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| Ozzy Wiesblatt (#19) received some good luck for the Raiders. |
In Game 1
of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series on Friday night at the Art
Hauser Centre, the host Prince Albert Raiders were the beneficiary of the
positive bounce.
The visiting Edmonton Oil Kings were on the other end of the coin that ultimately felt dejection.
The visiting Edmonton Oil Kings were on the other end of the coin that ultimately felt dejection.
At the 1:48
mark of the second period, Raiders rookie right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt swooped
down the left wing of the Edmonton zone on rush.
He ripped a backhanded centring pass to the front of the Edmonton net. The pass bounced off
the stick of Oil Kings defenceman Wyatt McLeod and found a home in the open
right side of the Edmonton goal.
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| Wyatt McLeod, right, was victim of bad luck for the Oil Kings. |
Wiesblatt,
who had been held pointless in his five previous post-season outings, gladly
took any luck that came his way.
“It is a big confidence boost for sure, especially after
last series not playing my best,” said Wiesblatt referring to his team’s six
game victory over the Saskatoon Blades in a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal
series. “I think good teams find a way, so it was nice to get that bounce.
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| The Raiders celebrate Ozzy Wiesblatt’s goal. |
McLeod was
dumbfounded by what occurred in that part of the contest noting he wasn’t
trying to shoot or pass the puck in that moment.
“It was a two-on-two,” said McLeod. “(Oil Kings defenceman) Conner
(McDonald) did a good job playing his guy.
“The puck came to the centre, and I just lost track of it
and in off my stick so a tough bounce on that one.”
While
Wiesblatt’s goal gave his side a victory in Game 1, the Calgary, Alta., product
said his team wasn’t overly happy with their performance coming off an
emotional series win over their archrivals in the Blades. He was already looking
forward to Game 2 of the series set for Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser
Centre.
“I think it wasn’t our best performance for sure,” said
Wiesblatt. “I think we’re just going to come back tomorrow and do a lot better.”
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| Ian Scott made 26 saves to pick up the shutout win for the Raiders. |
“I think we did a fairly good job of weathering their (the
Raiders) push early,” said McLeod. “I think about after the 10-minute mark of
the first we finally got really skating to what we think is capable.
“In saying that, I think we still have another gear to give.
We’ll bring it tomorrow.”
Ian Scott
turned away 26 shots to pick up his second shutout of the post-season in goal
for the Raiders.
The only
time he looked shaky was on the Oil Kings first shot of the game, which went to
a video review to ensure the puck didn’t go across the goal-line of the Prince
Albert net. The review showed Scott kept the puck out.
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| Dylan Myskiw turned away 23 shots in goal for the Oil Kings. |
Inside of the final 30 seconds of the third, Scott kept the
puck out of his net during a couple of fire drill scrambles. One scramble came
after Scott denied Oil Kings captain Trey Fix-Wolansky on a drive from the left
side wall.
The rebound from Fix-Wolansky’s shot went in front of the
Prince Albert net, and Scott stopped two more chances before covering the puck.
Overall, Scott felt his defensive unit had a solid game in
front of him.
“I thought they were pretty good,” said Scott. “(There were)
lots of key (shot) blocks at really important times.
“When you get that it is a big thing in playoffs.”
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| The Art Hauser Centre faithful cheer on the Raiders. |
“You just have to keep having fun,” said Scott. “It is
playoffs.
“It is not hard to get up for those games. As long as you
keep it even keel it will be good.”
At the
other end of the rink, Dylan Myskiw stopped 23 shots to take the setback in net
for the Oil Kings.
Overall,
Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer liked how his team played on Friday. He felt
good about how his team responded to the raucous atmosphere in the Raiders home
rink.
Lauer said
the Edmonton coaches tell their players to throw the puck on net, because you
never know what can happen. He added the Raiders also followed that philosophy
on Wiesblatt’s goal.
“It was one of those things where we just couldn’t find that
one shot,” said Lauer. “I think we learned an awful lot.
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| Cole Fonstad gets set to fire a shot on goal for the Raiders. |
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.
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.
Raiders
head coach Marc Habscheid said he expects the Eastern Conference final to be a competitive
series. When the dust settled on Friday, the veteran bench boss said the big
thing was his side picked up the positive result.
“It is a win,” said Habscheid. “That is what matters in
playoffs.
“They are a good team. We knew that, but they proved it
tonight they are a good team. I think we can be much better.
“We didn’t really have what seemed like our legs tonight,
but they played well. Our guys did what they had to do.”
NOTES – The Raiders had star left-winger Cole Fonstad
back in their lineup after he missed two games with an undisclosed injury.
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| Ian Scott, left, and Zack Hayes celebrate the Raiders win. |
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