Ozzy Wiesblatt was in the right place at the right time on two occasions at Rogers Place Friday night.
After finding the loose puck off of a blocked shot from Ilya Usau to tie things up with 4:30 to go in the third period, the Prince Albert Raiders forward capitalized on a rebound from a Kaiden Guhle shot just 67 seconds into overtime to give his team a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
“Those two kids (Guhle and Wiesblatt) never complained or looked for an excuse after playing in Hamilton yesterday (for the CHL Top Prospects Game) and then traveling to Edmonton today to be in the lineup tonight,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said.
“I thought Kaiden was unreal tonight and he was probably our best player. Ozzy was there for those two goals and that’s good on both guys. It shows the type of character that they have.”
It took a bit for the Raiders to find the equalizing goal as the Oil Kings took a 1-0 lead just eight minutes into the contest on the 17th marker of the campaign by rookie Dylan Guenther.
“We were missing a quick step in the first two periods but I thought we were much better in the third,” Habscheid said.
“It felt like we were just happy to be close after 40 minutes, which is not The Raider Way and what we’re about. We’re the only team in the league that are the defending champions and we’re not giving up that mantle. They (Edmonton) are ranked third in the country but that doesn’t matter to us. We expect to win every night.”
Max Paddock had another strong outing as he made 27 saves to earn the first star honours for the third straight game since joining the Raiders last Thursday after a trade with the Regina Pats.
Rookie netminder Sebastian Cossa stopped 22 shots for the 29-7-6-3 Oil Kings, who are eight points ahead of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the Central Division and are tied with the Portland Winterhawks for the top spot in the entire league with 67 points.
The 23-14-5-2 Raiders, who are once again tied with the Winnipeg Ice for first place in the East Division, will conclude their weekend road swing on Saturday in an 8 p.m. contest with the Red Deer Rebels.
They will then return to the Art Hauser Centre next Friday night for the third meeting with the Oil Kings in a two-week span.
Post-Game Notes
The Raiders have gone past regulation time in their last four games, which matches a run that lasted from Feb. 9-13, 2005.
After losing 3-2 and 4-3 overtime affairs at home to the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the Raiders picked up a 3-2 overtime road win over the Regina Pats and played to a 2-2 tie with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Ozzy Wiesblatt extended his point streak to five games with his two-goal night, which is one off his career high run of form that he set in a stretch that lasted from Nov. 29 to Dec. 13, 2019.
Michael Horon was the lone scratch for the Raiders, while the Oil Kings did not dress Wyatt McLeod, David Kope, Tyler Horstmann and Jesse Seppala.
Around the WHL
The Winnipeg Ice are expected to be without the services of leading scorer Connor McClennon for the next two months after he suffered a broken collarbone in the first period of Tuesday’s 5-1 home win over the Prince George Cougars.
The 17-year-old forward, who is eligible for the 2020 NHL Draft, is tied for 12th in league scoring with 49 points in 42 games.
Friday’s Scores
- Brandon 3 Calgary 1 (Jiri Patera – 30 Saves)
- Everett 3 Kelowna 2 (Gage Goncalves – Two Goals)
- Kamloops 12 Tri-City 3 (Ryan Hughes – One Goal and Four Assists)
- Lethbridge 4 Red Deer 3 (Alex Cotton Overtime Winner – Cameron Hausinger – One Goal and Two Assists)
- Prince George 3 Moose Jaw 2 (Tyler Brennan – 28 Saves)
- Saskatoon 5 Swift Current 0 (Tristen Robins – Two Goals and One Assist – Koen MacInnes – 14 Saves – Second Shutout This Season)
- Seattle 4 Regina 2 (Keltie Jeri-Leon – Two Goals)
- Portland 5 Spokane 3 (Simon Knak – Two Goals and One Assist)
- Vancouver 4 Victoria 1 (Eric Florchuk – Three Goals – Second Hat Trick This Season)
Around the CHL
The Ontario Hockey League has suspended London Knights overage goaltender Dylan Myskiw, who suited up in the Western Hockey League from 2016 to 2019 with the Victoria Royals, Brandon Wheat Kings and the Edmonton Oil Kings respectively, for eight games after failing a drug test.
The Canadian Hockey League handed out the ban on Thursday night after a test that was done last month revealed the presence of a prohibited substance found within a post-workout supplement
According to a press release, the supplement was purchased from a “reliable commercial vendor” and Myskiw did not know that it contained the prohibited substance.
Myskiw, who joined the Knights in November, has a 10-5-0 record with a 3.41 goals against average, an .890 save percentage and one shutout this season for the perennial OHL contenders.
Pre-Game Notes
The Rebels hold a 2-1 advantage over the Raiders in the season series, which wraps up on Saturday in Red Deer.
After a 4-3 overtime setback against the host Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday, the 14-23-2-3 Rebels are currently mired in a four-game losing streak.
They are in fifth place in the Central Division standings and 12 points behind the Saskatoon Blades for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Rookie blueliner Kyle Masters remains sidelined with an injury that he suffered at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in November.
Saturday’s Schedule
- Brandon vs. Moose Jaw – 7 p.m.
- Saskatoon vs. Swift Current – 7 p.m.
- Calgary vs. Winnipeg – 7:30 p.m.
- Kelowna vs. Portland – 8 p.m.
- Prince Albert vs. Red Deer – 8 p.m.
- Lethbridge vs. Medicine Hat – 8:30 p.m.
- Tri-City vs. Kamloops – 9 p.m.
- Seattle vs. Everett – 9 p.m.
- Regina vs. Spokane – 9 p.m.
- Vancouver vs. Victoria – 9 p.m.
