EDMONTON -- The Prince Albert Raiders are down to their last life in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.
The Edmonton Oil Kings built an early 3-0 lead and would go on to take a 3-2 victory in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarter-final series in Edmonton, and as a result now have a three-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series.
Edmonton couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game, as Lukas Sawchyn scored at the 11:53 mark of the first period to give the Oil Kings a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, and by the time the second period was five minutes old, they’d be ahead by three goals.
Gavin Hodnett made it 2-0 only 1:09 into the second frame, and Adam Jecho extended the edge to 3-0 with 4:49 gone.
There things would stand until midway through the third period, when Rilen Kovacevic scored his second of the playoffs at 10:22 to get Prince Albert on the board.
Nial Crocker then scored his fourth of the postseason with 2:45 remaining to make for a tense finish, but the Raiders would be unable to find the tying goal as time wound down.
Ethan Simcoe turned aside 30 shots to take the win for Edmonton, while Max Hildebrand had 17 stops for Prince Albert.
The Raiders will look to stay alive in the postseason when Game 5 takes place on Friday night in Prince Albert. Game time is 7 p.m. at Art Hauser Centre.
