Monday 22 April 2019

Oil Kings grow from clashes with top-seeded Raiders

Oil Kings LW Jake Neighbours, left, drives on Raiders D Sergie Sapego.
    Brad Lauer remembers when his Edmonton Oil Kings were in awe of the Prince Albert Raiders.
    The Oil Kings head coach recalls the time when the Oil Kings first met the Raiders this season last Nov. 28, and the results weren’t particularly good for his side. The Raiders skated away with a 6-3 victory at Rogers Place in Edmonton to improve to 25-1 at the time.
    “When we played them at the beginning of the year, they were on their roll,” said Lauer. “At that time, we were a very young and immature team.
    “We probably wanted to get their autographs more than wanted to play against them. We just sat back and watched, and they pretty much took it to us. As you play teams like this, you learn an awful lot.
    “Not only do you learn, it makes your team better, when you play good teams. There was a lot that we took away every time we played these guys all year. There was something that we were able to take from them what they did as a team and kind of bring it into our group.”
    Having missed the playoffs the previous two seasons, the Oil Kings continued to improve as a team from that first meeting with the Raiders. Last Dec. 12, they dropped a 6-5 decision in overtime to the Raiders in Prince Albert.
Raiders D Brayden Pachal, right, closes on Oil Kings LW Quinn Benjafield.
    On Feb. 1, Edmonton posted a 6-3 victory in Prince Albert. On Feb. 4, the Raiders came into Edmonton and dropped the Oil Kings 5-1.
    The two squads are now battling in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship series. The best-of-seven set is tied at 1-1.
    Games 3 and 4 are set for Rogers Place in Edmonton on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively with a 7 p.m. local start times on both nights.
    Prince Albert finished first overall in the WHL’s regular season posting a 54-10-2-2 record and was rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. As a result, the Raiders are pegged as favourites in the Eastern Conference final against Edmonton.
    The Oil Kings topped the Central Division and finished fifth overall in the WHL standings with a 42-18-4-4 mark, and they were an honourable mention in the final CHL Top 10 rankings. They are proving to be a formidable foe.
    Lauer has seen the improvement in his club each time they’ve played the Raiders.
    “The next time we played them we were better against them,” said Lauer. “When we play good teams, the good comes from our team.”
    As for Prince Albert, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid is looking for his side to hit the reset button for the upcoming clash.
    “We’ve won two there, so we feel comfortable playing on the road,” said Habscheid. “It is the way it is.
    “We didn’t want to lose a home game for sure, but they are a good team.”
Trey Fix-Wolansky scored on Saturday for the Oil Kings.
    The series has been a physical one so far. That is an aspect Oil Kings rookie left-winger Jake Neighbours, who turned 17-years-old in late March, has enjoyed.
    “Game 1 was kind of a feel out game,” said Neighbours, who has four goals and seven assists in the Oil Kings 12 playoff games. “Both teams are kind of seeing what is coming.
    “(Game 2) was probably what this whole series is going to be like, lots of physicality. I don’t mind the physical game. I’m out there throwing my body around and obviously taking a couple of hits too.”
    Another plotline from the series revolves around the Oil Kings top line of right-winger Quinn Benjafield, centre Vince Loschiavo and left-winger and captain Trey Fix-Wolansky going against the Raiders top defensive pair of captain Brayden Pachal and Zack Hayes.
    The unit of Benjafield, Loschiavo and Fix-Wolansky has been held to one goal so far in the series. That tally was a big one as Fix-Wolansky netted the equalizer in the third period of Game 2 on Saturday in Prince Albert to force a 3-3 tie and ultimately overtime.
    Neighbours score the overtime winner to give Edmonton a 4-3 victory.
    Pachal said he was all set to continue to team with Hayes to go against Edmonton’s top line.
    “We’re used to it now,” said Pachal. “We’ve been doing it all year.
    “Every team has top players, and it is our job to shut them down. Obviously, those guys are good players, and we just have to do our job.”
    Over the course of the campaign, the Raiders have received praise for the work done by their starting six on defence including Pachal, Hayes, Jeremy Masella, Max Martin, Sergei Sapego and Kaiden Guhle.
    The back end is a veteran one as Pachal, Hayes, Masella, Martin and Sapego are all in their 19-year-old seasons, while Guhle is in his 16-year-old rookie campaign.
Zack Hayes has been tough on defence for the Raiders.
    The Oil Kings defensive unit, which is a little more on the youthful side, has taken shape too. Conner McDonald, Will Warm and Parker Gavlas are in their 19-year-old years on the back end.
    Gavlas is playing through his first full season in the WHL and is a plus-11 in the plus-minus department in the post-season.
    Wyatt McLeod and Ethan Cap are in their 18-year-old campaigns, while Matthew Robertson is a 17-year-old sophomore.
    “We’re really in sync,” said Robertson. “We rolling the lines pretty much most of the time.
    “I think we are doing a really good job.”
    As for the Raiders, they will be looking to recapture home ice advantage in the series aiming to get a win in Edmonton. Physical left-winger Justin Nachbaur said his Raiders just have to avoid dwelling on the 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2 on Saturday in Prince Albert.
    “It was a tough one,” said Nachbaur. “We have to bounce back as a team.
    “That is the way it goes right now. It is playoffs. They are a good team.
    “You have to do what we have to do. We have to play hard.”

