Letter of Marque
Boom, Boom, Boom
Article written by french sport journalist Evok
S35G28

<div align="center">Halifax Raiders 2 || Vancouver Whalers 1</div>

After their win against the Knights, the Raiders were able to take a 2 day rest well deserved. The schedule made them play 4 games in 4 days which tired even the most enduring player of the team. After their rest, they moved to Vancouver to conclude their small road trip. If they managed to win this game, it would be their most successful away stretch of the season.

The first period started on the right foot for the Raiders. Dwayne Wyder was the first one to put a mark on the scoresheet when at 3 minutes 30 seconds into the game, he managed to outplay Carrick Murray and set his team with an early lead. A minute later, Matthew Rossi II was punished for roughing when he shoved too many time one of the Raiders’ player. The power play unit of the Raiders took the ice, but they didn’t really manage to get a good opportunity to test the Whalers netminder. The game went back and forth a few minutes before Trucker Grogan was punished for holding back Vancouver’s offensive. This time, it was the penalty kill unit of the Raiders that did it’s job and prevented the Whalers to score on their goaltender. Before the end of the period, at around 17 minutes, Angelo Odjick was sent to the sin bin for hooking. During that 2 minute, the Raiders weren’t able to capitalize on the penalty.

There was barely any action during the second period. No team was really dominating the other and they went back and forth a lot of time during the 20 minutes. The goaltenders were also not tested a lot during that time. Jordin FourFour Jr. was tested only 4 times by the Whalers while Murray faced only one shot on the goal by the Raiders.

Montek Ramrap took a bad penalty at the start of the last leg of the game. As he was sitting in the penalty box after a high stick, he was forced to watch his team succumb to the goal scored by Sophia Bennett. This was not enough to keep the team disciplined and Yuri Boyka Jr. was the next to sit in timeout after hooking a player. The penalty kill unit of the Raiders managed to stay strong on the ice and didn’t allow the Whalers to score. However, following this incident, the power play unit of the Raiders failed to gain a lead in the game on three occasions. First, Inari Twain received a penalty for roughing six minutes into the game. After, Odjick received his second penalty once again for hooking and finally, Isak Ødegård sat in the sin bin with 3 minutes remaining in the game. As Halifax didn’t manage to gain back their lead, they were forced to go into overtime.

The 5 minutes of overtime happened without any goals or penalty. There was a bit of action at the start of it when the Raiders managed to get two quick shots on the net, but the puck quickly moved back into the Whalers attack. Despite everything, Vancouver was only able to shot once on FourFour Jr.

With the score even for both team after the overtime, both team were moved into the shootout.
The first to take the ice was Vinny Marino who scored on Murray.
The second skater on the ice was Jack Dore who outplayed FourFour Jr. .
Bar Downski tried to shot high, but Murray was able to catch the puck in a quick movement.
Indesvara Magar was able to beat the Raiders goaltender with a feint.
Next was sniper Cody Fletcher who sent a quick wrister past Murray.
Spitfire skated in position to beat FourFour Jr. on the left, but they puck missed the net.
The seventh skated on the ice was Yuri Boyka Jr. who pushed the puck between Murray’s pads.
The game was now on Sophia Bennett’s shoulders, but she didn’t manage to control her shot and ended up just over the net.

The unsung hero of the match for the Raiders was Yuri Boyka Jr.. He was able to seal the victory by scoring during the shootout. He also had the secondary assist on the only goal of the raiders that night. He won 7 out of his 19 faceoffs and had two shot during his 22 minutes on the ice. He could have had more if he wasn't sent to the penalty box for Hooking.