Fresh off a five-goal third period in Friday’s 6-3 home triumph over the Regina Pats, the Prince Albert Raiders continued to find the back of the net in Moose Jaw Saturday.
The Raiders fired 20 shots on goal and scored three times in the opening frame at Mosaic Place as they cruised to a 5-1 triumph over the host Warriors.
“The first period was clinical,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “That might have been as good of a period as we have played all year.
“The guys were playing fast, our structure was good and I don’t think they missed a pass. I think it was a bit of a continuation from the end of last night’s game and you could tell that the guys had their skating legs going in this one.”
Aliaksei Protas had two goals and two assists for the Raiders, who picked up their fourth straight victory on Saturday.
The Washington Capitals prospect, who has recorded a point in his last five games, now leads the Western Hockey League scoring race with 26 points in 16 games.
“He’s always working on his game and he has a great attitude,” Habscheid said.
“He doesn’t sit on his laurels. He still wants to learn and get better.”
Brayden Watts had a goal and an assist in the triumph, while Ozzy Wiesblatt dished out a pair of helpers.
Spencer Moe and Evan Herman also scored for the visitors, who improved their record to 11-2-3-0 and now have a five-point lead over the Saskatoon Blades in the East Division.
Carter Serhyenko made 32 saves in his second career start and was two minutes and 48 seconds away from earning his first shutout before Ryder Korczak tipped a shot past the rookie netminder.
“I thought he played great tonight,” Habscheid said. “He made a couple of really good saves in the second period and it wasn’t an easy game for him by any means.”
Bailey Brkin got the start for the hosts but was pulled after allowing four goals on 18 shots in 24 minutes of action.
Adam Evanoff made 12 saves in the final 36 minutes for the 7-7-1-0 Warriors, who saw their two-game win streak come to an end Saturday.
The Raiders will continue their three-game road swing on Tuesday night when they’ll face the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place.
Following a Wednesday evening matchup with the Calgary Hitmen, the Raiders will return to the Art Hauser Centre Friday for a date with the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Post-Game Notes
In addition to taking over the league scoring lead, Aliaksei Protas is now second in the WHL in goals with with 12, which is three back of Lethbridge Hurricanes import forward Oliver Okuliar.
Ozzy Wiesblatt is now in sole possesion of fifth place in the league in assists with 15 and is only two helpers behind league leaders Adam Beckman of the Spokane Chiefs and Ryder Korczak of the Warriors.
Despite firing a game-high six shots on net, Warriors forward Brayden Tracey was held off the scoresheet by the Raiders, which brought an end to his five-game point streak.
Nolan Allan and Cole Nagy did not dress for the Raiders, while the Warriors scratched Jackson Berry, Cory King and Tate Popple.
Saturday’s Scores
- Lethbridge 5 Brandon 2 (Oliver Okuliar – Three Goals – Second Straight Hat Trick)
- Saskatoon 3 Calgary 2 (Nolan Maier – 37 Saves)
- Everett 3 Kamloops 2 (Dustin Wolf – 42 Saves)
- Portland 2 Seattle 1 (Joel Hofer – 29 Saves)
- Spokane 6 Prince George 0 (Filip Kral – Two Goals and One Assist – Campbell Arnold – 27 Saves – First Career Shutout)
- Vancouver 6 Tri-City 3 (Justin Sourdif – Two Goals and Two Assists)
- Medicine Hat 6 Victoria 3 (James Hamblin – Three Goals – First Career Hat Trick)
- Winnipeg 4 Swift Current 0 (Dean McNabb – 21 Saves – First Shutout This Season and Second Career)
World Under-17 Hockey Challenge
Kamloops Blazers forward Logan Stankoven scored twice for Canada Red on Saturday as they opened up Group B play with a 4-3 win over Russia in Swift Current.
Prince Albert Raiders blueliner Nolan Allan did not record a point for Canada Red, who will return to action Monday against Sweden.
Group A action started off with a bang in Medicine Hat as Gatineau Olympiques forward Zach Dean scored 52 seconds into overtime to give Canada Black a 6-5 win over Canada White.
Kingston Frontenacs forward Shane Wright, who was granted exceptional status into the OHL this season, had three goals and an assist to lead the way for Canada Black.
Matthew Savoie, who is splitting time between the Winnipeg Ice and the Rink Hockey Academy this year, dished out three helpers for Canada White.
Round-robin play continues Sunday as Finland will take on Sweden in Swift Current and the United States will square off against the Czech Republic in Medicine Hat.
Pre-Game Notes
Tuesday’s meeting between the Oil Kings and the Raiders is the first between the two sides since the Raiders won last year’s Eastern Conference final in six games.
Prince Albert took three out of four matchups from Edmonton last year and have won their last three regular season contests at Rogers Place.
The 11-1-3-0 Oil Kings, who are tied for first place in the WHL with the Raiders and the Lethbridge Hurricanes, are on a six-game win streak ahead of a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Calgary Hitmen.
Prince Albert product Riley Sawchuk has 19 points in 15 games in his overage campaign and is tied for the team lead in scoring with fellow forward Josh Williams.
Oil Kings rookie netminder Sebastian Cossa, who is splitting starting duties with Todd Scott, has the best goal against average in the league with a 1.85 mark and his .939 save percentage has him in a tie with Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips for first place in the WHL.
Forward Dylan Guenther, who was the top overall pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, will not play in Tuesday’s game as he’s suiting up for the Canada White at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
Sunday’s Schedule
- Edmonton vs. Calgary – 3 p.m.
- Red Deer vs. Regina – 4 p.m.
- Medicine Hat vs. Vancouver – 6 p.m.
- Kamloops vs. Portland – 7 p.m.
- Everett vs. Spokane – 7 p.m.
Tuesday’s Schedule
- Red Deer vs. Brandon – 7 p.m.
- Prince Albert vs. Edmonton – 8 p.m.
