Niall Crocker goes five hole for his first of the season against the Regina Pats on Sept. 29, 2023. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Logan Lehmann

Raiders win

Raiders defuse late comeback attempt by Pats to win 4-3

Sep 30, 2023 | 12:30 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders got back into the win column on Friday night, downing the Regina Pats 4-3 at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders led the game 4-1 with three minutes to go in the third when Regina began to mount their comeback. Cole Temple and Prince Albert’s own Tanner Howe found the back of the net exactly one minute apart to set up the interesting finish. The Pats managed some great scoring chances in close in the dying minute but Raiders netminder Chase Coward made several massive saves to keep P.A. in front, including a breakaway stop and a cross-crease save to help defuse the late push from Regina.

Coward finished the night with 19 saves to collect his first win in the green and gold. After the game, he talked about the final minutes and how he kept his cool despite the pressure.

“When I play, I just play. I don’t really think about it too much,” he said. “It’s a part of the game, you’re going to have to come up with key saves at key times and I feel like I did that tonight.”

Raiders Head Coach Jeff Truitt also shared his thoughts on the final minutes, saying their goaltending was the difference between a win and a loss tonight.

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“Our goaltender [gave us the edge]. Coward comes up with a big save when that should’ve never happened – off of an offensive zone faceoff then they split us for a breakaway. To take another step up, we’ve got to better. We can’t give up those types of situations, but Coward saved the day for us at the end,” he said.

Ryder Ritchie, Niall Crocker, and Sloan Stanick each had a goal and an assist in the game for the Raiders. Brayden Dube was the other goal scorer, collecting his first of the season while Justice Christensen had two assists and Aiden Oiring had one. With the win, Prince Albert improves to 2-2-0-0 on the campaign.

Along with Temple and Howe, Corbin Vaughan scored his first career WHL goal while Sam Oremba, Jaxsin Vaughan, Tye Spencer, and Layton Feist each potted assists for the Pats.

Between the pipes for Regina was Ewan Huet who made 29 saves in the loss as the Pats falls to 2-2-0-0 on the season.

COMPLETE BOX SCORE

The Raiders opened the scoring early in the first, capitalizing on some early Regina penalty trouble. On their second powerplay of the game, Crocker collected the puck in tight and skated around the crease before taking a shot in the slot. His initial shot was stopped, but Ritchie was there to put home the rebound to put P.A. up one.

Regina would tie it later in the period while it was 4-on-4. Vaughan’s in tight shot was stopped by Coward but the Pats forward followed up on his own rebound behind the goal and stuffed the puck in on the wraparound to tie it.

Prince Albert reclaimed the lead late in the frame on the powerplay yet again but this time, on a 4-on-3 man advantage. A point shot from Christensen hit Crocker who was standing in front. The puck fell to his feet and had enough time to collect the puck and win the race against a sprawling Huet to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead heading into the second.

The Raiders extended their lead in the middle period thanks to a highlight reel goal midway through. Dube circled around in the offensive zone before turning on the jets to beat the defender on the outside, then going bar down on the short side to double the lead.

In the third, Ritchie and Stanick entered the offensive zone on an odd man rush. Ritchie held the puck and outlasted the defender to find Stanick on the side of the net who pots his first of the season.

In the final three minutes of the game, the tides shifted and the Pats began to gain traction. Temple got things started before Howe found twine seconds later to make it an interesting finish. Regina’s Brayden Barnett had a spectacular scoring chance off a one-timer, but Coward managed to get across the crease in time to make the stop.

With the goalie pulled, Regina threw everything they had at the Raiders but P.A. managed to stand their ground and hang on for the 4-3 win.

The Raiders are back at home for their next contest, hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night.

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logan.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com