Despite there being nine goals, there wasn’t much excitement for Edmonton fans as they saw their Oil Kings’ seven-game win streak come to an end at the hands of the Prince Albert Raiders by a 6-3 score.
You have to go back over a month to the last time the Oil Kings dropped a game in regulation. Dylan Cozens let his presence be known at Rogers Place that night, putting up four points in the 5-2 win for his Lethbridge Hurricanes.
This was the first meeting between the two WHL powerhouses since the Raiders eliminated the Oil Kings in the Eastern Conference Final in six games. Between the two of them, they had a lost combined three games in regulation.
The home team was first to get on the board when Riley Sawchuk set up Matthew Robertson for a one timer on the power play, beating former Oil King Boston Bilous on their first shot of the game.
Aside from that, there weren’t many other positives from the Oil Kings’ perspective.
The travelling Raiders piled on the offence, putting not one, not two, not three, but four pucks past Todd Scott on 15 shots before he was pulled after 25 minutes. Sebastian Cossa came on in relief, allowing two goals on 15 shots.
Brayden Watts got Prince Albert on the board with a nifty deke around Scott, then tucked the puck to tie the game up at 1-1. Spencer Moe grabbed the assist on that one, and then, shortly after, he scored for himself to make it 2-1 Raiders heading into the break. The Oil Kings finished the period with only three shots on Bilous.
The second period wasn’t nice to Edmonton at all. Ozzy Wiesblatt netted twice to take his tally to six on the season. Llya Usau joined in on the goalscoring party with his seventh goal of the year — the eventual game winner.
The final period was friendlier to the Oil Kings, but it was too little too late by that point. Prince Albert let its foot off the gas slightly, which resulted in Edmonton capitalizing with two goals.
“We had a little push in the third period, but to have eight shots after forty minutes is not good,” said head coach Brad Lauer. “The last couple of games, we’ve won a couple but maybe didn’t play well, and it finally caught up with us.”
Keegan Slaney scored his first career WHL goal just under six minutes into the period. Slaney’s shot deflected off a Raider stick which fooled Bilous and looped over him to make it 5-2. However, the WHL champions responded immediately when Moe scored his second of the game.
“It’s a big milestone in my career, and a lot of guys worry about getting that one, so it felt good to get it,” commented Slaney on his first career goal.
The scoring was finished off by Liam Keeler just after the midway point of the final frame.
“There should be a little bit of more desperation because it’s the team that ended our playoff hopes last season,” expressed Lauer on the disappointing loss. “Credit to them, they played a very good game, and we didn’t match their effort, especially for the first 40 minutes.
“A little humble pie never hurt nobody,” added Lauer.
Oil Spill…
Keegan Slaney was the lone Oil King to receive a star of the game after he scored his first career goal. Ozzy Wiesblatt and Spencer Moe of the Raiders took home the first and second star after each of them scored two goals on the night.
The Oil Kings went 1-for-4 on the power play with the goal coming from Matthew Robertson in the first period. They managed to stop 50% of Prince Albert’s power plays, as the Raiders went 1-for-2 in the game.
Next up, the Oil Kings head south to take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night.
