Tomas Mrsic and Niall Crocker combined for six points in the Raiders 5-4 overtime win in Medicine Hat on Saturday. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Fourth and final meeting

Raiders set to welcome Tigers in rematch from weekend

Feb 12, 2025 | 10:40 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders just finished a three game road swing through Alberta, and the Raiders finished with a big win in overtime against the Medicine Hat Tigers. Now with four days of rest, the Raiders get set to welcome the Tigers for the final meeting of the season.

The Raiders and the Tigers are the top teams in the East and Central Divisions respectively, and both teams were in similar situations ahead of the game on Saturday. The Raiders lost two straight games after a nine game point streak, the Tigers had lost two straight games after a 12 game win streak, and the Raiders managed to finish with a big overtime win 5-4. In the two games prior, the Tigers won both 7-4 in Medicine Hat, and a 3-2 overtime win in Prince Albert.

Before that game on Saturday, the Raiders had two losses in Lethbridge and Calgary 6-1 and 3-1 respectively, and before that the Raiders won three games in a row, 5-2 over both Wenatchee and Regina at home, and another overtime win 4-3 over Saskatoon.

The Tigers however were in action Tuesday night as they made a visit to Saskatoon, and the Tigers snapped their three game losing skid with a 5-3 win. Before that was that Saturday 5-4 win for Prince Albert, and two more losses 5-3 at home against Swift Current, and 4-3 in a shootout in Seattle at the end of their U.S. road trip.

Looking at the standings, the Raiders and Tigers sit as the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. The Raiders have a record of 28-17-3-1 (W-L-OTL-SOL), good for the top of the East Division and the second spot in the Eastern Conference. The Tigers are sitting at 34-16-3-1 on the year, a full 12 points ahead of the Raiders, but the Tigers have also played an extra five games so far this year.

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Looking at goal scoring, the Raiders average goals per game has fallen off just a bit through those last three games and now sits below 3.9 goals per game. They have 189 goals for and 178 against, good for a +11 differential.

The Tigers are tied at the top of the league with goals scored this season with 230 goals for so far this year, and with only 169 goals against, they’re goal differential sits at +61. That works out to an average below 4.3 goals per game.

On special teams, the Raiders and Tigers powerplays sit three and four in the league. The Raiders powerplay scored went 3/5 on Saturday to bring their powerplay up to 28.9 per cent, and the penalty kill went 4/5 to improve the penalty kill to 72.6 per cent or 20th in the league.

For the Tigers, their powerplay sits fourth in the league at 27.3 per cent. Their penalty kill sits eighth in the league at 78.2 per cent, but they also lead the league in shorthanded goals at 14.

Tomas Mrsic has fallen out of the league lead in powerplay goals, but he’s been producing well for the Raiders as of late and leads the team in points with 30G-43A-73P. In second is Aiden Oiring with 21G-46A-67P, and in third sits Lukas Dragicevic with 12G-43A-55P including the overtime winner on Saturday.

Dragicevic also holds the longest point streak for the Raiders right now with 2G-2A across his last four games. Mrsic had a big four point game on Saturday to bring his streak to two games with 1G-4A. Oiring has 0G-2A in his last two games, and so far this year he has never gone two games without a point.

Gavin McKenna is tied for the league lead in points with 29G-66A-95P on the year, leading the Tigers by 17. In second is Oasiz Wiesblatt who has finished serving a one game suspension, he had 25G-53A-78P on the year. In third is Hunter St. Martin with 33G-16A-49P.

As for scoring streaks for the Tigers, McKenna has 20G-46A as part of the longest pointstreak of the year at 29 games, dating back to November 6. Oasiz Wiesblatt has 5G-11A in his last seven games. Former Raider Ryder Ritchie is on a five game streak with 3G-4A. The two former Saskatoon Blades have two game streaks going, Tanner Molendyk with 0G-3A and Misha Volotovskii with 0G-2A, and Markus Ruck also has 1G-1A in the last two games.

In goal, Max Hildebrand’s save percentage still sits alone at the top of the WHL at 0.913, and he still has the third most wins among goaltenders in the league with a record of 24-11-3-0 on the year. Dimitri Fortin has been a solid backup with a save percentage at 0.881 and a record of 5-6-0-1 on the year, but those numbers improve to 0.889 and 4-4-0-1 since joining the Raiders.

For goaltending, Harrison Meneghin is the starting goaltender for the Tigers, but he did play last night in Saskatoon. His numbers this season sit at 0.894 for save percentage and 15-9-1-1 on the year, but since returning from injury he’s posted a 0.940 save percentage and is the reigning goaltender of the month. It’s possible we see Jordan Switzer in net who has a 0.886 save percentage this year and a record of 18-6-2-0 on the year.

The fourth and final meeting of the season between the Raiders and the Tigers is set for 7 p.m. The pregame show on 900 CKBI begins at 6:30 p.m.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com