Prince Albert Raiders end Oil Kings unlikely playoff run in Game 7

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Prince Albert, Sask. – Game 7 is everywhere for a nervous person.

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They are always something to be scary, and unfortunately, they fell 5-0 at the luxurious Hauser Center against Prince Albert’s Raiders on Tuesday in the biggest game of the season.

Failure is always hurt in doing things or savage situations, but for the grand seventh seed oil king, it is a round intestine as they won the first round WHL playoff series of 3 and 4 last week at Rogers, up 2-1 3-1 in the first round WHL playoff series. But, ultimately, the Oil Kings returned to the playoffs for the first time since arriving at the Memorial Cup in 2022, and their lives were squeezed out.

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Raiders captain Aiden Oiring was on the rebound of the goal rebound and backing forward Ty Muenier, putting a loose puck in the slot, and in the first 20 minutes, the Raiders led 2-0 on Oil Kings goalkeeper Ethan Simcoe, even though they beat 13-7. That’s what they need.

The oil kings put pressure on the 3rd, but Niall Crocker and Rilen Kovacevic scored on the third as Lukas Dragicevic scored in second place.

Seattle’s 2023 second-round draft pick Dragicevic gave the home team all the breathing space they needed to go through a traffic-heavy shooting percentage in Game 2, then ahead of the 3,293 homes in Hauser Barn. Crocker and Rilen Kovacevic then received assistance from defender Dragicevic, who won the seventh and eighth power pl\ay goals in the third inning. Dragicevic had a goal and three assistants gave him 12 points in seven games.

The Oil Kings simply couldn’t break through the WHL’s busiest goalkeeper Max Hildebrand, who played 75 of the 62 Raiders this season. After Dragicevic made it a goal of zipping 3 times, their WHL All-Star goalkeeper Hildebrand came to work just at the end of the power game. He quickly robbed Miroslav Holinka in a brief disconnect, and then he smashed Czech countryman Adam Jecho, the most dangerous oil king player, on the rebound.

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The exclamation mark of Hildebrand’s work in the series.

This is only the fifth and seventh game of the last 38 playoff series in the last three WHL seasons, so it is rare. But it was the second in April this year, with the Portland Winter Hawks defeating the taller-seeded Prince George Cougar on Monday.

The Oil Kings’ final game was in the 2014 final against Portland Winterhawks. The Raiders entered Game 7 for the first time in six years, the 2019 WHL final against the Vancouver Giants when they were able to go deep into the Memorial Cup.

Oil Kings coach Luke Pierce knows that after winning the game in PA to beat the game, his team is an emotional journey for his team. It wasn’t until the seventh game that they finally put their heads on the water.

“It’s hard. When you’re in the game, it’s impossible to think of possible (or not). You really have to keep bringing yourself back to the moment. I’m lucky (as a coach) to join the team that quickly ended the series.

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The Oil Kings needed to get the guys out of it, but the Raiders took the lead in the seventh minute. Dragicevic sent a promising 50-foot player into the crease area and the puck bounced up Simcoe’s sixth place in the playoffs.

Raiders rookie Reokie Meunier then fell into a break when the puck bounced from an oil king player into a slot machine, his 20-foot player drove through Simcoe’s gloves and gained a two-time zipper lead, just their seventh shot during this period.

Simcoe started for the fifth straight regular season with Alex Worthington for the fifth straight, with Pierce choosing to stick with Simcoe rather than return to Worthington, who played the top two in the PA, winning and losing. He has given up 12 goals in the last three games, but it wasn’t him that he lost in Game 7. You can’t blame the goalkeeper when your team can’t score a goal.

Hildebrand, 20, had only one break (Game 4, three goals allowed in the first nine) were all better. In seven games, he gave up 14 goals on just 236 Oil Kings shots.

This is: Oil Kings forward Lukas Sawchyn was injured in Game 4 at Rogers Place, and he hit the board after scoring the goal and is back. The rookie was forgotten after 55 points in the regular season…The Oil Kings scratched Jack Toogood into his first playoff game for Sawchyn and 16-year-old Center Kayden Stroeder…The Raiders did not have forward Thomas MRSIC (Blues Draft Prof), and had his third chance game in the Face Face of Blake Fiddler at Blake Fiddler.

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