The road from Red Deer and Edmonton is a short one the Prince Albert Raiders will travel this weekend. But after the Raiders loss in Red Deer Friday, the road to overtaking Edmonton for a playoff spot just got a whole lot longer.

Goaltender Nick McBride of the Prince Albert Raiders makes a second period save against Red Deer Rebels forward Grayson Pawlenchuk during Friday night WHL action at the Enmax Centrium in Red Deer. Photo credit: Ashli Barrett/Red Deer Advocate

A poor second period doomed P.A. on Friday night in Red Deer, with the Rebels scoring three goals in the middle frame on their way to a 5-3 win.

With the loss, the Raiders remain 11 points behind the Edmonton Oil Kings for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. P.A. heads to Edmonton for an afternoon affair on Sunday before inviting the Oil Kings to town for a Tuesday tilt.

Weve just got to win those, theres no doubt, said Raiders coach Marc Habscheid after Fridays loss. Weve got to play with desperation because were running out of games.

That desperation showed for the Raiders in the third period against Red Deer, when they held the Rebels without a shot for 13 minutes and cut the lead to one on a power play howitzer from Jesse Lees.

But the desperation needed to come a period earlier.

After Brooks Maxwell and Mackenze Stewart traded first period goals, the Rebels used two early power plays in the second to take a 3-1 lead.

Nine seconds after Jordan Tkatch took a holding the stick penalty, Scott Feser scored to make it 2-1. Reid Gardiner was called for goalie interference 25 seconds later, and Josh Mahuras power play point shot found a way in past a screened Nick McBride to make it 3-1 Red Deer.

Maxwell added another at the 12:18 mark before Red Deer product and recent call-up Luke Coleman pulled one back for the Raiders at 13:50.

Read the original here:

Raiders fall in Red Deer before must-win in Edmonton