Raiders Come Back to Beat Giants in Shootout

The Vancouver Giants jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period, but had to settle for a single point as they went on to lose 4-3 to the Prince Albert Raiders in a shootout on Tuesday evening at the Art Hauser Centre. Jackson Houck, Tim Traber and Ty Ronning had the goals for the G-Men.

The Giants started the game very well and carried the play throughout the opening 20 minutes. Houck scored the first goal of the game when he knocked the puck across the goal line off the rebound of an Arvin Atwal shot to put Vancouver on the board less than five minutes into the action. Traber added to the lead when he batted his own rebound past Raiders goalie Cole Cheveldave after a nice play by Alec Baer. Ronning netted his first WHL goal after Carter Popoff drove the net from off the left wing, leaving the rebound at the left post for Ronning to tuck into the goal.

Vancouver got into some penalty trouble in the second, and it ended up costing them. The Giants took five minor penalties in the period, and the Raiders found the net when Leon Draisaitl hammed a one-timer past Jared Rathjen in the Vancouver net. Later in the period, the Giants were given a power play when MacKenzie Johnston was penalized for slashing, but the Raiders capitalized on a neutral zone turnover and Reid Gardiner scored shorthanded to pull the home team to within one goal.

The Raiders continued to pressure in the third, looking for a tying goal, and they got their equalizer when Lance Yaremchuk pounced on a loose puck in the slot and buried his opportunity to make it 3-3. Both teams had chances to take the lead in the third, but neither side could find a go-ahead goal, and for the first time this season, the G-Men went to overtime.

Prince Albert had the best chance of the overtime period when Draisaitl hit the post from the deep slot, beating Rathjen but not the iron. The Giants mustered a couple of opportunities as well, but in the end the shootout would be necessary. Draisaitl and Gardiner scored for PA while Popoff and Thrower were both denied by Cheveldave to give the Raiders the victory.

The Giants will get right back at it on Wednesday night with a visit to Saskatoon to take on the Blades. Hear the game on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca beginning with coverage at 6:00pm.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Leon Draisaitl - Prince Albert
2. Lance Yaremchuk - Prince Albert
3. Jackson Houck - Vancouver