Raiders win third straight as post-season nears

Prince Albert gets back to top of East Division for one day

Daxon Rudolph had the winning goal for the Raiders on Tuesday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – It is all about playing the right way.

That is the message Prince Albert Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald has been preaching to his team. The Raiders are in a tight three way battle for first place in the WHL’s East Division, but the Prince Albert side doesn’t have control when it comes to landing in top spot in the division as the final week of the regular season progresses.

On Tuesday playing before a standing room crowd of 2,797 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders posted their third straight victory downing the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 3-1. On route to the triumph, the Raiders battled through a tightly contest opening frame and controlled play through the second and third periods holding a 43-23 edge in shots on goal.

Ryan McDonald, centre, works the Raiders bench as head coach.

For McDonald, the focus is on building momentum towards the playoffs and ensuring the players are sound in their team play.

“It is about continuing to build our game and play the right way and make sure we are on top of our checks,” said McDonald. “Our F3 (the third forward positioned high in the offensive zone) is an extremely important piece to our offence, but not only our offence, but our defence as well too.

“We have to make sure we’re on top of our checks and teams have to go 200-feet to get their opportunities.”

Tuesday’s win did allow the Raiders to improve to 37-23-5-1 to sit one standings point ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings (36-22-4-3) and Saskatoon Blades (36-22-3-4) for first in the East Division. Prince Albert’s division lead won’t last for long.

Lukas Dragicevic scored the Raiders first goal on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Blades travel to Brandon to face the Wheat Kings at 7 p.m. local time at Westoba Place allowing both of those clubs to use up the game in hand they have on the Raiders. The winner of the clash between the Blades and Wheat Kings will hold first place in the East Division after that contest.

Following Wednesday’s game action, the Raiders, Blades and Wheat Kings will have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

The Raiders close the regular season playing the Blades in a home-and-home series. The two sides go at it Friday in Saskatoon (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre) and Saturday in Prince Albert (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Joshua Banini made 40 saves for the Warriors on Tuesday.

The Wheat Kings conclude their slate with a home-and-home series against the Regina Pats (16-42-5-3). Those two teams play Friday in Brandon (7 p.m. local time, Westoba Place) and Saturday in Regina (6 p.m., Brandt Centre).

Raiders standout rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who turned 17-years-old earlier this month, said it is special and enjoyable to be playing in big games this late into the regular season.

“You want every game to have value, and these ones down the stretch really do,” said Rudolph. “Big players come up big in these times, and that is what it is all about.

“I think everyone in our locker room is ready for it, and we’re going to have a good weekend.”

Casey Brown scored for the Warriors on Tuesday.

As for Tuesday’s clash with the Warriors, the Raiders opened the scoring just 1:27 into the contest as star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic potted his 17^th of the campaign from the right side of the Moose Jaw net off a slick break into the Moose Jaw zone. Dragicevic was placed in a prime scoring spot after receiving a smart pass from 20-year-old star right-winger Niall Crocker.

At the 4:12 mark of the second, the Raiders pushed their lead out to 2-0 when Rudolph fired home a point shot through a screen. Rudolph’s goal happened to be the first stoppage in action for the frame.

“When you can contribute on the scoresheet and help the guys get some wins, that is all that matters,” said Rudolph, who has seven goals, 31 assists and a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department in 62 games with the Raiders this season. “It is nice for myself to be chipping in here.

Tomas Mrsic (#26) had an empty-net goal for the Raiders.

“At the end of the day, it is all about the team, and we got the two points tonight.”

The Warriors cut the Raiders lead to 2-1 at the 7:19 mark of the third on a goal by 18-year-old rookie right-winger Casey Brown. Brown one-timed home a shot from the front of the Prince Albert net converting a sweet setup pass from 17-year-old centre Luke Moroz.

Raiders star left-winger Tomas Mrsic sealed victory potting his 33^rd goal of the season into an empty net to round out the 3-1 final score in favour of the host side.

Warriors 18-year-old rookie netminder Joshua Banini tried his hardest to steal the game turning away 40-of-42 shots fired his way. With how well Banini was playing, McDonald was pleased with his club’s persistence.

Max Hildebrand stopped 22 shots for the Raiders on Tuesday.

“I thought offensively our pace increased as the game went on,” said McDonald. “We did a really good job of getting pucks low to high, but also east to west and getting them to the net off the pass.

“We made sure we landed at the net with traffic. Their goalie made some real key saves for them tonight. I thought our guys did a good job of getting pucks to the paint and then finding those second and third opportunities.”

Max Hildebrand stopped 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. On the campaign, the 20-year-old star puck stopper has posted a 31-16-5 record, a 2.88 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts.

While Hildebrand had another great outing for the Raiders, Rudolph said it was big for his club to overcome Banini having a stellar night in the Moose Jaw net.

Niall Crocker had an assist on Tuesday for the Raiders.

“I thought we played a good game, and obviously, he (Banini) did as well,” said Rudolph. “We put a lot of rubber at him, and he made some saves.

“I think second opportunities were there at time, and we almost banged them in. When you run into a hot goalie, it is what it is. You just have to find a way to win those games, and that is what we did.

“I think we played a really good 60 minutes here tonight and stuck with it.”

The Warriors will close their 2024-25 campaign with a home-and-home series against the Swift Current Broncos. Those two clubs go at it on Friday in Swift Current (7 p.m., InnovationPlex) and Saturday in Moose Jaw (7 p.m., Temple Gardens Centre).

The Raiders continue on with their final two regular season games against the Blades. Leading up to those contests, McDonald said the focus is to ensure his players are continuing put together good habits in preparation for those games.

The Raiders salute their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

“It is one game at a time,” said McDonald. “For us, the most important thing is tonight making sure that we get a good cool down in and get a good meal and get rested up so we can hit the game film tomorrow, and again, have another good day of preparation and just go for the weekend.”

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