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 get the effort, Warriors get the win

Remy Aquilon (#7) and the Raiders fell 4-2 to the Warriors.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The effort is there, but the results aren’t.

On Saturday night before 2,274 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, head coach Marc Habscheid watched his host Prince Albert Raiders fall 4-2 to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. The veteran bench boss believes his players are putting in an effort to get a better result on the scoreboard.

At the moment, he said his club is going through a phase of making mistakes at inopportune times that end up being costly.

“The game is interesting,” said Habscheid. “There are parts in the schedule when you can’t score, and then there are parts in the schedule that you can’t help but to score.

Warriors LW Eric Alarie, left, and Raiders captain Reece Vitelli battle.

“Then your defence or your goaltending struggles or you’re taking bad penalties or whatever. There are just kind of ebbs and flows throughout the season, and right now we make a big mistake and it ends up in our net or we get a chance and we’ll hit a crossbar or something like that.

“That is kind of where we are at right now, so you rely on the experience and we just have to work our way through it.”

The Raiders got out to a tough start on Saturday when Warriors rookie defenceman Matthew Gallant opened the game’s scoring floating home a point shot through a screen at the 4:05 mark of the opening frame.

Josh Hoekstra scored a breakaway goal for the Warriors.

Late in the opening frame, the Raiders had a big chance to even things up, but sophomore right-winger Carson Latimer wired a shot off the post of the Moose Jaw goal.

With 66 second remaining in the first, the Warriors extended their edge to 2-0 on a breakaway goal from left-winger Josh Hoekstra, who turned 19-years-old on Saturday. Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus sprung Hoekstra on a breakaway with a stretch pass, and Hoekstra put home his third of the season stick side on Raiders import netminder Tikhon Chaika.

“They capitalized on their chances and we didn’t,” said Raiders 20-year-old defenceman Remy Aquilon. “It was just a tough start to the game.

The Warriors celebrate a goal from Josh Hoekstra, left.

“We have that inconsistency that we are having right now, and we are suffering from it. We just have to figure that out.”

At the 6:48 mark of the second, the two sides played two minutes of four-versus-four action with Warriors left-winger Riley Niven getting penalized for holding and Raiders star centre Ozzy Wiesblatt going off for roughing.

During that stretch of four-versus-four action, Warriors defenceman Maximus Wanner scored to give his side a 3-0 advantage and 19-year-old defenceman Trevor Thurston replied for the Raiders to cut Moose Jaw’s advantage to 3-1.

Thurston’s tally was his first with the Raiders, who acquired him in a trade on December 31, 2021.

Trevor Thurston scored the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

With 47.3 seconds remaining in the second, Firkus potted his 29^th goal of the season to give the Warriors a 4-1 advantage. Firkus had two assists to go with his tally for a three-point night.

Despite being down be three goals entering the third period, the Raiders didn’t go away.

At the 5:40 mark of the third, Raiders centre Evan Herman received a drop pass at the right wing boards from Latimer and wired home his 18^th goal of the season to cut the Warriors lead to 4-2.

Late in the third, the Raiders had a couple of other golden chances to get closer on the scoreboard. Raiders 17-year-old right winger Dallyn Peekeekoot was stopped at the doorstep of the Moose Jaw goal by Warriors overage netminder Carl Tetachuk.

Jagger Firkus had a goal and two assists for the Warriors.

Following that chance, Raiders captain Reece Vitelli fired a shot off the goalpost to put an exclamation point on the tough luck the Prince Albert side is having on the offensive end.

“The try was there,” said Habscheid. “I’m not going to complain when the try is there.

“Guys hit crossbars and sometimes they get up a couple and you can lose heart. The ice tilts, but our guys hung in there and rallied and stayed with it, didn’t lose heart and kept with it. You’d make an error, a big error and then it would end up in our net.

“That is where we are right now.”

Chaika turned away 26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Raiders (17-26-2-1). Tetachuk stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in net for the Warriors (29-17-3-2).

Evan Herman had the Raiders second goal on Saturday.

With the Raiders going through a reload type campaign, Habscheid said the team’s coaches have to continue to show trust in their players to keep their confidence up. He added if the effort keeps up the mistakes will get corrected and the positive results on the scoreboard will come.

“They try physically, and they try mentally,” said Habscheid. “We’re in a transition phase right now.

“They just have to be patient, keep their spirits up but still they have to be accountable. They have to try. They have to compete.

“They have to do it the Raider way, and for the most part, they do. Other than that, you are never going to accept losing, but guys will give you want the can.”

Dallyn Peekeekoot was stopped on a doorstep chance.

Aquilon said the players appreciate the fact that their coaches know the effort is there, but that he and his teammates still need to execute on the ice.

“It is good to know, but I mean it is on us at the end of the day,” said Aquilon. “We have to do what we have to do to win to win the games.

“I think we are not really executing the small things right, and we just have to figure that out.”

The Raiders return to action on Monday when they travel to Medicine Hat to face the Tigers. That contest starts a five-game road trip for the Prince Albert side.

The Warriors are off until Friday when they host the Swift Current Broncos (7 p.m., Mosaic Place).

Going forward, Aquilon his squad will continue to view every contest they are in as a must-win game.

“We go into every game like that,” said Aquilon. “I mean it is going to be harder on the road for sure.

The Warriors celebrate their victory on Saturday.

“We don’t have our home crowd behind us. We’ll have to use our team and rally up to win these games.”

NOTE - The Raiders wore throwback jerseys for Saturday’s game, with their old pirate logo. The Raiders jerseys with the pirate logo and star design were alternate uniforms during the period of time from about 1999 to 2001. 

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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