Moose Jaw, SK – The Prince Albert duo of Daxon Rudolph and Justin Christensen combined for three goals and nine points as the Raiders handed the Warriors an 8-2 loss at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
Prince Albert’s forecheck attacked the Warriors inside their zone. 23 seconds into the game, they came off the Warriors’ right wall and then set up Justice Christensen in the left circle where he gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
Just past the four-minute mark, the Raiders created a turnover inside the Moose Jaw zone and then flung the puck toward the Warriors’ net where Riley Boychuk tipped it past Josh Banini to put the visitors up by two.
Two minutes later, the Warriors were buzzing inside the Raiders zone. Landen Ward took a shot from the high slot that went off Ethan Semeniuk and then came to Landen McFadden on the right side of the net where he scored his fifth of the season.
Later in the period, the Warriors had the Raiders pinned, however, Moose Jaw got caught with to many players low in the Prince Albert zone which led to a Prince Albert odd-man rush that finished with a goal from Niall Crocker to make it 3-1.
The Warriors were aggressive in the second period as they tried to claw back into the game. They gave up the ice with speed and generated several quality chances at the Prince Albert net but were unable to add to their goal total.
With just over a minute remaining in the second period, Prince Albert’s Niall Crocker scored his second of the game, giving the Raiders a 4-1 lead.
Moose Jaw had a good start to the third period as they continued to apply pressure to the Raiders inside the Prince Albert zone. Five minutes in and with the Warriors on the power-play Aiden Ziprick set up Lynden Lakovic inside the right circle where he scored his 19th of the year, pulling Moose Jaw within one.
There were moments after the goal where the Warriors had good looks at the Prince Albert net but they were unable to convert. In the back half of the third, the Raiders pulled away as they scored four goals in just shy of five minutes.
Ethan Semeniuk picked up two assists for the Warriors in his 200th WHL game, while Daxon Rudolph led the Raiders with one goal and five points.
Next up on the Warriors’ schedule is a rematch with the Raiders on Friday in Prince Albert. The squad is back at home Saturday for their final game of the season against the Calgary Hitmen.