Opportunistic Oil Kings give Raiders slip in 5-3 win

Miroslav Holinka (#92) soaks in scoring the winner for the Oil Kings.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Edmonton Oil Kings proved that if you give them an inch they can take a mile.

On Saturday playing before a standing room crowd of 2,817 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the Oil Kings, who were rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings release on Tuesday, took on the host Prince Albert Raiders, who were rated third in the CHL Top 10. The clash was viewed as a heavyweight showdown coming just past the midway point of the WHL regular season.

The Raiders outshot the Oil Kings 37-21 in the contest, but the visitors skated away with a 5-3 victory for their eighth win in a row, which brought an end to Prince Albert’s six game winning streak. 

Miroslav Holinka has points in 11 straight games.

With the victory, the Oil Kings improved to 29-7-3-1 to sit two points up on the Raiders, who fell to 28-6-4, for second overall in the Eastern Conference. The Raiders, who have two games in hand on the Oil Kings, still sit comfortably in first place in the East Division.

The Oil Kings trail the Eastern Conference leading Medicine Hat Tigers by one point for first overall in the conference. The Tigers downed the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 7-4 in Medicine Hat on Saturday night improving to 29-6-3-2 with their 17^th win in a row. Medicine Hat’s winning streak equals a team record set back in the 2006-07 campaign, when the Tigers won their fifth of their six total WHL titles.

“You’re always continuing to build throughout the season,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “We’re just after Christmas.

Braeden Cootes had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

“Every game is important. I really liked our effort. I thought we were very relentless.

“In the second period, they had their push. They had some areas that they took advantage of. Again, we answered right back, and that third period, I thought we continued to put our foot on the gas.”

The two sides entered the third period locked in a 3-3 tie.

At the 7:34 mark of the third, Oil Kings 20-year-old star import centre Miroslav Holinka roofed a shot to the top left corner of the Prince Albert goal with a chance alone in front of the net to put the visitors up 4-3. Holinka converted a beauty setup pass from Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett that came from behind the Raiders goal.

Ethan Simcoe made 34 saves in goal for the Oil Kings.

With an assist earlier in the game and the goal, Holinka improved his consecutive game points streak to 11 contests netting 12 goals and 11 assists over that time.

The Raiders pressed to get the equalizer outshooting the Oil Kings 15-5 in the frame. Prince Albert’s arguably best chance to even the score came with 1:50 remaining in the third when breakout star right-winger Max Heise fired a drive from the right faceoff dot that was swallowed up by Oil Kings star netminder Ethan Simcoe.

With 12.9 seconds remaining in the third, Oil Kings star 19-year-old import right-winger Max Curran sealed the victory for the visitors with an empty-net goal.

Owen Corkish does the fly by after scoring the Raiders first goal.

“I think we just didn’t get the bounces, and it goes that way,” said Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes. “They’re a really good team over there.

“That is a playoff-type game and a potential playoff series. It stings, but we’ll learn from it. We’ll just get better.”

Saturday’s clash was the first time the Raiders and Oil Kings went at it since the passing of the WHL trade deadline on Thursday and since the world juniors wrapped up on Monday. Cootes was playing his second game for the Raiders since being acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday. Star defenceman Carter Sotheran was skating in his third game for the Oil Kings since being acquired in a trade with the Portland Winterhawks earlier that same day.

Raiders mascot PIMS makes his rounds at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders came out on fire outshooting the Oil Kings 12-4 in the opening frame. The hosts finally broke through on the scoreboard with 1:49 remaining in the first when rookie 18-year-old left-winger Owen Corkish potted home a shot from the front of the Edmonton net.

At the 5:39 mark of the second, the Raiders pushed their edge up to 2-0. Cootes tipped home a shot in front of the Edmonton net that came in from the point off the stick of 19-year-old defenceman Linden Burrett to give the hosts their two goal edge. That tally was Cootes first goal as a member of the Raiders.

“It is always nice to score, obviously, and get more comfortable,” said Cootes, who made his Raiders debut on Friday in a 6-1 win over the Swift Current Broncos at the Hauser. “I thought it was a lot better today.

Lukas Sawchyn (#95) does the fly by after scoring for the Oil Kings.

“Yesterday was kind of a pretty crazy day getting here and just trying to get going. Today kind of felt more normal, just a normal game day. I got to have a normal sleep and a nap, so it felt better out there.

“It was nice to get the first one.”

The Oil Kings proceeded to go on a tear scoring the next three goals in the frame to go ahead 3-2. Lukas Sawchyn, Blake Fiddler and Noa Ta’amu all had singles for Edmonton in the surge. Sawchyn scored from the left side boards, Fiddler with an on ice shot from the point and Ta’amu with a screen shot from midrange.

Blake Fiddler scored the Oil Kings second goal on Saturday.

With 73 seconds remaining in the second, Heise potted a laser from close in at the right side of the Edmonton net to even the score at 3-3. That set the stage for the dramatics in the third period.

Michal Orsulak turned away 16 of 20 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Simcoe stopped 34 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

The two sides went at it twice earlier in the season with each contest being decided in overtime. On October 18, 2025, the Oil Kings slipped past the Raiders 3-2 in extra time at the Art Hauser Centre. On December 7, 2025, the Raiders edged the Oil Kings 4-2 in overtime at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Going forward Cootes is looking to build more chemistry with his new team.

“You get better each day, and we want to peak at the right time,” said Cootes, who had an assist to go along with his goal on Saturday. “That is obviously the playoffs.

Max Heise scored the Raiders third goal on Saturday.

