Raiders recover from Friday loss to beat Kootenay 8-0 on Saturday night
The Prince Albert Raiders bounced back from Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre, knocking off the Kootenay Ice 8-0.
Parker Kelly scored two goals and added two assists on the night and Ian Scott turned away 25 shots, six power play attempts and a penalty shot to record his second shutout of the year.
“We played the right way. Granted, last night’s team (Lethbridge) is a better team but Kootenay’s still a good team. They work hard but we played the right way tonight and it paid off,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said after the match.
“I liked a lot about our game, I liked they way we responded and probably the thing that I liked the most is (Kootenay) had a tough night and in the third period we scored some goals but our guys didn’t run it up. They didn’t do the fly-bys by the bench. We’ve had some tough games this year and especially against Regina. They were mocking us, they were running up the score and laughing and I was proud of my players because they didn’t do that. we won with class and that’s important for me.”
Kolten Olynek kicked off scoring mid-way through the first period, finishing off a Raiders rush 12 seconds after killing off a Tim Vanstone holding penalty. Cavin Leth added an unassisted shorthanded tally later in the period to give the home team a 2-0 lead after one period.
P.A. leading scorer Simon Stranksy extended the lead in the second period on a nifty breakaway goal. P.A.’s other Czech import Vojtech Budik was next on the board, scoring his first goal of the year in his 56th game of the season.
Back in the Raiders’ end the Ice were struggling to put the puck past Scott. Kootenay winger Barrett Sheen attempted to get his team on the board, swinging at an airborne puck. He managed to make contact and knock the puck into the net, but the goal was immediately disallowed and called a high stick.
Before the period was over P.A.’s Brayden Pachal put his team up 5-0, sniping home the puck from the right faceoff dot.
The Raiders had more firepower in store for the third period, as Kelly zipped the puck past Ice goalie Payton Lee in the opening minutes of the frame. Half-way though the period Raiders captain Vanstone, playing his final few games in his last WHL year, jammed the puck past Lee for his team’s seventh goal of the night.
One minute later Kelly was interfered with as he was breaking in on Lee and crashed into the Ice goalie. Kelly was awarded a penalty shot, but Lee appeared hurt on the play and slowly made his way to the bench to be replaced by backup goalie Jakob Walter. Kelly made no mistake on the penalty shot, firing the puck past Walter to extend the Raiders lead to 8-0. It was Kelly’s fourth point of the night.
“He’s fast and when he plays the right way and when he plays in straight lines he’s tough to handle because he’s so quick and he’s ferocious and goes to the net,” Habscheid said of Kelly.
A few minutes later the Ice would be awarded a penalty shot of their own, but Scott stood tall in net and turned away the Jake Elmer shot to maintain the shutout.
“He stopped everything,” Habscheid said of his goalie.
“Our guys did a good job in front of him for sure, but it doesn’t matter. He stopped pucks and that’s what he’s supposed to do.”
The Raiders’ next game is on Tuesday night when they host the Swift Current Broncos. Game time is 7 p.m.
Game Summary
Prince Albert 8, Kootenay 0
First Period
- Prince Albert, Olynek 13 (Montgomery, Vanstone) 10:33
- Prince Albert, Leth 22 (unassisted) 16:40 (sh)
Second Period
- Prince Albert, Stransky 19 (unassisted) 5:53
- Prince Albert, Budik 1 (Leth, Kelly) 8:15
- Prince Albert, Pachal 3 (Kelly, Leth) 17:46
Third Period
- Prince Albert, Kelly 15 (Miske, Leth) 3:45
- Prince Albert, Vanstone 12 (Olynek, Stransky) 10:20
- Prince Albert, Kelly 16 (unassisted) 11:25 (ps)
Goalies: Prince Albert – Ian Scott, 25 saves (W, 10-28-3-0); Kootenay – Payton Lee, 39 saves (L, 10-22-6-2).
Three Stars: 1. Parker Kelly; 2. Cavin Leth; 3. Ian Scott.
