Raiders forward Brayden Dube protects the puck from a Oil Kings forechecker in a matchup earlier this season. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

final games before christmas

Roadtrip preview: chance to climb standing for Raiders in Edmonton and Calgary

Dec 17, 2024 | 5:25 AM

In their final two games of the season before the Christmas break, the Prince Albert Raiders are hoping a couple of wins can help them climb the standings into a playoff spot. They take on two teams they are chasing, starting with the Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday, and the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday.

The Raiders currently sit ninth in the Eastern Conference with only 27 games played, the least amount in the league. With 31 points, the Raiders are two points back of Red Deer and Swift Current tied for seventh, three points behind Brandon and Edmonton for fifth, and five points behind Calgary and Lethbridge tied for third. If the Raiders manage to pick up both wins and get a little help from other games on Tuesday, the Raiders could potentially jump up three spots in the standings.

The Raiders have won their last two games in a row: 5-3 over Brandon and 6-5 over Moose Jaw, both at home. On the season, the Raiders are 14-10-3-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) through 27 games. The Raiders have played the Oil Kings once this year where the Raiders won 4-1.

Starting with Friday’s opponent, the Edmonton Oil Kings are 16-12-1-1 through 30 games. They’ve won their last four games in a row with some big scores: 7-4 over Medicine Hat on the road before three home games, 3-2 over Regina, 7-3 over Swift Current, and their most recent action on Sunday which was a 7-3 win over Kamloops.

The Raiders goal differential is the best it has been since the start of the season with 101 goals for and 104 against, or a -3 differential. Goals-per-game is rising, now over 3.7.

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The Oil Kings are +18 in their goal differential with 111 goals for and 93 goals against on the season. Through 30 games, that works out to exactly 3.7 goals per game.

With one powerplay goal for and two against in their last game, the Raiders powerplay continues to stay at the top of the league with a 29.2 per cent success rate. As for the penalty kill, it dropped a rank to 18th at 72.9 per cent.

The Oil King are ranked 10th in the league with 23.4 per cent on the year, and are also one of only two teams in the league yet to give up a shorthanded goal. The penalty kill is ranked the best in the league at 84.3 per cent.

Aiden Oiring has started to pull away from the pack a bit in Raiders team scoring with 12G-27A-39P on the year. Tomas Mrsic sits second with 17G-18A-35P, and Lukas Dragicevic rounds out the top three with 4G-29A-33P.

Brayden Dube has the longest point streak going for the Raiders right now with 2G-1A in his last three games. Dragicevic is also one of the hot hands for the Raiders with 2G-3A in his last two games, and three goals in the last four. Niall Crocker (0G-5A), Oiring (1G-3A), Harrison Lodewyk (3G-0), and Krzysztof Macias (1G-1A) all have two game point streaks going. With one pointless game in the middle, Ty Meunier also has three goals in his last three games.

As for the Oil Kings, Gracyn Sawchyn leads their scoring with 18G-24A-43P, but it drops off from there to Gavin Hodnett in second with 13G-20A-33P, and Roan Woodward in third with 10G-19A-29P.

Gracyn Sawchyn put up 4G-6A in his last three games to earn the WHL Player of the Week honours. Ethan MacKenzie has been hot from the blueline with 1G-5A in his last four games. Woodward comes into the game on a two game streak with 1G-3A, and Rylen Roersma also has assists in each of his last two games.

On to goaltending, Max Hildebrand’s 0.907 save percentage has brought him into the top five in the league with a 12-6-3-0 record on the year with one shutout. Dimitri Fortin is 2-2 since joining the Raiders with a 0.886 save percentage since joining the team, or 0.874 on the season.

For the Oil Kings, Alex Worthington has started 23 games this year and has a save percentage at 0.910 for third in the league, and his record sits at 13-9-0-1 with a single shutout on the year. As for their backup, rookie Ethan Simcoe has only two starts on the year, both of which came in the last three games, and he’s 2-0 on the year with a 0.932 save percentage.

On to Wednesday’s matchup, the Calgary Hitmen sit tied for third in the Eastern Conference with a 16-9-3-1 record through 29 games. The Hitmen won’t play before their meeting with the Raiders, and it will be the only game left in the league before the Christmas break.

The Raiders have a 1-0 lead in the season series with the Hitmen after the Raiders won 4-3 on Teddy Bear Toss night. Calgary has won their last three games since that meeting, 5-4 on the road in Saskatoon, then 5-4 against Kamloops and 4-3 over Swift Current with both games at home.

The Hitmen have 111 goals for on the year, the same as Edmonton, but has given up 95 on the year for a +16 goal differential. Their goals per game ratio is just over 3.7.

On special teams, the Hitmen are ranked 15th in the league on the powerplay at 20.8 per cent, while their penalty kill is tied for 16th with Regina at 73.6 per cent.

The Hitmen will be missing one of their biggest weapons in Tanner Howe, who is gone to be a part of Team Canada at the World Juniors.

Oliver Turk still leads the Hitmen with 14G-31A-45P on the year, followed by Ben Kindel with 19G-25A-44P, and defenceman Carter Yakemchuk sits third with 12G-17A-29P.

For Kindel, you need to go all the way back to November 4 to find his last scoreless game – a streak of 13 games with 10G-15A in that time. Tulk has been on a similar pace with points in his last 10 with 9G-15A. Kalem Parker comes in on a five game point streak with 3G-4A in that span. Yakemchuk also has 3G-3A in his last three games.

Finally for goaltending, Eric Tu has a 6-4-2-1 record on the year with a 0.887 save percentage. Anders Miller is their backup with 5-1-0-0 and a 0.886 save percentage.

The Raiders start their roadtrip against the Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday and finish against the Calgary Hitmen. Both games are set for 8:00 p.m. Saskatchewan time, you can listen in on 900 CKBI starting with the pregame show at 7:30 p.m.

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nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com