“I just have to come in here and do my part and try to be the best player I can be and be a good leader. I just try to keep getting better and get more chemistry with them. Once we get a few weeks and a month as just a team, I think we’ll do a lot of damage.”

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Oil Kings get back it on Wednesday when they return home and host the Medicine Hat Tigers (7 p.m. local time, Rogers Place).

The Raiders and Oil Kings will go at it once more in the regular season. That last encounter will take place on Sunday, March 8 at 4 p.m. local time at Rogers Place.

Ethan MacKenzie (#47) chases Maddix McCagherty (#17).

Looking back and noting the two sides met in the first round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs where the Raiders took the set with a 5-0 win in a series deciding Game 7, McDonald said there is not a lot separating the two clubs.

“I think these two teams have played each other a lot over the last four or five or six months,” said McDonald. “We’re very familiar with the group over there.

The Oil Kings celebrate their win on Saturday night.

“Again, these are two really good teams slugging it out. The margins are very thin as you continue to go through the game. It is all about just continuing to strive for that 60 minutes.”

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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Power player powers Oil Kings, comes up empty for Blades

Max Curran (#8) celebrates scoring a second period power-play goal.

The power play can giveth, and the power play and taketh away.

The Edmonton Oil Kings and Saskatoon Blades learned that lesson in a huge way in a head-to-head WHL regular season clash played before 3,934 spectators on Friday at the SaskTel Centre. The visiting Oil Kings went 3-for-6 with the man advantage and skated away with a 3-1 victory.

The Blades came up empty on six power-play opportunities and had to wonder what might have been. Saskatoon entered the contest having scored on 39-of-134 power-play chances on the campaign for a 29.1 per cent success rate to rate fourth overall in the WHL. The Blades penalty kill was about middle of the pack with a 77.9 per cent success rate entering play on Friday.

Max Curran scored two power-play goals for the Oil Kings.

Edmonton’s power play entering play on Friday was 28-for-139 for a 20.1 per cent success rate, which was in the bottom half of the league. The Oil Kings were also tied with the Wenatchee Wild for giving up the most short-handed goals against at eight. The penalty kill was a different story for Edmonton as the Oil Kings had an 81.8 per cent success rate entering play on Friday to sit in the top four on the circuit.

The win was a sixth straight for the Oil Kings, who improved to 28-7-3-1 to sit in a tie with the Prince Albert Raiders (28-5-4) for second and third overall in the Eastern Conference. Edmonton was rated sixth in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday, while the Raiders are third.

Evan Gardner makes one of his 26 save in goal for the Blades.

The Blades saw their four game winning streak come to an end on Friday. They fell to 21-15-2-1 to sit fifth overall in the Eastern Conference.

Going into Friday’s contest, it wasn’t expected the Oil Kings would outshine the Blades on the power play. That ended up being exactly what happened.

The Oil Kings broke on the scoreboard first scoring on the power play on their first shot of the game at the 4:06 mark of the opening frame. Oil Kings import right-winger Miroslav Holinka had the puck along the left wing and fed a pass across the front of the Saskatoon net to star centre Max Curran positioned by the right faceoff circle.

Curran, who helped Czechia win silver at the world juniors that concluded on Monday in Minnesota, one-timed home his 12^th of the season to give the visitors their one-goal edge.

Miroslav Holinka had a pair of assists for the Oil Kings.

With 8:30 remaining in the first, the Blades had a huge chance to pull even on the scoreboard. Blades rookie import left-winger Elias Pul deflected a point shot from the front of the Edmonton net only to be denied by Oil Kings reliable 17-year-old rookie netminder Parker Snell.

At the 4:06 mark of the second, the Oil Kings pushed their advantage out to 2-0 scoring their second power-play goal that was almost a carbon copy of their first. Holinka had the puck up high by the left point and slid a pass to the right side of the Saskatoon net to Curran. From a bad angle, Curran slid home his second of the contest and 13^th of the campaign to give Edmonton a two-goal advantage.

Isaac Poll had the Blades lone goal on Friday.

Oil Kings star 19-year-old defenceman Ethan MacKenzie picked up assists on both of those first two power-play goals. MacKenzie was playing his first game with the Oil Kings after having helped Canada win bronze at the world junior that wrapped up on Monday.

By the time the second period came to an end, the Blades had failed to score on five of their chances with the power play. They still managed to gain some momentum before the second frame ended.

With three seconds remaining in the second, the Blades got a big traction goal from sophomore 18-year-old defenceman Isaac Poll. Poll had the puck by the right side boards in the Edmonton zone above the right faceoff circle and floated home a shot for his first tally of the campaign to cut the Oil Kings lead to 2-1.

Blake Fiddler scored a key third period power-play goal.

The Oil King proceeded to get a key dagger goal at the 4:38 mark of the third period scoring their third power-play marker on the night. Edmonton defenceman Blake Fiddler took a shot from the point that deflected off a couple of bodies into the Saskatoon net to push the visitors lead out to 3-1.

With 6:56 remaining in the third, Blades 17-year-old right-winger Zach Olsen was given a double minor for high sticking and that infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension. The Oil Kings were unable to build on their lead on that four-minute power play.

Evan Gardner turned away 26 shots taking the setback in goal for the Blades. Snell stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings, who have won two-of-three meetings with the Blades this season.

The Oil Kings return to action on Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Oil Kings celebrate their win on Friday night.

The Blades are off until Wednesday when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

Going forward, the Blades will be looking to rediscover their prolific touch on the power play.

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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.