Raiders captain Justice Christensen battles with Wheat Kings captain Quinn Mantei battle for a puck earlier this season. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Two East Division Matchups

Double header preview: Raiders look to keep rolling in Moose Jaw and Brandon

Feb 17, 2025 | 11:07 AM

Over the course of the four games in the last week, the playoff feel has come alive for the Prince Albert Raiders, capped off by two big wins at home on Friday and Saturday. After a day off, the Raiders are now on the road for a Monday matinee matchup in Moose Jaw, and Brandon on Tuesday.

Monday @ Moose Jaw

The Raiders have won two straight games and three of their last four. Most recently the Raiders weathered a first period storm to win 4-2 over Calgary, a dominant 6-1 win over Swift Current, a loss at home 3-1 to Medicine Hat, and a win in Medicine Hat 5-4.

The long weekend double header starts with the Moose Jaw Warriors, who lost both matchups against the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-2 in Brandon on Saturday and 6-3 at home in Moose Jaw on Friday. The Warriors have lost their last seven games, all in the month of February, with a the last game they won was against Brandon in a shootout on January 31.

In the season series, the Raiders and Warriors have met three out of the scheduled six times. The Raiders won the first game 6-4 in September, then again 6-3 in December, and most recently a shootout win 3-2 in January.

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The standings show a battle between the top and bottom teams of the East Division. The Raiders are at the top, and second in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 30-18-3-1 (W-L-OTL-SOL) and 64 points. As for the Warriors, they are at the bottom of the East Division, the Eastern Conference, and the league with a record of 11-37-4-2 on the year with 28 points.

Looking at goal scoring, the Raiders have scored an even 200 goals this season while only allowing 184, good for a +16 differential. The Raiders are averaging a little over 3.8 goals per game.

For the Warriors, they have allowed more goals against than any other team in the league at 254 against this season while only scoring 149, meaning they’ve allowed 105 more goals against this season and the worst differential in the league. They’re averaging a little below 2.8 goals per game.

In the powerplay rankings, the Raiders are back to an even 29 per cent on the year, but still sit third in the league. On the penalty kill, the Raiders are third last in the league at 73.1 per cent.

The Warriors powerplay is just barely in the bottom half of the league at 14th with a 22.8 per cent. Their penalty kill is part of a tie for the 15th place spot in the league at 74.7 per cent.

The Raiders are lead by Tomas Mrsic who sits 11th in league scoring at 31G-45A-76P on the year. Aiden Oiring sits 15th in the league and second on the Raiders with 21G-48A-69P, and Lukas Dragicevic is tied for second in league scoring amongst defenceman with 13G-48A-61P on the year.

Dragicevic is also on the longest point streak for the Raiders with 3G-8A in the last seven games. Brayden Dube has 2G-2A in his last two games, and Oiring has 1G-1A in his last two as well.

As for the Warriors, they are lead by Lynden Lakovic with 18G-25A-43P in only 33 games this year on the year. Aiden Ziprick sits second with 54 games to his name along with 11G-26A-37P. Pavel McKenzie sits third with 15G-19A-34P, and former Raider Kryzstof Macias sits fourth with 13G-18A-31P.

Lakovic has 1G-3A in the two games since his return, but he was on a 13 game streak before being injured on December 28. Pavel McKenzie is riding a four game point streak with 2G-4A. Both Aiden Ziprick and defenceman Nolan Paquette have 1G-1A in his last two games.

Max Hildebrand’s 0.915 save percentage has him at the top of the league, his record sitting at 25-12-3-0, sitting third in league wins. Dimitri Fortin is coming off a great performance on Saturday where he stopped 37 of 39 shots face (0.949). On the season, Fortin is 6-6-0-1 with a 0.887 save percentage, and he has a shootout win over his old team in Moose Jaw this year.

As for the Warriors netminders, it’s been rookie Josh Banini’s net since the trades of Fortin and Jackson Unger. Banini sits at 0.900 on the year which ties him for 10th in the league, and his record sits at 3-12-0-1. Former Vancouver Giant Mattew Hutchinson is their backup, he sits at 0.878 and 11-15-2-0 on the year.

Tuesday @ Brandon

In Tuesday’s matchup, this will be the last time this season the two teams will meet. In the five games prior, the Wheat Kings won the first in September 4-1, the Raiders got it back in overtime 5-4 in November, then in December the teams traded wins with Brandon winning 7-3 and the Raiders winning the next week 5-3, and finally on January 4 the Wheat Kings picked up the 5-3 win.

The Wheat Kings are riding a three game winning streak coming into Tuesday’s action, 6-2 and 6-3 wins over Moose Jaw, and a 7-4 win over Swift Current. They are on the road to play the Saskatoon Blades on Monday while the Raiders are in Moose Jaw.

In the standings the Wheat Kings are sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference, just one point back of the Raiders for the top spot in the East Division.

The Wheat Kings have 201 goals to their name this season with 164 against, good for a +37 differential. They’re averaging a little over 3.9 goals per game.

On special teams, the Wheat Kings are ninth in the league on the powerplay at 25.4 per cent. As for the penalty kill, it sits fourth in the league with a 80.4 per cent success rate.

The Wheat Kings have been lead this season by Nolan Flamand this season with 18G-39A-57P on the year. Marcus Nguyen sits second at 29G-23A-52P, and then there’s a three way tie for third in scoring between Jordan Gavin (18G-27A-45P), Matteo Michels (17G-28A-45P), and Luke Shipley (14G-31A-45P).

The duo of Ethan Eskit and Carson Bjarnason was the top on the league in the first half of the season, but those numbers have taken a hit after both goaltenders missed time with injuries. Bjarnason sits at 0.911 for his save percentage with a 13-11-3-0 record, and Eskit sits at 0.900 and 11-3-1-3.

The Raiders drop the puck against the Moose Jaw Warriors at 2:00pm on the Family Day Monday, and again on Tuesday at 7:00pm against the Brandon Wheat Kings. You can listen to both games on Brandt Raider Radio on 900 CKBI.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com