PHOTO COURTESY NATHAN REITER PRINCE ALBERT DAILY HERALD
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Hayden Harsanyi looks for options with the puck in the first period of a 3-2 loss Saturday on the road to the Prince Albert Raiders.
The Medicine Hat Tigers will have a quiet bus ride back from Prince Albert on Saturday.
The Tigers made a late comeback bid but couldn’t complete it, falling 3-2 to the Raiders for their second loss of the weekend. Medicine Hat came into the contest off a 5-2 loss Friday to the Saskatoon Blades.
Prince Albert opened the scoring with two first period markers from Brayden Dube.
The 18-year-old forward opened the scoring with 2:56 left in the opening frame with a controversial goal. Ethan McCallum made the first save on a shot from the point that went high in the sky before Dube knocked it in with what was ruled a high stick on the ice. After a lengthy review it was ruled a goal and a Raiders lead.
Prince Albert and Dube struck again, making it a 2-0 game 1:27 later. They capitalized on a turnover as Dube scored his 12th of the season on a shot that just snuck five-hole on McCallum.
The Raiders made good on a power play just under 10 minutes into the second period. Niall Crocker scored the eventual game winner at the 9:32 mark for his 16th of the season, making it 3-0 Prince Albert after 40 minutes.
The Tigers got on the board and made it interesting in the third period.
Medicine Hat’s power play struck 5:55 into the final frame with a one-time blast from Shane Smith. The 18-year-old’s 24th of the season was set up by Andrew Basha and Tomas Mrsic.
Just over three minutes later, the Tigers brought themselves within one. Jack Kachkowski picked up the puck and surprised Max Hildebrand with a five-hole shot for his first Western Hockey League goal. Mrsic and Bogdans Hodass had the helpers on Kachkowski’s goal to make it 3-2.
Medicine Hat pushed late with their seventh power play but couldn’t capitalize and the Raiders held on for the 3-2 win.
The Tigers were one-for-seven on the man advantage, killing off two of their three penalties. Prince Albert controlled the game from the face-off dot, winning 40 draws to the Tigers 18. Between the pipes, McCallum made 22 saves and Hildebrand turned aside 24 shots.
The Tigers (29-16-3-1) are back at Co-op Place on Tuesday when they host the Regina Pats.
