Power of the Hauser – Raiders roll to 8-3 win over Tigers

Prince Albert claims opener of Eastern Conference final

The Raiders and their fans enjoy a goal from Brayden Dube (#15).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders could feel the power of the Art Hauser Centre.

On Friday night, the Raiders were once again out to show home ice advantage is a real thing, when they skate in their storied and historic rink in Game 1 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series against the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers. In that clash, the Raiders scored first, led 2-1 after the first period, went ahead 4-1 at one point in the second before cruising to an 8-3 victory.

The victory came before a raucous sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat facility.

“I thought we played well,” said Raiders captain Justice Christensen, whose squad will host the Tigers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Hauser. “We got to our pace and our hunt like we wanted to do early.

Part of the Hauser’s sellout crowd cheer on the Raiders.

“We scored some big goals there at some key times, and then we just continued to build. Overall, I was just happy with the game.”

Christensen, who has been a full-time member of the Raiders since the start of 2022-23 campaign, said the enthusiasm of the fans gave his team a boost. Throughout the day on Friday, it snowed steadily in “Hockey Town North” creating large snow banks and road conditions that were far from optimal. When looking out at the crowd at the Hauser, it appeared there were very few unused tickets, and Christensen said the players picked up on that.

“The atmosphere is great,” said Christensen, whose team is 6-0 at home in the current WHL post-season. “There is a lot of energy, and they are behind us.

Brock Cripps had three assists for the Raiders on Friday.

“Coming out to that kind of energy gives us a lot of energy, and it was a lot of fun to play in front of.”

During the pre-game, Raiders long time anthem singer and billet mom Carole Ring raised her microphone to the crowd to let the fans sing a large part of the national anthem. When the game got going, the Raiders hit the scoreboard first at the 6:39 mark of the first period.

On a Tigers rush up ice, Raiders 20-year-old star centre Aiden Oiring knocked the puck off the stick of a Tigers player at centre ice to Raider 18-year-old import left-winger Alisher Sarkenov. Sarkenov quickly got the puck back to Oiring to start a rush into the Medicine Hat zone.

Brayden Dube had the Raiders first goal on Friday.

Oiring passed the puck to star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube on the right wing. Dube blew past the Tigers defence to get in alone on Medicine Hat rookie standout netminder Carter Casey. The Raiders forward tucked a backhand home five-hole on Casey to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

So far in this year’s WHL Playoffs, the Raiders have scored first in all 10 games they have played.

With 4:23 remaining in the first, the Tigers answered back. Tigers star left-winger Markus Ruck entered the Prince Albert zone on a two-on-one break jetting down the left wing. He blew a shot to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net past Raiders star rookie import netminder Michal Orsulak to even the score at 1-1.

Before the opening frame ended, Christensen fired home a point shot for his first goal of the post-season to put the Raiders up 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

Markus Ruck had the Tigers first goal on Friday.

Prince Albert kept rolling in the second, when head-turning 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ben Harvey put home a shot from the left point to push the Raiders lead out to 3-1 just 2:43 into the frame. With 6:07 remaining in the second, the Raider struck on the power-play when star centre Max Heise one-timed home a shot from the front of the Medicine Hat net to give the hosts a 4-1 advantage. At that point, it seemed like nothing could stop the noise at the Hauser hitting louder and louder heights.

“I had chills going out there tonight,” said Heise. “It is pretty cool to see this community and this town rally around our team.

“It is really special, and all the boys in there get fired up for it.”

Justice Christensen scored his first goal of the 2026 post-season.

The Tigers attempted to push back. With 3:02 remaining in the second, Tigers sophomore 17-year-old centre Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll redirected home a puck to the back of the Prince Albert net to trim the Raiders lead to 4-2 heading into the second intermission.

The Raiders proceeded to open the third with power-play goals coming off the sticks of Oiring and Sarkenov to surge the host side’s lead out to 6-2. Tigers captain Bryce Pickford off a mid-range shot to trim the Raiders edge to 6-3.

Prince Albert rounded out the game’s scoring with Oiring netting his second of the contest and Evan Smith potting home a single.

Max Heise (#14) does the fly by after scoring on the power play.

“I thought Prince Albert was better than us tonight,” said Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “I thought they worked hard.

“I thought they won a lot of one-on-one battles. We knew it was going to be a tough building coming into, and we were right. It was a tough building, and it didn’t go the way we wanted.”

Orsulak stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Casey turned away 31 shots to take the setback in net for the Tigers.

Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll had the Tigers second goal on Friday.

Raiders standout 16-year-old rookie defenceman Brock Cripps picked up three assists on Friday, while star centre Braeden Cootes and star defenceman Daxon Rudolph each had a pair of assists.

Also in the contest, the Raiders were 3-for-4 on the power play, while the Tigers didn’t see any time playing with the man advantage. Medicine Hat was without star defenceman Jonas Woo and 20-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens with undisclosed ailments, and they are basically day-to-day.

The Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Ben Harvey had one goal for the Raiders on Friday.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

During the 2025-26 regular season, the Raiders and Tigers met four times. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald, who was born and raised in Prince Albert, loved the energy his team’s fans brought in Game 1 on Friday.

“This place is electric,” said McDonald. “I said in the pre-game media that I don’t think four feet of snow could have kept Raider fans out of this rink for this game tonight.

Raiders G Michal Orsulak pounces on a puck in a crowd.

“Our crowd and our fan base is extremely passionate, and they really rally our group.”

While the Raiders got a lift from their fans, Desjardins, who has seen pretty much everything in his coaching career, was not shaken by what happened on Friday. He said that before the Eastern Conference final with the Raiders started he had it in his mind that every game was going to be a hard game.

“Once a game is done, it is just done, and you move on to the next one,” said Desjardins. “It is just real simple.

“It doesn’t matter if you win. It doesn’t matter if you lose. They can win, and I believe we can win in this building.”

Aiden Oiring had two goals and an assist for the Raiders.

Desjardins said the Raiders a high-quality opponent, and with that said, he wouldn’t waiver in the belief he has in his player.

“I just think they’re a really good hockey team,” said Desjardins. “I have to believe that we’ll find a way to be better.

“We weren’t good enough tonight, and it is pretty simple. They were just a better team tonight.”

Looking towards Game 2 on Saturday, Heise said his Raiders just have to keep up the strong effort like they had in Game 1.

“We’ve seen these guys before a lot,” said Heise. “They’re really fast off the transition.

“We’ve got to get pucks under and just keep playing physical on them. They are a really good team over there. You’ve got to give them credit.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

“They’ll capitalize on chances too, so we’ve got to be stronger in the D-zone.”

NOTES – The Raiders had another huge 50/50 pot for Friday’s game with online sale combined with sales in the building. The take home prize was $98,450 and will go to the person with ticket number B-144538.

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