Extra attention likely to be paid on play in the crease

Andrew Fyten celebrates his goal for the Oil Kings on Saturday.
    When the Prince Albert Raiders and Edmonton Oil Kings resume play in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series, there will likely be more attention to what happens during play in the goal crease.
    The best-of-seven series between the teams is tied 1-1. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
    Following the Oil Kings 4-3 overtime victory in Game 2 in Prince Albert on Saturday, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said he didn’t like the fact the officials allowed his star starting goaltender Ian Scott to be knocked around quite a bit.
    “The one thing that concerned me a little bit is it was kind of open season on our goaltender,” said Habscheid. “We depend on the officials to defend our goaltender, because we have no recourse anymore these days.
    “He (Scott) was getting bumped and stuck and ran all game. We expect them (the officials) to take care of that, and they didn’t. That is a little bit disappointing.”
    The main sticking point for Habscheid occurred when Oil Kings overage centre Andrew Fyten scored a power-play goal with 28.4 seconds remaining in the first period to force a 2-2 tie in the contest.
    A point shot from Oil Kings defenceman Matthew Robertson deflected in off Fyten’s leg and off of Scott’s skate into the Prince Albert net.
    Habscheid believed there should have been goaltender interference on the play, which would have nullified the goal. The bench boss said Scott is doing his best to track the puck and fight through people to stop the puck.
Raiders goalie Ian Scott battled through traffic on Saturday.
    “He (Scott) has to battle through that, but that is where you depend on your officials to make those calls,” said Habscheid. “It can’t be open season on goaltenders.
    “If it is, just let us know, but that can’t happen.”
    Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer said his club is emphasizing driving to the net, and plan to keep going hard to the Raiders net as the series continues.
    “Their D do a really good job of getting into you,” said Lauer. “They box you out.
    “We found it really tough in Game 1 to get to the front of the net. Obviously as you make change and do adjustments during  the series as it goes along here. We had to find ways to get to him (Scott) and make things difficult for him.
    “We did it a couple of times. Did we do it enough? I don’t think so. We need to do more of that. We need to create that second and third opportunity. If we do that, we will be OK.”
    Looking at available video replays online of Fyten’s goal, it appears the veteran centre could have contacted Scott, but the video wasn’t conclusive.
    Raiders supporters could argue that wasn’t a goal and have a good case. Oil Kings supporters could say that was a goal and could be correct.
    In that type of situation, the call on the ice would stand.
    Jeff D’Andrea of paNOW.com appeared to get the most definitive look with a still photo from his press box location. From his still picture, it looks more conclusive Fyten bumped Scott helping the goal to be scored.
    Of course, no official in the building would have seen that picture, and D’Andrea himself might not have noticed that photo until after all the media interviews were completed that night.
    From my gut perspective from what I have seen with video and still photos after the fact, I believe that was a case of incidental contact and the goal should have been disallowed. I believe it was a missed call, and I understand how it can be missed.
    During the flow and the moment of the game itself, it felt like a goal.
    Still, Habscheid’s post-game comments will make all eyes pay extra attention towards what happens in the goal crease for the rest of the series that could potentially play out to another three to five games.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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