Raiders rookie Luke Moroz earned third star honours against Brandon during Sunday's game for his one goal, two assist performance. (Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders)

By Logan Lehmann

Sunday blues

Raiders conclude three-in-three weekend with loss in Brandon

Jan 14, 2024 | 5:17 PM

The Prince Albert Raiders wrapped up their three-in-three weekend on a low note on Sunday afternoon, falling 6-4 to the Brandon Wheat Kings at Westoba Place.

The loss is the second in as many days for the Raiders after they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Pats in Regina on Saturday. On Friday, Prince Albert started the weekend on the right foot by claiming a 4-3 shootout win over the Victoria Royals at home.

Raider rookie Luke Moroz earned the game’s third star for his three-point performance, scoring once while adding two assists. The other three Raiders’ scorers each achieved a different first with their markers as Grady Martin scored his first of the season, Doogan Pederson potted the first of his career, and Dustin Renas tallied goal number one in the Green and Gold.

Six different goal scorers donned the scoresheet for the Wheaties, including Rylen Roersma, Carter Klippenstein, Hayden Wheddon, Nolan Flamand, Matteo Michels, and Quinn Mantei. Additionally, Roersma, Klippenstein, Flamand, and Mantei tallied assists in the game while Joby Baumuller had two, and Charlie Elick, Luke Shipley, and Jayden Wiens each had one.

Rookie P.A. netminder Nathan Preston made his first career WHL start in the contest and made 19 saves as the Raiders fall to below .500 at 19-20-0-3 on the campaign.

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Meanwhile, Ethan Eskit was guarding the other goal and stopped 32 shots to help Brandon improve to 20-15-4-1 on the year.

COMPLETE BOX SCORE

The Wheat Kings struck early in the first to break the ice while on the powerplay as Roersma made it 1-0 for the home team. Shortly after, Brandon doubled their lead off the tape of Klippenstein less than eight minutes into the game.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for the Raiders to find their stride as a new face got P.A. on the board. Hoffrogge got the puck off the draw and fired a shot that hit a Brandon defender on the way to the net. The puck bounced along the ice and Renas managed to get his stick on it to get it past Eskit, making it a one-goal game.

With less than a minute remaining in the frame, the Raiders cashed in on the powerplay to pull back even. Moroz wired a shot from the left circle that found the bottom right corner to make it 2-2 after the first.

The score remained knotted at a pair each for the majority of the middle frame before Prince Albert scored to take the lead. A point shot by Goldsmith was redirected in front by Martin to score notch his first of the season.

However, the lead didn’t last long as Wheddon scored from in tight to make it a 3-3 game heading into the third.

The powerplay struck again for the Wheat Kings less than 90 seconds in. Shipley let a shot go that squeaked by Preston and stopped before the goal line where through the chaos, Flamand put the puck in the net to regain the lead for Brandon. Michels followed by scoring midway through the period before Mantei potted the empty netter, making it 6-3.

With two seconds left in the game, the Raiders did get one back with Pederson scoring his first career goal to wrap up the game.

The Raiders will return home to P.A. to take an extended break before hitting the road again on Friday night where they will kickoff another three-in-three weekend in Edmonton against the Oil Kings. Puck drop is set for an 8:00 p.m. puck drop with Nolan Kowal on the call on 900 CKBI. Pregame begins at 7:30 p.m.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com