Raiders, Wheat Kings set for final matchup
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Barring a playoff matchup, the Brandon Wheat Kings face the Prince Albert Raiders tonight for the final time this season.
And that will suit them just fine.
It’s the sixth meeting of the season between the teams tonight, with the Raiders winning all five so far.
“They have a real strong team,” Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said. “They’re deep, they play really fast and thrive off momentum. For us, if we have a shift where we have a letdown, we have to be ready to go on the next shift and get the momentum back. You look up and the shots are 7-6 and then next time you look up they’re 20-9.
“We can’t let them get that momentum where they smell blood. Shift in, shift out, we have to be ready to go.”
All three games in Prince Albert resulted in three-goal victories for the Raiders, 4-1 on Nov. 21, and 5-2 on Jan. 13 and Feb. 7. In Brandon, the Raiders won 5-4 in overtime on Sept. 27 and 2-1 on Nov. 28.
“For us, penalties in the first period in P.A., have really hurt us and we kind of got behind the 8-ball,” Murray said. “I’ve actually liked both games we’ve played here against them and probably deserved better at times.”
Prince Albert (40-7-5-0) sits atop the Eastern Conference, seven points up on the second-place Medicine Hat Tigers in what’s been a remarkably consistent season. Other than a three-game losing streak in late November and early December, they’ve never dropped back-to-back games. They’re currently on a three-game winning streak, with a season high eight-game winning streak in January.
Brandon (29-22-1-0) is fifth in the conference, two points up on the sixth-place Saskatoon Blades with a game in hand. They now trail the fourth-place Calgary Hitmen by six points, and have played two more games.
The Wheat Kings have been battered with injuries, with defenceman Merrek Arpin and forward Carter Klippenstein officially out for the season. Easton Odut also remains out long term, with defenceman Dylan Ronald (upper body), and forwards Caleb Hadland (upper body) and Chase Surkan (lower body) all out week to week.
Prince Albert has just one player listed with an injury on the WHL’s weekly report, Roblin’s Brayden Dube, who is out day to day with a lower-body issue. If he’s able to play, it will be his final major junior game in his home province, barring a playoff matchup.
The puck drops at Assiniboine Credit Union Place tonight at 7.
» pbergson@brandonsun.com