. Those were huge.”

Just 41 seconds in the third, the Raiders struck again on the power play with offensive-defenceman Landon Kosior firing home a point shot to post his 18^th goal of the season to give the hosts a 4-1 advantage. Allan picked up his second assist of the night on Kosior’s tally.

At the 9:04 mark of the third, Allan and Vitelli combined to set up Herman for the Raiders third power-play goal of the night. Herman tucked home his 23^rd goal of the season from the centre left side of the Regina goal.

Eric Johnston (#3) scored the Raiders last goal on Saturday.

The Raiders went 3-for-8 on the power play on Saturday, while the Pats were unable to capitalize with four chances with the man advantage.

Rookie defenceman Eric Johnston scored a point shot goal to round out the 6-1 final for the host side.

Chaika stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. 

Drew Sim turned away 22 shots to take the setback in net for the Pats.

When asked about his four-point game, Allan chuckled and deadpanned that it really wasn’t that big of a deal.

“I guess some of those assists were just secondary assists,” said Allan. “They are not really that nice.

The Raiders salute their fans after their win on Saturday.

“It is whatever. We got the win is the main thing. It was a huge two points against this team.”

The Pats now get back into action on Tuesday when they travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings (7 p.m. local time, Westman Place).

The Raiders are off until this coming Friday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on their archrivals the Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Allan said his squad has to keep up the urgency going forward.

“It is do or die,” said Allan. “We pretty much have to win all of our games here.

“Every night you are putting everything on the line. That is just the mentality that we need that we are going to have going forward to try and get into playoffs here.”

Injury ends season for Raiders’ Wiesblatt

Ozzy Wiesblatt is out for the rest of the season due to injury.

On Saturday afternoon, the Prince Albert Raiders announced star forward Ozzy Wiesblatt has been brought to an end due to an upper body injury.

A decision was made to shutdown Wiesblatt through consultation of the doctors from the Raiders and the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. The Calgary, Alta., product, who turned 20-years-old earlier this month, has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Sharks.

The Sharks selected Wiesblatt in the first round and 31^st overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Wiesblatt last suited up for the Raiders on March 12, when they downed the Blades at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon 1-0.

With 3.8 seconds remaining in the first period of that contest, Blades overage defenceman Rhett Rhinehart nailed Raiders left-winger Sloan Stanick hard into the right wing boards in the Prince Albert zone by the blue-line. Wiesblatt took exception to the hit and engaged Rhinehart in a fight.

The two had a short fight with Rhinehart getting in the majority of the hard shots. Wiesblatt left the game and did not return appearing to favour his left wrist.

Wiesblatt appeared in 43 games with the Raiders this season posting 10 goals, 31 assists and a minus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

Before leaving Prince Albert, Wiesblatt was a guest of the 900 CKBI post-game show in the Ches Leach Lounge hosted in front of fans following the Raiders 6-1 home ice victory over the Regina Pats.

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