 |
| Quinn Benjafield waves to the Oil Kings fans after an OT win in P.A. |
With his
Edmonton Oil Kings locked in a 3-3 tie with the host Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday,
Neighbours entered the Prince Albert zone down the left wing on a routine rush.
The rookie
left-winger, who turned 17-years-old in late March, got in deep on a bad angle,
but elected to get a shot on goal.
Neighbours put a floater over the right shoulder of Raiders netminder Ian Scott at the 14:49 mark of the extra session to give the Oil Kings 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference championship series between the two sides.
Neighbours put a floater over the right shoulder of Raiders netminder Ian Scott at the 14:49 mark of the extra session to give the Oil Kings 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference championship series between the two sides.
 |
| Oil Kings supporters celebrate their team's OT win on Saturday. |
“Overtime,
there is no bad shot,” said Neighbours. “The puck was kind of rolling.
“I had no
other play, so I just kind of ripped it on net. It was in a good spot.
“It is
pretty amazing. It feels a bit better in an away barn I have to say.”
Game 3 of
the series is set for Tuesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton at 7 p.m. local time.
 |
| Dylan Myskiw makes one of his 26 saves in goal for the Oil Kings. |
“In the
end, we want to win,” said Brook. “We didn’t do that, and I feel the points are
nothing, when you don’t get the win.”
Brook said
he was already getting refocused for Game 3.
“They
played hard against us,” said Brook. “We just have to rebound off that.
“There are
little things we just need to clean up, and I feel like we can do that coming
into Game 3.”
 |
| Jakob Brook had a pair of assists for the Raiders. |
A
power-play goal from Oil Kings sophomore defenceman Matthew Robertson through a
screen with 6:02 remaining in the first period cut the Raiders lead to 2-1.
With 28.4
seconds remaining in the first, Oil Kings overage centre Andrew Fyten scored on
another power play to tie things up at 2-2.
“We had the
game by the throat there at the start,” said Raiders captain Brayden Pachal. “It
is early, so we have to keep pressing and find a way to not take penalties.”
The Raiders
jumped back in front 3-2 at the 2:47 mark of the third on a goal from import
left-winger Aliaksei Protas.
Just under
three minutes later, the Oil Kings pulled even at 3-3, when star captain Trey
Fix-Wolansky netted his fourth goal of the post-season.
 |
| Noah Gregor had the Raiders first goal on Saturday. |
Oil Kings
head coach Brad Lauer was pleased with the game his side played.
“Our start
wasn’t as bad as it showed,” said Lauer. “I like how we were playing at the beginning
of the game.
“We should
have shot the puck a couple of more times. We made two mistakes, and they put
it in the back of our net. That kind of put us on our heels a little bit.
“After the
first (media) timeout in the first period, we went on a 13-0 run with shots,
and I thought our power play got us going. It carried us through. I just like
how we stuck to our details and played the team game.”
 |
| The Raiders faithful enjoyed the fact their team got out to a 2-0 lead. |
Dylan
Myskiw turned away 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.
Raiders head
coach Marc Habscheid like the scoring opportunities his side created in
overtime, but admitted to being worried when those chances didn’t find the back
of the net.
“I thought
we carried the play in overtime,” said Habscheid. “We had multiple chances.
“I’ve been
around long enough that usually when that happens it is going the other way,
and it did. It is unfortunate, but that is hockey. They threw it at the net,
and it went in.
“That is
the way it goes in the game. We just have to feel sorry for yourself for a few
hours here and tomorrow is another day.”
 |
| Ian Scott makes one of his 30 saves for the Raiders on Saturday. |
Habscheid
thought the Oil Kings were allowed to take some liberties on Scott during the
game. The veteran bench boss believed Edmonton’s second goal shouldn’t have
counted, because he felt Scott was contacted on that play.
The
officials only gave the Oil Kings one minor penalty on Saturday, which happened
to be a goaltender interference infraction on Fix-Wolansky in the second
period.
The Raiders
were called for four separate minor penalties in the game.
“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 Oil Kings celebrate their overtime victory. |
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.
 |
| Jake Neighbours comes out to accept first star honours on Saturday. |
“It is a good feeling,” said Neighbours, who was the first star of Saturday’s game. “They’ve been good in our barn.
“We’re
ready for it. We’ve been good in our barn this playoffs. We’re ready to come
home to our fans and keep the series rolling.”
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
