Raiders outlast Wheat Kings in 5-2 win

The Brandon Wheat Kings dropped their fifth game in a row as the Prince Albert Raiders spoiled a 39-save effort by Jayden Kraus to earn a 5-2 victory in Western Hockey League action at Art Hauser Centre on Tuesday.

Prince Albert (29-6-4-0) received its goals from Daxon Rudolph, Linden Burrett, Riley Boychuk, Owen Corkish and Brayden Dube, with Luke Mistelbacher and Grayson Burzynski replying for Brandon (22-17-1-0) in front of a crowd of 2,392.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his team didn’t respond after a really good start.

“I thought the first period was a real good road period,” Murray said. “We were head to head and I thought it was real even. In the second, they pushed and we have a habit right now of going the other way when a team pushes. We need to grit our teeth and push back … Thank God for Kraus in the second period or it could have been way worse that what it was.”

Brandon opened the scoring six minutes 50 seconds into the game when rookie forward Prabh Bhathal sent a pass up ice to Mistelbacher and the overage sniper sent a quick shot over the blocker of left-handed Prince Albert goalie Michal Orsulak.

Three minutes later, the Wheat Kings sent the Raiders to a 98-second five-on-three power play, with a hooking penalty on Gio Pantelas drawing a strong reaction from the Brandon bench when the call was made and a heightened sense of outrage when they saw the replay.

It took just six seconds for the Raiders defenceman Rudolph to wire a wicked shot into the top of the net behind Kraus, who was playing in his hometown.

The Wheat Kings took their third consecutive penalty early in the second period, and while the Raiders didn’t score, they built all kinds of momentum, taking just six minutes to put seven shots on net, the same number both teams had in the first period.

Kraus had to be especially good nine minutes into the period when he denied Jonah Sivertson with a backdoor save on a two-on-one. Two minutes later, he flashed his glove to stop Rudolph off the rush.

The goaltender was fortunate when forward Jimmy Egan pulled a puck off the goal-line on a shot by the former Brandon prospect Corkish, and the puck hit the crossbar as the play continued as Kraus tried to get back into position.

The hosts finally took the lead 12:42 into the middle frame when Brandon couldn’t break out of their zone and Burrett beat Kraus on the deke on his team’s 16th shot of the period.

It took the Wheat Kings more than 15 minutes to even get a shot on net in the middle frame — it came on their first power play — and by that point the Raiders had 17. In the end, Brandon was outshot 20-1 in the period and fortunate to be only down a goal.

Early in the third period, the referees handed the Raiders a second five-on-three — Prince Albert forward Aiden Oiring and Brandon defenceman Daniil Skvortsov exchanged punches in a scrum and just one was penalized — but this time the visitors were able to get the 83-second kill.

The Wheat Kings tied the game a minute later when Burzynski — who returned to the lineup after missing a pair of games — fired a shot past Orsulak at the 5:29 mark. The shots were 35-10 at that point.

But just two minutes later, Brandon was too casual exiting the zone and turned the puck over, with Boychuk outwaiting Kraus on a deke and tucking the puck into the net.

The Wheat Kings had a terrific chance to tie it again three minutes later but Jordan Gavin was denied on a breakaway with the teams playing four on four.

The Raiders put the game away with 8:36 remaining when Corkish pounced on a rebound on a shot by Rudolph for his 11th goal of the season, and four minutes later the Roblin product Dube beat Kraus when he was sent in all alone off the rush. Orsulak stopped 15 shots for the Raiders.

“He was excellent,” Murray said of his goaltender. “Both games we’ve played up here he’s been really, really good. You feel for him. Even after two we were down by one — he had an unbelievable second period — so it would have been nice to see us gut it out for him. Unfortunately they had a couple of late ones.”

Brandon went 0-for-3 on the power play, with Prince Albert scoring once in five chances.

ICINGS: Brandon skated without injured D Merrek Arpin and F Easton Odut, plus healthy scratches F Gunnar Gleasman and F Ryan Boyce. The Wheat Kings dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen with the return of Burzynski … Chase Surkan and Crater Klippenstein left the game in the third period with injuries … Mistelbacher led the Wheat Kings with four shots on net … The game started at 7:06 and took two hours, 25 minutes to play … In the faceoff circle, Prince Albert won 40-17.

… The Wheat Kings travel down Highway 11 to meet the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday at 7 p.m. They play their final home game in January when the Victoria Royals visit Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Friday evening at 7 o’clock.

… Central Scouting released its midterm rankings on Monday, and among North American skaters, Pantelas is listed 58th and Joby Baumuller is 169th. Among North American goalies, Filip Ruzicka is listed at 13. Prince George Cougars defenceman Carson Carels of Cypress River is the third-ranked prospect. The WHL had 78 players on the list, including 44 forwards, 25 defencemen and nine goaltenders.

… The Vancouver Giants have announced that their two best players, forward Mathis Preston and defenceman Ryan Lin, are both out week to week. They are in 10th place in the Western Conference, three points out of a playoff spot.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com