Raiders comeback disallowed twice in Game 4 loss

The Prince Albert Raiders fell 5-2 against the Everett Silvertips in Game 4 of the WHL final on Wednesday night.

The Raiders had lost the last two games after opening the series with a win on the road, and they had a chance to bounce back and tie the series at 2-2. Instead, the Silvertips got out to a lead, and a controversial decision from the officiating crew took the Raiders’ tying goal away.

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The Silvertips scored just 32 seconds into the game, when Mattias Vanhanen carried the puck down the right wall to the goal line and threw a shot to create a rebound, which Julius Miettenen buried. That meant the Silvertips continued their streak of opening the scoring, a trend which has held through all four games.

After both teams exchanged powerplays in the first half of the period, the Raiders got an advantage with 10 seconds left thanks to a puck-over-glass delay of game penalty. The Raiders won the draw and made a nifty passing play for a rare Brock Cripps shot, but he just sent it wide and the period ended with the Silvertips ahead.

The Silvertips were dominant in the first, but the Raiders hit the post twice in the first five minutes of the second to generate some momentum, and at 9:53 it paid off. Matyas Man held a puck in on the left wall and passed across for Linden Burrett at the right point. Burrett fired a shot, Riley Boychuk redirected it wide and Brandon Gorzynski tucked in the rebound for his fifth goal of the playoffs, and his first since being injured nine games ago.

Despite the pressure from the Raiders in the second, Prince Albert got hit with a high-sticking penalty and the Silvertips powerplay scored again. At 18:43, it was a quick tic-tac-toe play from Landon DuPont on the right point, Julius Miettinen on the goal line and across the crease to Rylan Gould, which gave the Silvertips the lead back.

The Silvertips scored again on another powerplay early in the third. This time, it was Carter Bear who curled his way off the right wall then found a shooting lane around a screen and buried it at 4:24. A replay afterwards showed that it was close to being offside on the zone entry, but it’s a non-reviewable call in the WHL.

The Raiders weren’t done though, and at the 6:43 mark it was the captain’s turn to fire up his team. Daxon Rudolph picked up an assist when he passed the puck back to Justice Christensen at the blueline, and Christensen fought through a check towards the right wall before firing through a screen for his third goal of the series and fourth of the playoffs.

Then came the controversy.

Aiden Oiring tried to catch Silvertips goaltender Anders Miller off guard with a surprise stop and wrap-around attempt. Miller made the save, a puck battle in front of the net ensued and it came out to Benett Kelly, who fired it in for his first of the playoffs. But the referee standing at the back of the net had lost sight of the puck, and decided to blow the whistle while still looking for the puck at the goal line, just as Kelly’s shot hit the back of the net. It was ruled no goal, despite everyone on the ice still playing.

To add insult to injury, the Raiders came back down the ice again and Owen Corkish put the puck in the back of the net, but once again it was waved off. This time, the replay showed a Raiders forward had pushed a Silvertips defender into the goaltender, and the right call was made.

The two disallowed goals in a row killed the momentum for the Raiders, and the Silvertips took it right back when the last two Raiders back in their own zone fell on the ice, Zack Shantz found the loose puck, then sent it to the front of the goal for Shea Busch to tap in at 10:20.

The Raiders pulled their goaltender early to try and get some momentum, but it was too little, too late. Braeden Cootes made a great diving effort to deny the first chance at the empty net, but Matias Vanhanen found his own rebound and tucked it in at 17:35.

With two points during the game, Silvertips forward Julius Miettinen is now tied with Rudolph, who had one assist, for the playoff lead in scoring. Both have 27 points during the campaign.

Now down 3-1 in the series, the Raiders will host Game 5 of the WHL final, the last game this season played at the Art Hauser Centre, on Friday.