Raiders edge out win over Barons

Tyler Laporte (left) of the Barons takes a face-off against Raiders Tyler Couchie in a rare Saturday evening NDA hockey game at West Ferris arena. Photo by Lucas Punkari.

Story by Lucas Punkari

The Chippewa Raiders came out on the winning end of a back-and-forth affair on Saturday night at the West Ferris Arena, as they defeated the Algonquin Barons by a score of 4-3.

Assistant captain Nik Priebe came up big for the Raiders in the victory scoring twice, including the game winner with three minutes left in the third period, and adding two assists.

“I got lucky,” Priebe said about his game winner.

“I was right in the slot and the puck just came free, and when that happens you’ve got to take advantage of it.”

The Barons would open up the scoring four minutes into the game on the power play when Paul Sevigny banged home a rebound from Marc Gareau’s attempt from the point. Algonquin would extend the lead five minutes later on a shorthanded 2-on-1 play, when Dillon Duquette received the feed from Mathieu Lavigne, and put the puck past Braves netminder Jason Perron.

Just over a minute later, Chippewa would respond when Tory Unger found the back of the net during a scramble for the loose puck, cutting the deficit to one goal. With 45 seconds remaining in the frame, Priebe would slide the puck past Richard Delorme for his first of the night, tying the game up at two apiece.

After a scoreless second period, the Raiders would take a 3-2 lead three minutes into the third after Tyler Couchie knocked in the rebound on the power play, following an end-to-end rush by Preibe.

However, 20 seconds later the Barons would tie the game back up as Matthew Geroiami fired one past Perron from the slot. Both teams then picked penalties throughout the final minutes, leading to a 3-on-3 situation that helped set up Priebe’s game winner.

“We knew from the opener that Algonquin wasn’t going to quit out there,” Raiders coach Bob Boal said following the victory, a rematch of the NDA season opener when both teams played to a 3-3 tie.

“We really stressed to the guys that the game really isn’t over until the final buzzer and they have to stay focused right until the end, and we were able to do just that, so we’re really excited about getting the two points.”

For Barons head coach Dale Hewitt, the tight loss brought to light some key issues that the team would need to improve upon going into the next few games.

“I find that we’re doing a lot of little things wrong out there and we’ve got to step it up,” Hewitt explained.

“We’re having a hard time getting out of our zone, handling the puck and with our discipline. So we’ve got to work on those things to get better for the rest of the season.”

Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Algonquin will face the Widdifield Wildcats at Memorial Gardens, while Chippewa will travel to Mattawa where they will take on the F.J. McElligott Voyageurs.