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| Brett Leason scored the only goal of Game 4 of the WHL final. |
On Wednesday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley,
B.C., Leason scored the only goal in Game 4 of the WHL Championship series
against the Vancouver Giants and Ian Scott made 36 saves to give the Raiders a
1-0 victory before 4,626 spectators.
With the win, Raiders took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven
series. The Raiders will try to close things out and win their first WHL title
since 1985 in Game 5 on Friday at the Langley Events Centre with a 7:30 p.m.
start local time.
After winning the WHL crown in 1985, the Raiders moved on to
capture the Memorial Cup.
If the Raiders win on Friday, they will be flying home to
Prince Albert with the Ed Chynoweth Cup in hand as WHL champions on Saturday.
The Raiders and Giants entered the third period of Wednesday’s
game locked in a 0-0 tie.
The Raiders broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:21 mark
of the third, when defensive defenceman Jeremy Masella and import left-winger
Aliaksei Protas combined to spring Leason into the Vancouver zone on a
breakaway.
Leason snapped a shot on net that Giants standout netminder
David Tendeck got a piece of but couldn’t prevent from entering the Vancouver
goal. That tally stood up as the winner
in a 1-0 Raiders victory.
During the regular season, Leason broke out to achieve star status leading the Raiders in scoring with 36 goals and 53 assists for 89 points appearing in 55 games. The Calgary, Alta., product, who played for Canada at the last world juniors, posted a plus-55 rating in the plus-minus department.
During the regular season, Leason broke out to achieve star status leading the Raiders in scoring with 36 goals and 53 assists for 89 points appearing in 55 games. The Calgary, Alta., product, who played for Canada at the last world juniors, posted a plus-55 rating in the plus-minus department.
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| Ian Scott made 36 saves to pick up a shutout in Game 4 of the WHL final. |
Scott stoned the Giants, when they played what was their
best game of the WHL Championship series.
The shutout was Scott’s second of the WHL final and fifth of
the current post-season. The Calgary, Alta., product, who also played for
Canada at the last world juniors, became just the fifth goalie in the history
of the WHL to record five or more shutouts in one post-season.
Scott, who has an NHL entry-level contract signed with the
Toronto Maple Leafs, has had a sensational regular season with the Raiders
posting a 38-8-3 record, a 1.83 goals against average, a .932 save percentage
and eight shutouts.
His goals against average, save percentage and shutout
totals were all regular season club records.
Scott has appeared in all of the Raiders 20 playoff games to date posting a 15-5 record, a 1.83 goals against average and a .931 save percentage to go with his five shutouts.
Scott has appeared in all of the Raiders 20 playoff games to date posting a 15-5 record, a 1.83 goals against average and a .931 save percentage to go with his five shutouts.
With Wednesday’s win, the Raiders match their team record
for most wins in one WHL post-season at 15 first set back in 1986. The Raiders
played through a 10-game round robin under the format that was used in the 1986
WHL post-season.
After the Raiders posted a convincing 8-2 victory in Game 3
on Tuesday night at the Langley Events Centre, the Giants came out with a lot
of fire in the first period of Wednesday’s contest holding a 15-9 edge in shots
on goal. The hosts’ biggest chance to go ahead came on a short-handed breakaway
by star overage centre Davis Koch late in the frame.
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| Brett Leason has had a stellar season for the Raiders. |
The second period was fairly evenly played with the Raiders holding
a 12-10 edge in shots on goal.
Vancouver’s best chance to score in the frame came from
import centre Milos Roman, who fired a shot just over top of the Prince Albert
net on a breakaway opportunity.
Raiders import defenceman Sergei Sapego had a breakaway late
in the second, but his shot was smothered up by Tendeck.
Early in the third, Scott made a sprawling pad save on
Giants winger Jadon Joseph to keep the game scoreless.
That set the stage for Leason to score the game’s only goal.
Scott continued to shut the door after the Raiders took the
lead. He lunged across the crease of the Prince Albert goal to rob Giants
defenceman Alex Kannok Leipert with a glove save.
The Giants held an 11-5 edge in shots on goal in the third
period.
Tendeck turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for
the Giants in a valiant effort.
The Raiders won Wednesday’s game without the services of
offensive defenceman Max Martin, who sat out with an undisclosed injury for a
second straight contest. Martin was injured in the second period of the Raiders
4-0 win in Game 2 last Saturday, when he took an awkward fall into the boards.
Leason and Scott are a couple of the big cogs who have
helped the Raiders have a magical campaign. The Raiders topped the WHL regular
season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL
Top 10 rankings.
Entering the current post-season, the Raiders hadn’t won a
playoff series since 2005.
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| Ian Scott is going to go down as an all-time great in Raiders history. |
With the Raiders having won three straight games in the WHL
final, the Giants are facing elimination for the first time in this year’s
post-season. They face the daunting task of needing to win three straight games
to win the WHL title.
If needed, Games 6 and 7 of the WHL final will be held
Sunday and Monday respectively back at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.
The Giants aren’t finished, but they face a major challenge
just to win on Friday to extend the series to a Game 6.
The Raiders and their faithful back in Prince Albert can
almost taste and already envision their biggest victory celebration since 1985.
Storm holds off 67’s, evens OHL final 2-2
On
Wednesday at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, the Storm and 67’s kept 4,983
spectators on the edge of their seats. After defenceman Hudson Wilson gave the
67’s a 1-0 lead at the 4:48 mark of the first period, the Storm responded with
four straight goals to take a 4-1 advantage at the 13:34 mark of the second
period.
The 67’s
tried to mount a rally, but the Storm ultimately held on for a 5-4 victory.
With the win, the Storm evens the best-of-seven OHL final 2-2.
Game 5 is
set for Friday in Ottawa.
After
Wilson gave the 67’s the early lead, Nate Schnarr and Alexey Toropchenko
replied for Guelph to give the host side a 2-1 advantage heading into the first
intermission.
Toropchenko
potted his second of the contest at the 6:46 mark of the second period, and
Nick Suzuki netted his 15th goal of the post-season at the 13:34
mark of the second to put the Storm up 4-1.
Lucas
Chiodo scored for the 67’s with 1:38 remaining in the second to cut the Storm
lead to 4-2.
At the 2:28
mark of the third, Liam Hawel tallied for the Storm on the power play to
increase the host side’s edge to 5-2.
Tye
Felhaber scored a power-play goal for the 67’s with 3:55 remaining in the third
to trim Guelph’s lead to 5-3. With less than five seconds to play in the third,
Kyle Maksimovich scored for the 67’s when they had their netminder pulled to
round out the 5-4 final in favour of the Storm.
Anthony
Popovich stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Storm. Cedrick
Andree turned away 19 shots to take the setback in the 67’s goal.
The 67’s
were without star goaltender Michael DiPietro, who was injured in Ottawa’s 4-3
victory on home ice in Game 2. DiPietro is reported to have a high ankle
sprain.
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