Prince Albert wins 4-0, evens WHL title
series 1-1
 |
| The Raiders celebrate a second period goal from Noah Gregor (#18). |
“Maybe a little, because this is my hometown team,” said Hannoun, who is a standout overage centre with the Prince Albert Raiders. “Obviously, I have to step up a bit, and a lot of my family and friends are watching.”
Hannoun is from Delta, B.C., which is part of a network of smaller
centres that make of the Vancouver area.
On Saturday before a sellout crowd of 3,289 spectators at
the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, Hannoun had a goal and two assists to power
the Raiders to a 4-0 victory over the Giants in Game 2 of the WHL Championship
series.
 |
| Dante Hannoun had a goal and two assists for the Raiders on Saturday. |
In the two games played so far in the WHL final, Hannoun has
two goals and three assists.
He got things started for the Raiders just past the halfway
point of the first period. Working on the forecheck in the Vancouver zone,
Raiders power forward Parker Kelly got the puck on a Giants turnover.
Kelly made a tight pass across the face of the Giants goal
to Hannoun, and Hannoun tapped the puck into an open right side of the net to
give the Raiders a 1-0 edge.
Hannoun said he has enjoyed centring a line with Kelly at
right wing and gritty Justin Nachbaur on left wing, which has allowed him to
have some personal success.
“I don’t think it is myself,” said Hannoun. “Everyone I’ve
been playing with, we’ve been working off each other and reading off each
other.
 |
| Parker Kelly (#27) drives hard to the Giants net. |
“Kels passed it out front, and it was just a little tap in.”
Near the end of the opening frame, the Giants had a huge
chance to pull even. Rookie right-winger Justin Sourdif, who turned
17-years-old in March, came down the right wing and got in alone on Raiders
netminder Ian Scott.
Sourdif cut across the front of the Prince Albert goal and
tried to put a backhand shot past Scott. Scott turned away the chance to
preserve the Raiders one-goal edge.
He made 15 saves to pick up the shutout win in goal for the
Raiders. The blank was Scott’s fourth of the post-season.
 |
| Giants goal David Tendeck plays the puck behind his own net. |
“It was definitely a good bounce back game,” said Scott. “The
guys didn’t lose faith in me.
“The sun came up this morning. Playoffs are going to be a
roller-coaster, and you just have to find that even level.”
At the 7:43 mark of the second,
the Raiders extended their lead to 2-0, when Hannoun and Kelly combined to set up
import defenceman Sergei Sapego for a goal.
Hannoun and Kelly got the puck to
Sapego at the top of the left faceoff circle, and the Belarusian blue-liner
snipped home his third of the post-season.
At the 10:39 mark of the second
with the Raiders working on the power play, Hannoun got the puck to star overage
centre Noah Gregor in the right slot, and Gregor quickly unloaded a shot into
the Vancouver goal to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead.
 |
| The Raiders faithful cheers one of their team’s goals. |
“We knew they were going to respond. We knew they were going
to come out hard, and they did. We needed a bigger push.”
At the 2:16 mark of the third, the
Giants thought they got on the scoreboard when Gregor hooked Vancouver star
centre Davis Koch into Scott, and the puck crossed the goal-line of the Prince
Albert net.
No goal was awarded on the play as
a quick whistle blew, but Gregor was sent to the penalty box for a hooking
minor.
 |
| Ian Scott makes one of his 15 saves to pick up a shutout win on Saturday. |
Giants veteran defenceman Alex Kannok Leipert said his squad
can’t dwell too much on Saturday’s loss and remember Game 3 on Tuesday provides
a fresh start.
“We’ve been pretty resilient all year,” said Kannok Leipert.
“We just have to press the reset button and comeback at it Tuesday with the
right attitude and ready to respond.”
David Tendeck turned away 30-of-33 shots to take the setback
in goal for the Giants. Dyck said his squad needs to support their puck stopper
better.
 |
| Giants RW Justin Sourdif was stoned on a big first period chance. |
“We left him hung out to dry a few times.”
The WHL title series between the Raiders and Giants was
expected to be hotly contested.
The Raiders finished first overall in the WHL regular season
standings at 54-10-2-2 and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.
The Giants placed second overall in the WHL regular season
standings with a 48-15-3-2 record and are rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10
rankings.
Between action in the regular season and playoffs, Saturday’s
contest marked the first time the Raiders beat the Giants in three tries.
Giants physical forward Owen Hardy has thrown a number of
big hits in the first two games of the series, and he said he wanted to keep
dishing out the hits in the series.
 |
| The Raiders fans cheer another one of their team’s goals. |
The only down part for the Raiders on Saturday came in the
second period, when offensive defenceman Max Martin blew a tire and fell
awkwardly on his own into the boards. He left the game, and Raiders head coach
Marc Habscheid said Martin will be re-evaluated on Sunday.
Habscheid was pleased with his club’s play on Saturday and
believed his squad could have won Friday’s encounter too.
 |
| Sergei Sapego (#12) had a goal for the Raiders on Saturday. |
“We just didn’t change too much. We thought there was still
a little bit more in the gas tank that we thought we could give. They brought
it tonight.
“You saw what it was. It was a real good effort.”
With the next three games of the series to be played in
Langley, Habscheid said his Raiders could enjoy their win on Saturday night,
but the squad would be focusing on getting back to work on Sunday.
“Tomorrow is a new day, and the series is far from over,”
said Habscheid. “They are a good team.
 |
| The Raiders celebrate pulling even in the WHL title series at 1-1. |
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
