Netminder makes 39 saves in 4-2 victory over
Silvertips
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| Michal Orsulak made 39 saves in goal for the Raiders. |
The more shots Michal Orsulak sees the better he plays.
In Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series, the star
18-year-old import rookie netminder of the Prince Albert Raiders had a
sensational outing. Orsulak, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220 pounds, stopped
39 shots to backstop the visiting Raiders to a 4-2 victory over the host
Everett Silvertips before 7,697 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena.
The opener of the WHL final lived up to the hype of what
would be expected of a championship series between two powerhouse teams.
Everett topped the WHL regular season standings with a
57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The
Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.
Prince Albert topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the
East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1
mark. The Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.
The Raiders and Silvertips went head-to-head once in the
regular season, where Prince Albert posted a 4-1 victory on November 11, 2025
at the Angel of the Winds Arena.
Game 1 started with both teams bringing physical play that
continued throughout the whole contest.
The Silvertips got on the board first at the 6:07 mark of
the first period. Silvertips star rookie import left-winger Matias Vanhanen
passed the puck from left side behind the Prince Albert net to the front of the
goal to linemate and star right-winger Carter Bear. Bear fired home a shot to
the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to put the host side up 1-0.
The officials checked out Bear’s goal with a lengthy video
review looking for a puck being knocked down by a high stick at some point in
the play. Once the review concluded, the goal was ruled as good.
Everett held a 12-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes
and had a territorial edge in play in the opening frame.
The Silvertips came out of the game flying trying to build
on their lead. Early in the frame, star 16-year-old defenceman Landon DuPont
wired a shot off the crossbar while working on the power play.
A short time later at even strength, Silvertips right-winger
Jaxsin Vaughan, who turned 20 in January, was sprung in on a breakaway into the
Prince Albert zone. Vaughan tried to go five-hole on Orsulak only to be denied
by the Prince Albert netminder.
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| Braeden Cootes had one goal and one assist for the Raiders. |
The host side then had a third golden opportunity a short
time after that. Star import centre Julius Miettinen had an opportunity to
score at the left side of the Prince Albert net only to be stoned by Orsulak.
Then at the 5:12 mark of the second, the Raiders evened the
score at 1-1. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes had the puck behind the
Silvertips net and made a backhanded centring pass coming out of the right side
of the goal. The puck came out to standout rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson,
who quickly potted the equalizer for the visitors.
Both teams played physically in Game 1, and some work in the
physical department would lead to the Raiders second goal of the contest. With
5:56 remaining in the second, Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett nailed Bear
with a big hit.
Silvertips standout defenceman Brek Liske, who turned
18-years-old in January, took exception to the hit, and he cross-checked
Burrett. Liske was given a minor penalty for cross-checking.
On the ensuing power play, Cootes fired a seeing-eye shot
through a screen along the ice for a tally that put the Raiders up 2-1 with
4:53 remaining in the second.
At this point, the Raiders offence was on a roll. Playing a
spot of four-versus-four hockey due to off-setting penalties, the Raiders found
themselves working the puck in the offensive zone.
Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph passed the puck to captain
and his defensive partner Justice Christensen in the left faceoff circle.
Christensen wired home one of his “Juice Bombs” to push the Raiders advantage
out to 3-1 with 2:10 remaining in the second.
The Silvertips came with a huge push in the third outshooting
the Raiders 13-5 in the frame. Still, Orsulak stood tall keeping the host side
at bay.
Silvertips star 20-year-old left winger Rylan Gould tried to
resort to a pest measure to get Orsulak off his game. With about four minutes
remaining in the third, Gould snuck in and got away with a slash to the back of
the netminder’s leg. Orsulak was down on the ice for a moment before continuing
in the contest.
With 2:23 remaining in the third, the Silvertips went to
their fourth power play of the contest as standout 19-year-old rookie import defenceman
Matyas Man was given a tripping minor.
Everett had star 19-year-old sophomore netminder Anders
Miller pulled for an extra skater with the chance with the man-advantage. Just
seconds into the ensuing power play, Miettinen jetted into the Prince Albert
zone down the right wing and put home a backhand shot from the right faceoff
circle with 2:09 remaining in the third for a power-play goal that cut the
Raiders lead to 3-2.
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| Aiden Oiring had a long distance empty-net goal for the Raiders. |
Now training by one goal, the Silvertips had Miller pulled
again as they pressed in the Prince Albert zone. It appeared the Silvertips
were going to have a glorious scoring chance as they moved the puck toward
20-year-old star centre Zackary Shantz at the left side of the Prince Albert
net. Shantz wasn’t able to do anything as his stick was tied up by a
backchecking Rudolph.
Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring got the puck
and fired the puck down the ice for a long distance empty-net goal with 65
seconds remaining in the frame to round out the 4-2 final score in favour of
the Raiders.
With 7.5 seconds remaining in the third, Man apparently didn’t
forget about Gould’s slash to Orsulak about four minute earlier. As Orsulak
froze the puck during a scramble around the Prince Albert net, Man took the
opportunity to cross-check Gould down to the ice keeping him away from the
Prince Albert puck stopper.
Miller turned away 22-of-25 shots to take the setback in net
for the Silvertips.
Cootes finished the contest with one goal, one assist and a
plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He also had a key blocked shot
early in the third period. Miettinen finished with one goal and one assist for
the Silvertips.
The Raiders were 1-for-1 on the power play, while the
Silvertips were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Raiders were without star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski
with an undisclosed injury. He was injured in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern
Conference Championship Series that the Raiders dropped 5-0 to the visiting
Medicine Hat Tigers at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.
The Silvertips were without star defenceman and captain
Tarin Smith with an undisclosed injury. He was injured in Game 4 of a 6-3
victory over the Winterhawks in Portland as Everett closed out the first round
series between the two clubs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Game 2 is set for Saturday at the Angel of the Winds Arena
at 6 p.m. local time or 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time for those looking to catch the
contest on TSN of Victory+ in “The Wheat Province.”
The pressure will be on the Silvertips to get a win in Game
2 to force a split in the first two contests of the series. If the Raiders win
Game 2, they will hold a 2-0 series lead as the series shifts to Prince Albert
for Games 3 and 4 and potentially Game 5 at the Hauser.
Game 3 is slated for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. local time and
Game 4 follows on Wednesday also at 7:30 p.m. local time. If necessary, Game 5
will be on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. local time.
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| Justice Christensen had the winning goal for the Raiders. |
If the Silvertips aren’t able to win Game 2, they might find
themselves in a hole that they can’t get out of. If Orsulak has a second straight
stellar game, that might end up being the case.
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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