Boychuk’s patience and grit pays off for Raiders

Winger nets third period winner against Wheat Kings

The Raiders celebrate a winning goal from Riley Boychuk (#23).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Riley Boychuk made sure the Brandon Wheat Kings weren’t able to get out of Prince Albert with a steal.

On Tuesday, the Raiders found themselves holding a 2-1 lead over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings after two periods in a WHL regular season clash played before 2,392 spectators at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders were holding a 27-8 edge in shots on goal including a huge 20-1 edge in the second period.

At the 5:29 mark of the third, Wheat Kings 20-year-old offensive-defenceman Grayson Burzynski scored with a shot from the left wing to force a 2-2 tie. Wheat Kings 19-year-old netminder and Prince Albert product Jayden Kraus had seemingly turned into Calgary Flames legend Miikka Kiprusoff and was denying tonnes of glorious scoring chances.

Riley Boychuk had one goal and was a plus-two on Tuesday.

Just 2:06, Boychuk had the puck at the right side of the Brandon net with Kraus sprawled out to make another save. Boychuk deked around the goalie and tapped home a backhand shot to put the Raiders up 3-2.

That tally would hold up as the winner and sparked a surge as Raiders wingers Owen Corkish and Brayden Dube added singles to cement a 5-2 victory for the host side in a game that had its rougher moments. The win allowed the Raiders to improve to 4-0 in head-to-head meetings with their East Division rivals this season.

“I think it was a complete game all around,” said Boychuk, who has nine goals and 34 assists in 39 regular season outings in the current campaign. “I think, obviously, we played them lots.

Riley Boychuk has nine goals and 34 assists in 39 games.

“They are a big rival with us. It is going to get rough out there, getting intense, division rivals. Our first (period), we kind of let them into it a little bit. I think the second we had a lot of chances.

“I think the credit to their goalie (Kraus) he played really well. I think credit to us though we stuck with it. In the third, it kind of opened up there.”

Boychuk, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 165 pounds, showed off a bit of a feisty edge too on Tuesday night. That was best seen in a scrum that occurred with 3.6 seconds remaining in the third period.

The scrum escalated when Wheat Kings star 20-year-old right-winger Luke Mistelbacher punched Raiders 17-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson to the ice. Boychuk jetted immediately into the fray with teammates following suit. The officials quickly got the situation under control and Boychuk received a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct among the off-setting penalties that were handed out.

Luke Mistelbacker gave the Wheat Kings an early 1-0 lead.

During those feisty moments, Boychuk kind of mirrored the playing style of his head coach Ryan McDonald, who built a reputation as a feisty forward that could score during his WHL playing days with the Regina Pats and Raiders from 2004 to 2009.

“First, it is a big compliment to be in the same mention as him (McDonald),” said Boychuk, who was a plus-two in the plus-minus department on Tuesday night. “I think it is just trying to add that to my game.

“That situation there, Sivy (Sivertson) is a great guy on the team. I know he’d do the same for me. He (Mistlebacher) has got to get his punch in, especially at the end of the game, right?

Jayden Kraus makes one of his 39 saves on Tuesday.

“You want to stick up for your teammates, and that is not just me doing that. It is everybody that game in. If anybody else was on the ice, it would be the same for all of us.”

McDonald appreciated the effort Boychuk put in during Tuesday’s victory over Brandon.

“Chucky (Boychuk) is a tremendously smart hockey player,” said McDonald. “He has tremendous vision.

“You saw his patience on the goal. He has a fantastic defensive stick. At the end coming to the aid of a teammate and mixing it up a little bit, that is what our group does.

“They stick up for one another.”

Daxon Rudolph had the Raiders first goal on Tuesday.

The Wheat Kings broke on to the scoreboard first in Tuesday’s clash at the 6:50 mark of the opening frame. Wheat Kings 16-year-old rookie left-winger Prabh Bhathal sprung Mistlebacher in on the Prince Albert goal with a sleek pass. Mistlebacher snapped his 21^st of the season past Raiders star import netminder Michal Orsulak.

The Raiders evened the score at 1-1 while working on a two-man advantage at the 9:51 mark of the opening frame. Raiders star 17-year-old defenceman Daxon Rudolph sniped a seeing-eye shot past Kraus for the equalizer and his 19^th tally of the campaign.

In the second, Kraus was putting on a clinic denying waves of Raiders scoring chances that came his way. With 7:18 remaining in the second, Raiders 19-year-old defenceman Linden Burrett cut to the front of the Brandon net with the puck and slid home a backhand shot underneath Kraus to put the hosts in front 2-1. Burrett’s goal was the 16^th shot on net in the frame for the Prince Albert side.

Linden Burrett scored for the Raiders in the second period.

That set up the dramatics in the third period.

Heading into the third, Boychuk said the Raiders were focused on pushing forward. After Burzynski scored the third-period equalizer for the Wheat Kings, Boychuk said the Raiders kept pushing forward ultimately resulting in his goal.

“I think it started with the second (period),” said Boychuk. “I thought we were playing well.

“We only let up one shot in the second right there, so our message in the room was to keep going and don’t let up there. I thought that we did a really good job at the start of the third. They got a good shot there, lucky bounce, good shot, so on the bench, we just said stick with it.

Grayson Burzynski had the Wheat Kings second goal on Tuesday.

“I think that was a big goal there to get that momentum back.”

McDonald was pleased Boychuk ultimately netted the winning goal and that the effort of his squad never wavered at any point on the night.

“We just continued to build the game, and it was just a fantastic 60-minute effort from our group,” said McDonald. “The guys just stuck with it.

“They just kept inching forward and pushing forward and pushing and pushing until it finally broke. Chucky (Boychuk) scored with a fantastic patient opportunity where he gets the puck and is able to work around the goaltender.”

Orsulak stopped 15 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders, who improved their East Division leading record to 29-6-4. The Raiders are also rated fifth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday. Kraus turned away 39 shots to take the setback in net for the Wheat Kings, who have lost five straight falling to 22-17-1.

Owen Corkish had the Raiders fourth goal on Tuesday.

The Wheat Kings get back at it on Wednesday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

The Raiders return to action on Friday when they travel to Lethbridge to take on the Hurricanes (7 p.m. local time, VisitLethbridge.com Arena).

Before heading on the road to Lethbridge, McDonald thought it was great for his Raiders to get a nice bounce back win on Tuesday after dropping a tough 5-3 decision to the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday at the Hauser.

“This is a group that any time we leave points on the table they are not happy,” said McDonald. “It is a very determined group.

“We had a real good practice yesterday. It was very snappy. It was very direct.

“We did some great learning in video, and guys went out there and applied it tonight. We got to our pace and got our skating legs in a real hurry. We just kept pushing and kept wearing them down until it finally went.”

Riley Boychuk, left, gives a young fan a souvenir stick.

McDonald likes the resilience his players have displayed this season.

“That is the real power of our group is we don’t change, (and) we don’t waver,” said McDonald. “We just continue to play the same way.”

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