PRINCE ALBERT -- The Edmonton Oil Kings might have entered their first-round Western Hockey League playoff series with the Prince Albert Raiders as the second-lowest seed in the Eastern Conference, but that mattered little to them on Friday night.
The Oil Kings scored once in each period and would go on to a 3-1 win in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Conference quarter-final at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.
The Raiders had a great chance to get on the board when Edmonton took the first penalty of the series only 19 second into the game, but it would be the Oil Kings who opened scoring.
Gracyn Sawchyn was in the right place at the right time on the forecheck to jump on a misplayed puck by Raiders goaltender Max Hildebrand, and he’d tuck it into the net 29 seconds into the game.
The Raiders tied things up with 1:26 left in the first when Niall Crocker jumped on a Daxon Rudolph rebound and put home a shot from the slot to make it a 1-1 game.
There things remained until Landon Hansen scored the eventual game-winner with 9:03 gone in the second period. Some hard work on the forecheck by Adam Jecho forced a Raiders defender to turn over the puck to Gavin Hodnett, and he’d get a pass out front to Hanson for the go-ahead goal.
That would be the final marker of the night until Sawchyn scored into the empty net with 1:37 remaining in regulation.
Alex Worthington finished with 31 saves to earn the win in goal for Edmonton, while Hildebrand capped his night with 37 stops.
The two teams are right back at it in Game 2 on Saturday night with puck drop at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
