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| Niall Crocker had the Raiders lone goal on Friday night. |
On Friday night playing before a standing room crowd of 2,816 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders had a couple of mistakes at inopportune times and saw their power play that was rated third best in the WHL during the regular season come up dry on seven chances. That allowed the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings to skate away with a 3-1 victory in the opener of a best-of-seven first round series in the WHL Playoffs between the two clubs.
Game 2 is set for Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
The Raiders entered the series having won the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark and had won their last five straight games. The Oil Kings were seventh overall in the Eastern Conference with a 37-27-2-2 mark.
During the regular season, the Raiders claimed the season series between the two clubs winning three of the five head-to-head meetings.
The Oil Kings like to play more of a feisty and agitating style of game to go along with some decent skill. Overage centre Marshall Finnie relishes playing the role of being the Oil Kings version of Matthew Tkachuk of the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers of the NHL.
In 2024-25, Finnie appeared in 59 regular season contests for the Oil Kings recording 18 goals, 13 assists and 115 penalty minutes. The Lethbridge, Alta., product was one of eight players to have 100-or-more penalty minutes in the WHL this season.
The Raiders were able to hold their discipline in check enough to draw six power-play opportunities. That included Oil Kings star centre Gracyn Sawchyn picking up a double minor for high sticking late in the second period. That infraction will be automatically reviewed for a possible suspension by the WHL office.
Prince Albert had the WHL’s third best power play in the regular season, clicking with a 28.2 per cent success rate, but it came up dry on Friday against Edmonton. The Raiders power play was also hampered when star left-winger Tomas Mrsic left the game with an injury and didn’t play in the third period.
Edmonton was 0-for-2 with the man advantage in the game.
The first 29 seconds of the game proved to be ominous for the Raiders. Just 19 seconds into the contest, Oil Kings defenceman Josh Mori, who turned 21-years-old on Thursday, took a penalty for interference.
Just 10 second later, Oil Kings left-winger Roan Woodward made a long clearance from his own zone. The puck bounced off the end boards to the left of the Prince Albert net out to the front of the goal.
Raiders 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand misjudged playing the puck, which landed on Sawchyn’s stick. Sawchyn put a backhand shot on target that Hildebrand got a piece of with his stick, but the puck crept across the goal-line to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.
After giving up that unexpected short-handed tally, the Raiders regained their composure. With 86 seconds remaining in the first, Raiders star 20-year-old left-winger Niall Crocker came through with a “vintage Crocker” goal shoveling home a loose puck in front of the Edmonton net to even the score at 1-1.
Raiders rookie right-winger Riley Boychuk, who turned 17 in January, and rising star rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who turned 17 earlier this month, both picked up assists on Crocker’s tally. The helpers were the first WHL post-season points for Boychuk and Rudolph.
At the 9:03 mark of the second, the Oil Kings jumped ahead 2-1 while working the forecheck. Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett picked off a breakout pass in the Prince Albert zone at the left side of the Raiders net.
Hodnett put a backhand pass across the front of the Edmonton net to linemate Landon Hanson. Hanson did a shake move and tucked home a shot to give the visitors the lead once again.
Despite their best efforts, the Raiders were never able to come through with another equalizer. With 97 seconds remaining in the third, Sawchyn scored into an empty net for his second tally of the contest to round out the 3-1 final score in favour of the Oil Kings. Hodnett had a helper on that tally for his second assist of the contest.
Hildebrand turned away 37-of-39 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Alex Worthington stopped 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings, who were playing for the first time in the post-season since winning the WHL title and appearing in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – in 2022.
As this series goes on, you can expect more of the little things to add up to let one side or the other claim victory.
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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