Ryder Ritchie gets by a Hitmen defender on Jan. 4, 2023. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)
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Ritchie extends point streak, Buenaventura stands tall as Hitmen outlast Raiders

Jan 4, 2023 | 10:27 PM

PRINCE ALBERT, SK – Ryder Ritchie extended his point streak to six games on Wednesday night, but one goal wasn’t enough for PA where the Calgary Hitmen won 3-1 at the Art Hauser Centre.

The loss is the first of the new year for the Green and Gold and comes three days after defeating the Regina Pats 5-2 on the road.

“We generated a lot of good opportunities, we moved the puck well,” said Raiders head coach Jeff Truitt. “Our intensity was good, but you take a look at our players like Ryder Ritchie (who) scores another big goal for us, we need more than just him and another guy who scores. We need our best players to be our best players and there was still a lot left on the table for those guys.”

Ritchie was the lone point-getter in the contest, netting his ninth goal of the year and eighth point of his six-game point streak.

Sean Tschigerl, Maxim Muranov, and Tomis Marinkovic each lit the lamp for the Hitmen in the game, while Blake Heward and Marinkovic each potted an assist.

Tikhon Chaika made 33 saves in the game for PA as they now fall to 11-21-3-0 on the campaign.

Ethan Buenaventura was a wall in net for Calgary, turning aside a whopping 42 saves to help the Hitmen improve to 20-11-3-1 on the year.

COMPLETE BOX SCORE

The Hitmen had both the offense and defense putting in the work in the opening frame to help Calgary jump out to the early lead. Buenaventura held the Raiders off the board in the first period by stopping 14 shots while Tschigerl scored on the penalty kill, and Muranov scored off the rush. PA trailed by two going into the second.

The score stayed that way until early in the second when PA broke the goose egg. A scrum for the puck in front of the net led to it being kicked out to Ritchie who fired it home on the powerplay to make it a one goal game heading into the third.

The Hitmen added an empty netter to seal the deal late in the game to win it 3-1.

The Raiders continue their five-game homestand on Friday night when they play host to the Red Deer Rebels for the first time this season.

logan.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @lloganlehmann

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