First round WHL post-season series even up
at 1-1
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The Raiders celebrate a goal by Lukas Dragicevic (#3) on Saturday. |
PRINCE ALBERT – Rilen Kovacevic thought experience was the
best teacher.
The 20-year-old winger helped the Moose Jaw Warriors win
their first WHL championship in May of 2024. Now playing for the Prince Albert
Raiders, Kovacevic saw his squad fall 3-1 to the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on
Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre in Game 1 of a best-of-seven first round
series in the WHL Playoffs.
Having a league title run under his belt, Kovacevic thought
the best course of action was not to say anything going into Game 2 on
Saturday.
“I kind of just let the first game go,” said Kovacevic, who
was traded by the Warriors to the Raiders on January 7. “It is better to let
the guys get their feet wet.
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Justice Christensen (#7) had the Raiders first goal on Saturday. |
“As we progress, it is easier for me to step in and use my
voice, but it is all about learning.”
The Kelowna, B.C., product’s line of thinking proved to be
the correct line of thinking. His Raiders posted a resounding 6-1 rebound
victory in Game 2 on Saturday before a raucous standing room crowd of 2,852
spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre. The win allowed the Raiders to
even the series up 1-1.
“It was a learning curve last night,” said Kovacevic. “I
think we just kind of were stepping on our own toes a little bit.
“It is only going to get better, and we have a really solid
group of top guys that are going to lead us there.”
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Rilen Kovacevic broke a lengthy goal scoring drought on Saturday. |
While the Raiders would post a big win, the Oil Kings came
flying out of the gate on Saturday holding a 19-6 edge in shots on goal in the
first period with a number of shots coming off two power-play chances. Raiders
star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand turned away everything that came his
way in the opening 20 minutes to allow his teammates to get their skating legs
under them.
With 35.6 seconds remaining in the opening frame, the
Raiders changed the momentum of the contest seemingly out of nowhere. Working
the puck in the Edmonton zone, Raiders breakout rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph
passed the puck from the right point to the top of the left faceoff circle to
Prince Albert captain Justice Christensen.
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Lukas Sawchyn scored for the Oil Kings on Saturday. |
Christensen one-timed a shot home to put the Raiders up 1-0
heading into the first intermission.
“(Christensen’s) goal kind of turned the tide for us, and we
got going after that,” said Hildebrand. “We probably have to be a bit more
disciplined to start the game.”
Just 2:35 into the second, the Raiders pushed their lead out
to 2-0. Raiders rookie defenceman Linden Burrett had the puck at the right side
boards in the Edmonton zone and slipped a backdoor pass to Kovacevic positioned
at the left post of the Oil Kings net. Kovacevic made no mistake in tapping
home the puck for his first goal in 15 games for the Raiders.
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Niall Crocker had two goals for the Raiders on Saturday. |
Before that tally, Kovacevic’s last goal came way back on
February 8 in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. During
the regular season, Kovacevic collected 26 goals and 33 assists in 60 games
split between the Warriors and Raiders. He was pleased to be able to break his
goal scoring drought.
“I found a good step tonight,” said Kovacevic. “I thought I
was pretty solid last night, but it is going to get better as we go.”
At the 6:01 mark of the second, the Oil King struck on the
power play to cut the Raiders lead to 2-1. Oil Kings star import centre Adam
Jecho had the puck along the left side boards deep in the Prince Albert zone
and made a backdoor pass across the face of the Raiders net to Oil King star
right-winger Lukas Sawchyn positioned at the right post.
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Max Hildebrand makes one of his 42 saves in goal for the Raiders. |
Sawchyn’s first shot was stopped by a sprawling Hildebrand,
but the skilled rookie popped home his own rebound to trim the Raiders
advantage to one goal.
Just a little over three-and-a-half minutes later, the
Raiders struck for a power-play goal. Raiders star left-winger Tomas Mrsic had
the puck at the left wing boards and he put a slick pass on the stick of
20-year-old star left-winger Niall Crocker, who was stationed in front of the
Edmonton net. Crocker showed some soft hands sliding home a power-play goal to
push the Raiders lead out to 3-1.
The hosts proceeded to open the flood gates in the third.
Just 3:04 into the frame, Crocker banged home his second goal of the night from
the front of the Edmonton net to give the Raiders a 4-1 advantage.
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Aiden Oiring had the Raiders fifth goal on Saturday. |
Raiders star centre Aiden Oiring popped home a shot close in
at the right side of the Edmonton net at the 7:48 mark of the third to put
Prince Albert up 5-1. Raiders star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic rounded out the
game’s scoring firing home a midrange shot on the power play with 7:34
remaining in the third.
At that point, frustration started to take over for some
members of the Oil Kings. Just 23 seconds after Dragicevic’s goal, Burrett and
Oil Kings rookie right-winger Jack Toogood engaged in a fight.
With 4:05 remaining in the third, Oil Kings overage centre
Marshall Finnie was given a 10-minute misconduct for getting a little too loose
with his lips on the ice. Finnie left the ice and departed to the Oil Kings
dressing room to a standing ovation from the Raiders faithful.
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Lukas Dragicevic had one goal and two assists on Saturday. |
Hildebrand said it was important for his side to stay out of
the extracurricular activities that occur on the ice.
“We just have to worry about ourselves and not them and just
keep playing our game every game,” said Hildebrand. “We have to stay even keel,
and that is going to be a big thing for us this series.”
Hildebrand stopped 42 shots to pick up the win in goal for
the Raiders. Alex Worthington turned away 20 shots to take the setback in net
for the Oil Kings.
Dragicevic had a pair of assists to go with his goal, and
Rudolph had three helpers to go with a plus-two rating in the plus-minus
department.
Prince Albert was 2-for-4 on the power play, while Edmonton
was 1-for-9 with the man advantage.
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Oil Kings RW Jack Toogood, left, fights Raiders D Linden Burrett. |
Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald was pleased to see
a number of his players have big games.
“I thought we had a really good group effort,” said
McDonald. “Hilty (Hildebrand) stood tall back there.
“Our PK guys, they ate lots of pucks. They had great sticks
and had some great stands on the blue line. We took advantage of the
opportunities when they came.
“I thought it was a really good group effort. Our goals came
off of resetting pucks back underneath the play.”
The Raiders entered the series having won the WHL’s East
Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark.
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Daxon Rudolph had three assists for the Raiders on Saturday. |
The Oil Kings were seventh overall in the
Eastern Conference with a 37-27-2-2 mark.
The series how switches to Edmonton. Game 3 is set for
Tuesday and Game 4 follows on Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time both nights at
Rogers Place.
Kovacevic said his club is gunning to take both of those games on
the road.
“Our goal is to go and win two there,” said Kovacevic. “We
want to come back and be able to finish it off at our rink.
“What happened will be what happens. We got home ice for a
reason. We’re happy with the split, honestly.
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The Raiders salute the Art Hauser Centre faithful after their win. |
“There is nothing I’d change. I think it is a good learning
curve that first game, and we have an opportunity to go in there and steal a
couple.”
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