The Edmonton Oil Kings headed into their second matchup of the season against the Prince Albert Raiders hoping to improve their season series to 2-0 after taking them down 3-0 in their first matchup. With a few changes to their lineup and the return of Gavin Hodnett, the Oil Kings seemed poised to take a second straight victory against the Raiders. The Oil Kings were without Carter Kowalyk, Treycen Wuttunee, Ty Nash, Reid Larsin, and Aidan Litke who all sat out, while the Raiders scratched newly acquired Jacob Hoffrogge, as well as Seth Tansem, Oli Chenier, and Grady Martin.
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The Oil Kings went with Kolby Hay between the pipes for his fourth start of the season while the Raiders went with Max Hildebrand in hopes of evening the season series with the Oil Kings. In what was a heated affair between the two teams, here’s a brief recap on how the Raiders and Oil Kings’ second matchup of the season turned out.
Game Recap
The return of Hodnett to the Oil Kings was absolutely massive, and his presence was felt right away. He and Marc Lajoie assisted on the first goal of the evening where Adam Jecho scored his fifth of the season on the powerplay and continued his hot streak as of late. The Raiders came back before the period ended, and tied it 1-1 on a goal from Aiden Oiring that kept the game even heading into the second period.
The Raiders continued to find the back of the net as they took their first lead of the game midway through the second period on a goal scored by Matej Kubiesa with assists from Hayden Pakkala and Tyrone Sobry. Heading into the third period, the Oil Kings were down one but were outshooting the Raiders by a large margin. While they continued their great shooting game, they weren’t able to solve Hildebrand.
In the third period, the Raiders took a 3-1 lead on a goal from Carter Anderson with assists from Kubiesa and Pakkala. It was all Raiders from there as Ryder Ritchie sealed the deal with an empty net goal to give his team a 4-1 lead and ultimately, a 4-1 win.
Hildebrand stopped 35 of 36 shots faced and was the first star of the night, while Hay stopped 17 of 20 shots faced. Hodnett and Oiring rounded out the second and third stars of the night, and the Oil Kings record dropped to 3-3-0-1 on the season. While it was a good game all-around, the Oil Kings ran into a hot goalie in Hildebrand. They should be building off of this game and carrying the same momentum they played with into their next matchup.
What’s Next For The Oil Kings?
The Oil Kings are back at home on Monday, Oct. 9 in a matchup against the Lethbridge Hurricanes where they play an afternoon game that starts at 12:00 mountain time. Having split the season series with the Hurricanes already, the Oil Kings will be looking to build off their 8-5 win in their previous matchup and hopefully move their overall season record back over .500.
Jecho, Lajoie, and Litke have been key players for the Oil Kings all season and now with the return of Hodnett, this Oil Kings team seems destined for much more success than last season. Hopefully, they can continue their strong play and become true championship contenders sooner rather than later.
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