Raiders bend, finally break against Warriors

Third period surge powers Moose Jaw to 4-1 victory

Brayden Yager had a goal and assist for the Warriors on Friday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders weren’t able to hold off the Moose Jaw Warriors constant pressure forever.

After netting the first goal of Friday’s WHL regular season clash at the Art Hauser Centre, the host Raiders saw the visiting Warriors take over the encounter. The Raiders 1-0 lead after the first period became a 1-1 tie after 40 minutes.

The Warriors surged for three goals in the third to cruise to a 4-1 victory before 2,202 spectators.

Following game, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid didn’t mince words with his assessment.

“It wasn’t a close game, not even close,” said Habscheid. “We got schooled.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored to give the Raiders an early lead.

“I didn’t like our forward group one bit. We got four D (defencemen) who are as good as anybody in the league, and we couldn’t get out of our end and that wasn’t on them. Our forward group, we tried to play dangle and play slow and on their own page and no forecheck.

“We were one and done. It was not good.”

Friday’s contest was quite different compared to when these same two clubs met Wednesday in Moose Jaw. In that game, the Raiders scored three times in the second period to take a 3-0 lead and held off a late third period Warriors rally to pull out a 3-2 win.

Warriors standout 16-year-old centre Brayden Yager believed his team’s overall effort was better and way more consistent in Friday’s win compared to Wednesday’s loss.

Dallyn Peekeekoot (#26) throws a hit for the Raiders.

“I thought tonight we played a full 60 minutes,” said Yager, who had a goal and assist in Friday’s win. “I thought last game we didn’t really have a good start.

“Tonight we played a full 60 minutes, and we got the job done.”

The Raiders appeared to start on their heels after they found themselves killing a couple of penalties to start the first period. In an unexpected development, the second kill provided a big offensive chance for the host side.

On the second kill, Raiders star defenceman Nolan Allan cleared the puck out of his own zone, and a race ensued for the puck in the Moose Jaw zone between Raiders star right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt and Warriors captain Daemon Hunt.

Jagger Firkus scored a goal that got called back on video review.

Wiesblatt beat Hunt for the puck and put home a short-handed goal on a wraparound to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

 The Warriors appeared to get the equalizer at the 8:28 mark of the opening frame on a left slot shot from right-winger Jagger Firkus. The goal was disallowed after a video review as the officials ruled the net was dislodged on the play.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary put up a protest, because the Prince Albert net was dislodge when Raiders netminder Carter Serhyenko pushed off one post to slide across the crease attempting to make a save.

While the Raiders had a 1-0 lead exiting the first period, the Warriors had an 11-6 in shots on goal. The visitors kept up the intensity through the rest of the game.

Ryder Korczak had a goal and an assist for the Warriors.

The Warriors pulled even at the 7:37 mark of the second, when import left-winger Martin Rysavy netted his first career WHL goal and point.

Warriors centre Ryder Korczak had the puck at the left side of the Prince Albert net, and fed a pass across the face of the goal to Rysavy. Rysavy buried a shot to force a 1-1 tie.

The Raiders had a chance to go ahead a short time later, but overage left-winger Michael Horon missed the net on a breakaway opportunity.

Moose Jaw outshot Prince Albert 10-4 in the second and could have had a bigger edge going to the third.

The visitors had two big chances to go ahead late in the frame working on the power play, but Serhyenko made big respective glove saves on Yager and defenceman Denton Mateychuk.

“We played the right way in Moose Jaw (on Wednesday night),” said Habscheid. “Our forwards were not good tonight to a man.

The Warriors celebrate a goal from Martin Rysavy (#19).

“They were not good. They didn’t create anything, and tried to do everything on their own. They couldn’t make a pass and couldn’t catch a pass, and our D (defencemen) were under siege the whole night.”

The Warriors finally got out in front at the 7:42 mark of the third, when Yager knocked home a puck from point blank range in front of the Raiders net. The Saskatoon product said he drove to the net to be in the right place, when overage defenceman Majid Kaddoura shot the puck to the net.

“I was kind of just going to the net, and I poke it in,” said Yager. “It ended up going in.

“I wasn’t sure if I scored it, but I ended up poking it in.”

Nolan Allan had an assist for the Raiders.

That opened the flood gates. Just six seconds before the midway point of the frame, Korczak scored to put the Warriors up 3-1, and just 34 seconds after that tally, Mateychuk netted his second of the season to round out the 4-1 victory.

Carl Tetachuk made 13 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Warriors (3-2). Serhyenko turned away 29 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders (1-5).

After playing all 24 games with the Warriors last season in an abbreviated campaign in a bubble environment in Regina, Yager believes he got a jump going into his 16-year-old sophomore season.

Denton Mateychuk had the Warriors final goal on Friday.

“It was nice last year to play the 24 games that we got in,” said Yager. “It was real nice.

“I feel a lot more comfortable this year. We’re hoping to do big things these next couple of years.”

While Friday’s effort was disappointing for the Raiders, Wiesblatt believes he and his teammates can play way better than they did.

“We just have to be better in all areas,” said Wiesblatt. “It just comes down to our compete level.

“We weren’t competing at all today. It starts with guys like me. I have to be a lot better.

The Warriors celebrate their win on Friday.

“It is still early in the year. Guys are kind of getting their first touches with different linemates. We’re going to get better, and I believe in these guys.”

The Raiders return to action Saturday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre. The Warriors are back in action Saturday, when they return home to host the Saskatoon Blades at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Place.

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