The Prince Albert Raiders played with fire on Friday, but managed to escape without getting burned.

The Raiders jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the Regina Pats in their home opener at the Brandt Centre, but the Pats fought back to make it a 5-4 game before Max Heise’s empty net goal with 1:31 to play cemented the win.

“We came out with a tremendous start and got up a couple early,” Raiders coach Ryan McDonald said afterward. “We were playing north and playing fast, and we then started to get a little east-westy. It was a couple mistakes that ended up costing us, but give our guys a lot of credit. We found a way to get the two points.”

The Pats looked demoralized and defeated after Aiden Oiring’s goal just over a minute into the second period made it 4-0 and sucked the life out of the home

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