Although the Prince Albert Raiders were able to claw back from an early hole, the Winnipeg Ice made them pay for their mistakes on Saturday night.
In the first of two straight games at the Wayne Fleming Arena, the Ice broke open a tied contest with a trio of third period goals as they came away with a 6-3 triumph and handed the Raiders their eighth straight loss.
“I think the turnovers were the difference,” Raiders assistant coach Jeff Truitt said on the 900 CKBI post-game show. “We didn’t get the puck out and when we did, it wasn’t deep into their zone.
“We didn’t generate enough offence and because of it, they were able to come back on odd man rushes and they had guys coming in late. We didn’t manage the puck very well at all.”
It didn’t take long for the Ice to make an impact as Owen Pederson scored two goals in 11 seconds, which ended the night for Boston Bilous after just a minute and eight seconds of action.
Keegan Karki, who was acquired by the Raiders from the Everett Silvertips late Friday, came into the game in relief and stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced.
“It’s not easy after traveling all day (from Prince George, where the Silvertips were playing on Friday) and getting called in like that, but he looked good early,” Truitt said.
“He looked really calm and he didn’t panic when the puck was hitting him in close quarters.”
Ilya Usau led the way for the 20-14-4-1 Raiders with a goal and an assist each, while Justin Nachbaur and Brayden Watts also scored.
Isaac Johnson had a goal and three helpers, while Jackson Leppard had two goals and an assist for the 24-13-1-0 Ice, who are on a five-game win streak and now have a four point lead over the Raiders in the East Division.
Connor McClennon joined Pederson in finding the back of the net and also had two assists.
Vegas Golden Knights prospect Peyton Krebs dished out a pair of helpers and Liam Hughes continued his strong play in goal as he made 25 saves.
The two sides will square off again on Sunday in a 6 p.m. matchup that will conclude the Raiders four-game road swing.
They will return to the Art Hauser Centre on Tuesday for a meeting with the Red Deer Rebels.
Post-Game Notes
Four of the Ice’s top offensive contributors continued their strong play on Saturday as Connor McClennon (10 games), Owen Pederson (eight games), Peyton Krebs (six games) and Carson Lambos (five games) all extended their point streaks.
Carter Serhyenko, Michael Horon and Tyson Laventure did not dress for the Raiders, while the Ice were without the services of Gage Alexander, Reece Harsch, Nino Kinder, Michael Milne, Brad Ginnell, Michal Teply and Matthew Savoie.
Around the WHL
The Everett Silvertips added to their forward core on Saturday afternoon as they acquired 19-year-old forward Ty Kolle from the Regina Pats for the rights to 16-year-old forward Ean Somoza, a fourth round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a fifth round pick in 2021.
Kolle, who the Pats acquired last November from the Lethbridge Hurricanes as part of the Nick Henry and Jake Leschyshyn trade, was fourth on the team in scoring with 23 points in 35 games at the time of the deal.
Somoza, who was a 13th round pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, has 29 points in 16 games for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings Under-16 program.
Saturday’s Scores
- Kamloops 5 Victoria 1 (Logan Stankoven – One Goal and Two Assists)
- Kelowna 3 Vancouver 2 (Conner McDonald Shootout Winner – David Tendeck – 34 Saves)
- Calgary 2 Lethbridge 1 (Mark Kastelic Overtime Winner – Brayden Peters – 27 Saves)
- Medicine Hat 8 Seattle 5 (Brett Kemp – Two Goals and Two Assists)
- Portland 6 Tri-City 2 (Seth Jarvis – Three Goals – First Career Hat Trick)
- Everett 5 Prince George 2 (Cole Fonstad – One Goal and One Assist)
- Moose Jaw 3 Red Deer 0 (Adam Evanoff – 46 Saves – First Shutout This Season and Second Career)
- Swift Current 5 Regina 4 (Ethan Regnier Shootout Winner – Robbie Holmes – Three Assists)
World Juniors Update
A 32-save showing by Joel Hofer (Portland Winterhawks) and a two-goal outing by Alexis Lafreniere (Rimouski Oceanic) were among the keys for Canada in their 5-0 semifinal win over Finland at the 2020 World Juniors in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
With the win, Canada earned a spot in Sunday’s gold medal game at 12 p.m., as they will look to beat Russia to win their first title since 2018.
The biggest question mark going into the game is the status of captain Barrett Hayton (Arizona Coyotes) as he left the game in the third period after crashing hard into the boards during a battle with one-time Kelowna Rockets blueliner Lassi Thomson.
Hayton and Aidan Dudas (Owen Sound Attack) each had a pair of assists in the contest, while Connor McMichael (London Knights), Jamie Drysdale (Erie Otters) and Ty Dellandrea (Flint Firebirds) also scored.
Justus Annunen (Karpat) stopped 30 shots for Finland, who were looking to be the first country to repeat as champions since Canada won five in a row from 2005 to 2009.
Russia, who last won the tournament in 2011, earned a spot in the gold medal game after a wild 5-4 overtime affair over Sweden.
Ivan Morozov (SKA St. Petersburg) scored two goals for Russia, including the game-winner at the 3:24 mark of the extra frame.
Egor Sokolov (Cape Breton Eagles) also found the net twice and Alexander Khovanov (Moncton Wildcats) had a goal and an assist each.
The only uncertainty for Russia ahead of Sunday’s final is who will get the start in goal.
Draft eligible netminder Yaroslav Askarov (SKA St. Petersburg) was pulled after allowing four goals on 20 shots, while Amir Miftakhov (AK Bars Kazan) stopped all five shots he faced and held Canada off the scoreboard in a 6-0 round-robin triumph.
Rasmus Sandin (Toronto Marlies) had two goals and two assists each for Sweden, who have only won the tournament once during a 52-game round-robin win streak that dates back to 2008.
They will have the chance to end the tournament on a high note at 8 a.m. Sunday as they’ll face Finland in the bronze medal game.
Meanwhile, the best-of-three relegation series between Germany and Kazakhstan will come down to a deciding game at 4 a.m. Sunday.
Stanislav Alexandrov (Snezhyne Barsy Astana) scored twice and Vladislav Nurek (Altay Ust-Kamenogorsk) made 43 saves for Kazakhstan on Saturday as they kept their tournament hopes alive with a 4-1 victory.
The winner of Sunday’s contest will remain in the top flight for next year’s tournament in Edmonton and Red Deer, while the loser will drop down to the Division I tournament and be replaced by Austria.
Sunday’s Schedule
- Saskatoon vs. Edmonton – 2 p.m. (Will air nationally on Sportsnet)
- Brandon vs. Regina – 4 p.m.
- Seattle vs. Swift Current – 4 p.m.
- Moose Jaw vs. Calgary – 5 p.m.
- Prince Albert vs. Winnipeg – 6 p.m.
- Kelowna vs. Tri-City – 6 p.m.
