WHL Prince Albert downs Oil Kings 6-3
The Prince Albert Raiders are the real deal and it is going to take something special to keep them from winning the Western Hockey League Championship and the Memorial Cup this season.
On Wednesday, the Raiders looked impressive building a fourgoal lead on the Edmonton Oil Kings on their way to a 6-3 victory, which extended their franchisehigh winning streak to 19 games.
Defenceman Parker Kelly had a pair of goals for the Raiders, while Max Martin, Brayden Pachal, Aliaksei Protas and Kody McDonald, into an empty net, added the others. Brett Leason had three assists.
Prince Albert is an astonishing 25-1-0 this season, the best start in the history of Major Junior Hockey. Their only loss was a 4-3 setback on Oct. 6, on the road, to the Red Deer Rebels.
The Oil Kings at times looked overwhelmed by the Raiders, but did well to battle back in the contest, led by captain Trey FixWolansky, who scored a hat trick.
Oil Kings goaltender Dylan Myskiw made 29 saves in the loss, while Prince Albert goalie Ian Scott turned away 31 shots in the victory.
The Raiders were expected to be a good team this year, but no one could predict how dominant they would be early on.
Their lineup came of age after almost upsetting the Moose Jaw Warriors in the first round of the WHL playoffs last season.
Moose Jaw, who finished 32 points higher in the standings, needed a late third-period goal in Game 7 to finally get past Prince Albert in the opening round. It was a sign of things to come for what was considered a young Prince Albert group at the time.
This year, Prince Albert returned eight 19-year-olds, which included league-leading scorer Leason and Ottawa Senators prospect Kelly.
Prince Albert also took a chance and traded for 20-year-old Noah Gregor, who was drafted by the San Jose Sharks.
Gregor started last season with Moose Jaw but was traded to the Victoria Royals midway through the year.
A fourth-round pick of the Sharks in 2016, Gregor was returned to the WHL, giving the Raiders another weapon in an already loaded arsenal.
Heading into Wednesday ’s game, Gregor, a Beaumont product, had 12 goals and 26 points in 20 games for Prince Albert. He had an assist in the win against the Oil Kings.
FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE
As if Prince Albert needs lucky bounces with all the talent on their roster, their opening goal against the Oil Kings was as fortunate as they come.
Martin opened the scoring 4:20 into the first period on a shot that pinballed off a couple of Oil Kings defencemen and past Myskiw.
Martin, on a harmless-looking rush down the left wing, took a shot that bounced off the leg of Oil Kings defenceman Ethan Cap, changed direction toward the front of the net, and then hit Matthew Robertson’s skate and redirected in past Myskiw.
The goal got the Raiders off the mark and they added two more in the period before pulling away in the second.
Two goals by Fix-Wolansky in the third, however, made a game of it, but Prince Albert was able to hang on for the victory.
Leason and Fix-Wolansky have been battling for the WHL scoring lead all season.
Leason’s secret to success has been his consistency. The winger has scored at least a point in every game this season and set a record for the longest point streak to start a season in the WHL.
Leason broke the 23-game scoring streak set in 1999 by Jeremy Reich of the Swift Current Broncos. Leason went into the game against the Oil Kings with 26 goals and 56 points in his first 25 games.
The Calgary product extended his point streak to 26 games with an assist on Parker Kelly’s goal in the first period. Leason added another assist in the second period, setting up Pachal to increase Prince Albert’s lead to 4-1 in the contest, and had a helper in the empty-net goal.
Leason, who was passed over twice in the NHL Entry Draft, was acquired by Prince Albert from the Tri-City Americans last season. He had one goal in 12 games with TriCity before moving on to Prince Albert, where he finished with 15 goals and 32 points.
Needless to say, nobody saw it coming.
Fix-Wolansky wasn’t intimidated going up against the top-ranked team in the country. He was actually motivated by getting a chance to go head-to-head with Leason.
The Oil Kings captain took it upon himself to make a game of it, scoring three times, including two quick goals in the third period, to pull the Oil Kings within striking distance of the Raiders.
Fix-Wolansky scored an unassisted goal 24 seconds in to the second period to cut the Warriors’ lead to 3-1, and then added another 16 seconds into the third.
His goal 2:04 later prompted Prince Albert head coach Mark Habscheid to call time out and remind his troops they still had a game to finish.
The hat trick kept Fix-Wolansky within four points of Leason for the WHL scoring lead.