The Raiders celebrate Rilen Kovacevic's fourth goal as a Raider, which opened the scoring for the Raiders 3-1 win over Red Deer. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Nick Nielsen

Raiders win 3-1

Raiders extend win streak to four against Rebels

Jan 19, 2025 | 8:22 AM

After routing the Swift Current Broncos the night before 7-1 on Friday, the Prince Albert Raiders were set to face a struggling Red Deer Rebels team on Saturday. In a game filled with adversity for the Raiders, they managed to fight off the defensively strong Rebels for a 3-1 win.

The Rebels put some pressure on early and managed the first four shots of the game, but the Raiders would still strike first thanks to Rilen Kovacevic. He was parked in the middle of the blueline, and it was Daxon Rudolph who set up Kovacevic for the onetimer that traveled through traffic and through the goaltender’s fivehole at 7:47 for Kovacevic’s 25th of the season and fourth as a Raider.

The Raiders got their first powerplay in the first minute of the game and struggled to enter the offensive zone, but they made an adjustment on their second powerplay and it worked. At 14:18, the Raiders would cycle the puck at the blueline from Lukas Dragicevic in the middle, Kovacevic on the right, and finally to Tomas Mrsic on the left who used a defender as a screen to score his 25th of the season and his league leading 14th powerplay goal.

After 1: Raiders 2 – 0 Rebels, shots 10-7 Rebels

The Raiders ran into some penalty trouble in the second, first with an unsuccessful third powerplay in the middle of the period, but then some tough calls against in the final four minutes.

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Dayce Derkatch was called for goaltender interference when he drove the net while battling a defender, and shortly after Justice Christensen was called for cross checking when he gave a Rebel’s forward a shove and Christensen’s stick broke. That put the Raiders down 5-on-3, and while Niall Crocker was on the ice he was handed seven minutes in penalties and a game misconduct for both tripping and a head contact penalty.

With a mountain of powerplay time, the Rebels scored as the 5-on-3 ended ta the 19:19 mark when Samuel Drancak made a nice pass across the slot for Beckett Hamilton, and he rifled the puck for his ninth.

After 2: Raiders 2 – 1 Rebels, shots 11-5 Rebels, 21-13 Rebels overall

The Raiders still had 5:16 of Crocker’s penalty to kill to start the third, and they were successful. The Raiders used that momentum to push back, and on the rush at 11:50 Dragicevic sent a pass to the right slot for Riley Boychuk, and he went sent the pass across the slot for Mrsic at the side of the goal. Mrsic tipped it in for his second of the night and 26th of the season, and Boychuk got to return the favour from the night before after Mrsic set him up for a similar goal the night before.

The game went to 4-on-4 a minute later, and the Raiders had some chances but couldn’t get through. A late call that the Raiders faithful heavily disagreed with saw Brayden Dube go to the box for a hooking call, and on that ensuing powerplay the Rebels nearly got away with a too many men on the ice penalty. The Raiders still managed to kill it off, along with a lot of shots on the too many men on the ice call that was made after a media timeout, and the Raiders earned the win.

FINAL: Raiders 3 – 1 Rebels, shots 12-7 Rebels, 33-19 Rebels overall

Rilen Kovacevic continues to be a great addition for the Raiders since the trade deadline. With a goal and an assist on the night, he now has 4G-4A in his first five games with the Raiders.

Max Hildebrand was great again in the win, stopping 32 of 33 shots face for a 0.967 save percentage on the night and a 0.953 save percentage across this four game winning streak. On the season he’s improved to 0.912, good for the second best in the league.

Another assist for Daxon Rudolph extends his point streak to nine games with 1G-11A in that time for the 16-year-old defenceman. His defensive partner Justice Christensen was held pointless on the night, but he has five goals in his last six games.

The Raiders have their first full week off since the Christmas break now, but they’ll get set for the only three games in three nights stretch of the season that starts on Friday when they welcome the Saskatoon Blades.