Raiders drop heartbreaker going into Christmas break

Iginla pots winner for Rockets with 21.7 seconds left in third

The scene as Tij Iginla (#11) scores the winner for the Rockets.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Old “Mo” turned out to be a Grinch to the Prince Albert Raiders.

On Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders were playing their final WHL regular season contest before heading off to their Christmas break. In a clash that saw many momentum swings, it appeared momentum would be on the side of the Raiders going down the home stretch.

Trailing the Rockets 3-2 late in the third period, Raiders import left-winger Krzysztof Macias scored a power-play goal off a net scramble to force a 3-3 tie with 2:41 remaining in the frame. The scramble was cause when Raiders 20-year-old star winger Sloan Stanick tried to score on a wraparound, and the puck squirted out to Macias during the frantic action and the product from Poland netted the equalizer.

The Rockets celebrate their winning goal from Tij Iginla (#11).

With 21.7 seconds remaining in the third, Rockets breakout star centre Tij Iginla netted the winner during a net scramble around the Prince Albert net. It appeared Raiders netminder Max Hildebrand had the puck momentarily covered, but the action continued allowing Iginla to score to give the Rockets a 4-3 victory. The result came to the disappointment of most of the 2,431 in attendance.

While the Raiders weren’t able head into their Christmas break on a winning note, head coach Jeff Truitt was pleased with his club’s effort in their final game before departing to enjoy holiday festivities.

“We battled,” said Truitt. “I thought the first period we really managed the puck real well.

Tij Iginla had a goal and two assists for the Rockets.

“I thought that there wasn’t a lot of turnovers on our part. I thought that we managed things. In the second period, it was a bit of a battle period.

“The temperature went up a little bit, which is good. They obviously weren’t going to budge. It was a battle.”

Truitt admitted it was tough for his side to see the game conclude with how Iginla’s winner unfolded.

“The third period the disappointing part about it was we battled back after they were up,” said Truitt. “We tied this thing up, and we have a call that the puck wasn’t covered.

“It was disappointing for sure, because we battled back to 3-3 and could have got a point, but we didn’t.”

Referee Brody McGrath discusses penalty calls after a scrum.

With the loss, the Raiders still go into the Christmas break holding a sound 17-15-0-2 record. They are getting an early start in entering their holiday period.

The WHL has a regular schedule of games set for Saturday and Sunday before everyone on the circuit will be on their respective breaks. No matter what the results are of Saturday’s and Sunday’s games, the Raiders will be sitting in a playoff position in the Eastern Conference entering the break.

Macias, who has 13 goals and five assists in 31 appearances so far this season for the Raiders, said it was tough to go into the break on a heartbreaking setback, but he and his teammates believe they put in a good effort.

Oli Chenier scored the Raiders first goal on Friday.

“It is not the best feeling to lose the game, even if we worked hard,” said Macias. “For sure, it is better to lose the game that way then to lose the game with no effort.

“That was our goal for all the season. No matter the score, we have to put 100 per cent effort every night. That situation happened today (on Iginla’s winner), it is hockey.

“It happens sometimes. We got unlucky. It happens to every team, and I think we will games the same way that we lost today.”

Iginla had a huge night for the Rockets recording a pair of assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department to go with his goal. His first assist came on the Rockets first goal as they opened the game’s scoring at the 10:49 mark of the opening frame.

Justice Christensen had the Raiders second goal on Friday.

He put a shot pass in the direction of the Prince Albert net that was tipped into the goal by Rockets 19-year-old left-winger Max Graham.

Near the end of the opening frame, the Raiders nearly went into the first intermission having tied the game up, but a rocket drive by star 17-year-old right-winger Ryder Ritchie was denied by the glove hand of 19-year-old netminder Jari Kykkanen.

The Raiders pulled even at 1-1 at the 3:44 mark of the second on an unassisted goal from 16-year-old rookie left-winger Oli Chenier. Chenier got the puck in the right corner of the Rockets zone while in on the forecheck, skated into the right slot and potted his third tally of the season.

Ethan Neutens had the Rockets third goal on Friday.

At the 10-minute mark of the second, the Rockets jumped back in front 2-1 thanks to a power-play goal from right-winger Marcus Pacheco. Pacheco recorded his second marker of the season deflecting home a shot from Iginla.

Just under four minutes later, the Raiders pulled even on the scoreboard at 2-2, when offensive defenceman Justice Christensen potted a seeing-eye point shot on the power play.

At the 4:42 mark of the third, the Rockets jumped back in front 3-2 when 18-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens floated home a shot from the left point.

Friday’s game had a fair share of high-tension type play, and things boiled over with 7:30 remaining in the third. After Graham nailed one of the Raiders players with a knee hit, he ended up engaging Christensen in a fight.

A scrum breaks out near the Raiders net.

Graham received a major penalty for kneeing, a fighting major and game misconduct. His kneeing major will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

Christensen was given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor and a fighting major.

While the bout between Graham and Christensen was going on, a big scrum occurred on another part of the ice. That scrum resulted in Rockets 20-year-old defenceman Kayden Sadhra-Kang, Raiders 18-year-old defenceman Terrell Goldsmith and Raiders 18-year-old centre Harrison Lodewyk all receiving 10-minute misconducts.

Raiders D Justice Christensen, left, fights Rockets RW Max Graham.

Macias’s power-play goal came on the tail end of the power play resulting from Graham’s kneeing major. Iginla’s winner followed.

Hildebrand turned away 21 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Kykkanen stopped 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rockets, who improved to 14-15-2.

The Rockets return to action on Saturday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the 23-8-1 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders players all head their separate ways on their Christmas break, and will get back together as a team on Tuesday, December 26. They return to action on Wednesday, December 27 when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Sloan Stanick’s wraparound attempt led to a Raiders equalizer.

Truitt said he told his players to soak in the holiday time.

“I just told them to enjoy the holidays,” said Truitt. “We’ve worked hard this first half.

“To be where we are at, we’re happy, but we’re not satisfied. We want to be better. We want to continue to grow and get better in the standings with point production.

“For right now, it is time for them to be with their families and enjoy the holidays for a bit – just be a young adult, because it is going to come quick enough. The second half is always harder than the first. When you get these breaks, you enjoy yourself, and we’ll come back strong on December 26th.”

The Raiders celebrate an equalizer from Krzysztof Macias (#34).

Macias said his team is satisfied first half of the season and has great anticipation for the second half of the campaign.

“The first half wasn’t bad that is for sure,” said Macias. “We are in playoff spot right now, so that is the most important thing.

“Obviously, we wanted more. We always want more. I think the second half will be even better for us.

“I think we will work every night going 110 per cent, because that is our identity. Our coach talks all the time about our identity to be tough to play against and to work hard every day. I think it pays off, so we have to stick together for the second half.”

The Rockets celebrate their win on Friday night.

NOTES – WHL outgoing commissioner Ron Robison visited Prince Albert on Friday night as part of a final tour to drop in on each of the circuit’s centres. He dropped the ceremonial faceoff before the start of the contest. Last June, Robison, who is 68-years-old, announced the 2023-24 campaign would be his last as WHL commissioner.  Dan Near, who is 43-years-old, has been hired as the WHL’s new commissioner, and he will begin transitioning into that role on January 1, 2024.

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

-------

If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.