The Prince Albert Raiders give the Portland Winterhawks their first defeat of their six-game Eastern Division road trip when they fail to turn their 41-24 shooting advantage and dominate the majority of the game into a victory. Ultimately, Portland had insufficient goaltending.
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Game preview
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Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction.
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The off day forum
Scoring summary
| 1st 10:27 PA (PP) Rilen Kovacevic (Lukas Dragicevic, Aiden Oiring) 0-1 |
| 1st 17:31 PA Riley Boychuk (Ty Meunier, Daxon Rudolph) 0-2 |
| 2nd 1:01 POR Josh Zakreski (Tyson Jugnauth, Kyle Chyzowski) 1-2 |
| 2nd 7:48 POR Tyson Jugnauth 2-2 |
| 2nd 12:57 PA Niall Crocker (Ethan Bibeau, Rilen Kovacevic) 2-3 |
| 2nd 14:32 PA Brayden Dube (Tomas Mrsic, Justice Christensen) 2-4 |
| 2nd 16:22 POR (PP) Kyle Chyzowski (Alex Weiermair, Tyson Jugnauth) 3-4 |
| 2nd 17:28 PA Aiden Oiring (Brayden Dube) 3-5 |
| 3rd 2:17 POR Josh Zakreski (Kayd Ruedig, Diego Buttazzoni) 4-5 |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 0:00 |
| Tied | 15:36 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 34:15 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 10:09 |
Narratives
Pregame: Since heading east, Portland is aiming for their third consecutive victory. The Raiders are attempting to move within three points of Saskatoon at the top of the Eastern Division and secure exclusive possession of second place.
First period: The Winterhawks had a difficult time. They consistently forced Prince Albert to turn the puck over in their own zone as they dominated at even strength. They failed to get one past Max Hildebrand, though, and then they handed up a goal five seconds after a power play ended, an odd-man rush goal immediately after a 3-on-1 breakup, two penalties, and another goal. A improbable 2-0 loss.
Second period: The Winterhawks had another difficult session, but this time they were in control, and the score was 3-3. Tyson Jugnauth’s two outstanding plays set up goals to level the game, but the Raiders swiftly responded with two goals to terminate Ondrej Stebetak’s evening. They were within a goal again thanks to Kyle Chyzowski, but Aiden Oiring beat Marek Schlenker to make it 5-3 after two.
Josh Zakreski put the Winterhawks within one early in the third period. However, they were unable to go much closer. The Raiders did just enough to stay in the third, but they were still the superior team. Despite having a few chances that weren’t shots, Portland only managed six shots in the final 13 minutes. Despite coming very close to scoring a shorthanded goal, a couple of late penalties did not contribute to the momentum of the comeback. There was no chance of another comeback.
Goaltending was the method used to win. Max Hildebrand made several crucial saves, including a fantastic stop on Alex Weiermair in the second half and a stop on Diego Buttazzoni’s shorthanded breakaway late in the game, despite giving up four goals and stopping 37. Before getting hooked in the second half, Ondrej T. Bet K. conceded four goals on twelve shots. Marek Schlenker was better, although he lost the position due to a shaky goal he let up early in his stay.
Crucial stretch/moment: With 2:20 remaining in the game, Hildebrand stopped Buttazzoni on a shorthanded breakaway.
Unexpectedly, Portland, who have won close games in the third period throughout the season, failed to complete the comeback. I nearly succeeded. In addition, Portland has a 21-4-0-1 record when they score four goals and lose.
Not surprisingly, Tyson Jugnauth and Kyle Chyzowski lead Portland’s offense once more with three and two points, respectively. Chyzowski reclaimed the scoring lead among all players, but Jugnauth expanded his advantage among defensemen.
Controversies: There was some controversy about a couple of late penalties, one for each team. In particular, if the Winterhawks had been able to tie it, a high stick against Prince Albert would have been a major event.
Did the best team win? No.
No suspensions or injuries.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Brayden Dube | PA | 1 goal, 1 assist | Part of the Seattle trade that helped get them in the Memorial Cup, now he s paying dividends for the Raiders. |
| Max Hildebrand | PA | 37 saves-41 shots | One of the better 4-goals-against games that you ll see, especially in the 3rd period, where he made two gigantic saves among others. |
| Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 1 goal, 2 assists | In a matchup of the top-two scoring defensemen in the league, he increased his lead by 2 points over Lukas Dragicevic; he s now 12 ahead. 5-game point streak. |
| Rilen Kovacevic | PA | 1 goal, 1 assist | Has now scored in all four games with his new team. |
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 1 goal, 1 assist | Jumps back over Andrew Cristall into 1st in the league s scoring race, 68-67. 3-game point streak. |
| Josh Zakreski | POR | 2 goals | |
| Daxon Rudolph | PA | 1 assist | 16-year-old looks like he ll be good. One of the few Raiders who was able to get the puck out of his own zone. 7-game point streak. |
| Aiden Oiring | PA | 1 goal, 1 assist | Ends up with the winning goal. |
| Niall Crocker | PA | 1 goal | 3-game point streak. |
| Justice Christensen | PA | 1 assist | 5-game point streak. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle McDonough | POR | 3-game point streak snapped. | |
| Ondrej t bet k | POR | 8 saves-12 shots | Most of his struggles this season have been on rebound control, but in this game he was beaten cleanly on too many longish shots. With two young goalies with zero experience at the start of the season, games like this were expected, and there actually haven t been all that many. |
| Marek Schlenker | POR | 11 saves-12 shots | The one goal wasn t great and saddled him with the loss, but it was a decent 3rd period, without a lot of work. We ll see if they come back with him against Saskatoon on Wednesday. |
| Alex Weiermair | POR | 1 assist | 3-game point streak. |
Postgame
| Winterhawks | Raiders | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 23-15-2-1 (.598) |
21-15-3 (.577) |
| Goals/game | 4.1 |
3.8 |
| Goals allowed/game | 4.0 | 3.8 |
| Team shooting % | .118 |
.118 |
| Team save % | .885 |
.892 |
| Power play |
27.4% |
28.9% |
| Penalty kill | 78.7% | 70.9% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| Power plays against/game | 3.8 |
3.8 |
| Outshooting opponents |
17-22-2 |
14-23-2 |
| After 1 period | 12-17-12 |
16-10-13 |
| After 2 periods | 15-20-6 |
16-15-8 |
| Score, last 10 games | 49-43 (+6) |
39-36 (+3) |
| Score, last 20 games | 92-80 (+12) |
83-72 (+11) |
The Portland Winterhawks
Good procedure, poor outcome. This one can be forgotten if they are able to defeat Moose Jaw and Saskatoon.
The Raiders of Prince Albert
Although it was somewhat of a fortuitous win, they are now closer to first place in the weak Eastern Division. They should be strong favorites in their six consecutive games against lesser clubs after their major matchup with Swift Current on Friday. A good chance for a significant winning run.
Next games
Saskatoon, Wednesday, January 15, at 5:00 p.m. PST (7 p.m. CST)
Moose Jaw, Friday, January 17, 5 p.m. PST (7 p.m. CST)
Swift Current on Saturday, January 18, at 5:00 p.m. PST (7 p.m. CST)
Looking ahead: Tri-City vs. Friday, January 24, 7 p.m. PST
Prince Albert’s next game is 2025–2026.
