The Red Deer Rebels got back on track Saturday night at the Centrium, blanking the Prince Albert Raiders 2-0 in a game that was tighter than the scoreboard suggested. Nathan Salisbury turned aside all 37 shots for his first shutout of the season, while Jake Missura and Jake Banicevic supplied the only goals. The Raiders actually outshot Red Deer 37-29 and generated plenty of chances, especially in a third period where they fired 17 shots, but they just couldn’t solve Salisbury. It was a nice bounce-back for the Rebels after dropping a 5-4 shootout decision in Lethbridge the night before.
What’s interesting is how the standings look after this one. Red Deer sits atop the Central Division with 27 points (12-4-1-2), still the best team in the Eastern Conference right now. Prince Albert, meanwhile, is near the bottom of the East Division with just 15 points (6-8-1-2). The Raiders had beaten the Rebels 4-1 earlier this season in Prince Albert, so this was a bit of revenge on home ice, and it keeps the Rebels rolling while the Raiders continue to search for consistency.
Jake Missura scored his third goal of the season at 17:57 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Cameron Kuzma and Patrick Sopiarz.–Cameron Kuzma drove down the left side, stopped up, and fed it back to Jake Missura trailing in on the right. Missura walked it up to the top of the circle and ripped a wrist shot past Orsulak for his third of the year. The Saskatoon defenseman is starting to chip in more offensively this season after mostly being a stay-at-home guy early on.
Shots on goal in the first period were 12-6 for the Rebels
Jake Banicevic sccored his 8th goal of the seasona at 12:50 of the seccond period. The assists on the goal went to Cameron Kuzma and Graeme Pickering.–Kuzma won another race down the left wall, took it deep to the corner, and found Jake Banicevic at the top of the left circle. Banicevic just gripped it and ripped a wrist shot that beat Orsulak for his eighth of the season. The Port Moody rookie has been a pleasant surprise since signing out of the AJHL, already sitting on eight goals after scoring a hat trick earlier in the year against Victoria.
Near the end of the second, Jordan Murray laid a big hip check on Cameron Kuzma that sent him flying as he tried to enter the zone. That didn’t sit well with Jake Missura, who jumped Murray and the two dropped the gloves. Murray ended up bloodied up with his visor covered in red from the punches, and he had to finish the period in the dressing room getting patched up while the Raiders got a power play for the instigator.
Shots on goal in the second period were 14=10 for the Raiders
Shots on goal in the third period were 17-7 for the Raiders. The Raiders outshot the Rebels 37-29 in the game.
Nathan Sailisbury stopped all 36 shots that he faced in his first WHL shutout in his first ever home start. For the Raiders Czech Import and Detroit Red Wings prospect Michal Orsulak stopped 27 of the 29 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Nathan Salisbury 2) Camreon Kuzma 3) Jake Missura
Attendance in Red Deer was 3602
Rebels next game is Friday November 14th in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes
Brock Cripps is one of the top defencemen in the 2027 NHL Draft class and a legitimate first-round candidate. The 5’11” right-shot blue-liner from Langford, B.C., has been the clear No. 1 D for the Prince Albert Raiders this season and is putting up big numbers—1 goal and 18 assists in about 15-16 games, often leading or near the top of the WHL in assists. He’s a high-end puck-mover with excellent hockey IQ and has been trusted to quarterback the power play, the same role he held last year as a 16-year-old when he put up 37 points in 62 games and then exploded for 21 points in 20 playoff games. Central Scouting has already given him an A rating (first-round projection), and most early rankings have him somewhere in the top 10-15 range. If he keeps driving play on a struggling Raiders team the way he has so far, he has a real shot at going even higher.