Raiders hammer Hitmen 8-3

The Raiders celebrate one of their eight goals on Tuesday.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - The Prince Albert Raiders delivered a technical knockout to the Calgary Hitmen.

    On Tuesday before 2,481 spectators at the Art Hauser Centre, the Raider stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the first period and romped to an 8-3 victory in a WHL regular season clash between the two sides. The win was a third straight for the defending WHL champions who improved to 35-17-5-4 to sit five points up on the Brandon Wheat Kings (34-21-4-2) for first in the East Division.

    “I liked our energy,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid, whose team was playing their fourth game in five days. “Their goalie had a tough night to be fair.

    “I thought we were on the puck. Our ability to get the puck back when we lost it in our end I thought was key. I like the jump.

    “I like the resiliency. They (his players) had built in excuses, but they didn’t take them.”

Brayden Watts (#27) had two goals and an assist for the Raiders.

    The Raiders came out on fire and drew first blood at the 9:01 mark of the opening frame when a mid-range shot from left-winger Brayden Watts snuck between the legs of Hitmen netminder Jack McNaughton and trickled into the Calgary goal.

    Just 1:41 after that tally, Raiders captain Zack Hayes fired home a point shot through a screen to give the host side a 2-0 edge.

    The onslaught continues with 6:02 remaining in the opening frame when 18-year-old centre Reece Vitelli tipped home a shot from the left boards taken from right-winger Spencer Moe to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead.

    Things continued to get worse for the Hitmen as Watts tallied on the power play with 2:43 remaining in the first to put the Raiders up 4-0.

Prince Albert had a 19-7 edge in shots on goal over the first 20 minutes.

Reece Vitelli had a pair of goals for the Raiders.

    “We just had a hot start,” said Watts, who had an assist to go with his two goals. “I think that kind of got us going.

    “We had some moments there where they kind of took over the game. Luckily, our goaltending was really good tonight as usual, and we were able to notch a couple more in the second and third.”

    The Hitmen attempted to battle back scoring two goals 12 seconds apart shortly after the five-minute mark of the second coming from the sticks of Cael Zimmerman and captain Mark Kastelic. Those tallies cut the Raiders lead to 4-2.

    The Raiders called a timeout after Kastelic’s tally to regroup.

    The host side went back up 5-2 at the 12:10 mark of the second, when Belarusian import centre Aliaksei Protas tucked home a shot from the front of the Calgary. 

Aliaksei Protas scored his 30th goal on Tuesday.

    The tally was the 30^th of the season for Protas.

    Vitelli added his second of the night about 2:40 later to give the Raider a 6-2 advantage.

    “Habby (Habscheid) made a great choice calling a timeout there to settle us down,” said Vitelli, who was a plus-two in the plus-minus department. “We don’t want to give up two at the start of the second period there and get them back in the game.

    “We responded well in the second half of the second period and just continued there for the rest of the game.”

    Early in the third, 18-year-old left-winger Ilya Usau tallied on the power-play early to give the host side a 7-2 advantage.

    Moe scored on a breakaway tucking the puck five-hole on McNaughton to give the Raiders an 8-2 lead.

    Zimmerman rounded out the game’s scoring tallying his second of the night for the Hitmen.
    Max Paddock made 24 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Jack McNaughton turned away 36 shots to take the setback in net for the Hitmen (34-22-4-1).

Spencer Moe had a goal and two assists for the Raiders on Tuesday.

    The Raiders top line of Protas centring Watts and Moe had a big night. While Watts collected three points, Protas and Moe both had a pair of assists to go with their goals to post respective three-point outings.

    “They are our top line,” said Habscheid. “They have to produce.

    “They have to score. We need them to score. It is nice when your depth chips in.

    “Singers sing, dancers dance and goal scorers score goals, and they have to score goals. That is just the way it is.”

    Usau had a pair of assists to go with his goal for a three-point night, while Raiders sophomore star defenceman Kaiden Guhle had a pair of assists.

The Raiders salute the Art Hauser Centre faithful after their win on Tuesday.

    The only down part about for the Raiders was the fact that 19-year-old right-winger Justin Nachbaur left the game late in the third period. Habscheid said Nachbaur was day-to-day, and the extent of his injury was still being determined.

    Besides the work of his top line, Habscheid liked how Vitelli played on Tuesday.

    “Reece (Vitelli) has carved out a little bit of a niche,” said Habscheid. “He is a faceoff guy.

    “He blocks shots. He plays the right way. He is good teammate.

    “He fits in well to our room.”

    The Hitmen return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Saskatoon to take on the 31-23-2-3 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

    The Raiders get back at it on Friday hosting the Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Huskies’ Willoughby, Vance star on “This Girl Can” night

Morgan Willoughby sets to drop the ceremonial faceoff puck.

    Morgan Willoughby and Jessica Vance, who are both veterans of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, were treated to star status leading up to the Prince Albert Raiders game on Tuesday.

    The two are from Prince Albert and are both alums of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA hockey team. Willoughby and Vance took centre stage for the “This Girl Can” night that was put on by the Raiders.

    The promotion was held in conjunction with the Bears and the 2020 Esso Cup committee. Prince Albert will host the Esso Cup, which is the female midget AAA national championship tournament, from April 19-25.

    “This Girl Can” night was held to celebrate young girls and women in sport, business and in community groups.

Jessica Vance (#30) shakes hands with Raiders captain Zack Hayes.

    Willoughby and Vance took part in an on-ice session with young female players from Prince Albert and area on Tuesday afternoon. Following the on-ice session, they were the main speakers for a speaking engagement at the Ches Leach Lounge.

    During a pre-game ceremony before the Raiders thumped the visiting Calgary Hitmen 8-3, Willoughby and Vance took part in a ceremonial faceoff.
    Willoughby just finished her fifth and final season as a tough defensive defender with the Huskies. She skated in 117 career U Sports regular season games posting six goals, eight assists and a minus four-rating in the plus-minus department often playing against the top lines of opposing teams.

    This past season, Willoughby appeared in 26 regular season games with the Huskies posting one goal, two assists and a plus-five rating.

Jessica Vance and Morgan Willoughby wave to the Art Hauser Centre crowd.

    Vance has been a star goalie for the past three seasons for the Huskies. She has appeared in 59 career U Sports regular season games posting a 38-14-6 record, a 1.17 goals against average, a .947 save percentage and 20 shutouts.

    This past season, Vance saw action in 19 regular season games posting a 12-4-3 record, 1.44 goals against average, a .930 save percentage and five shutouts. She has one season of U Sports eligibility remaining after starting her university career with the University of Manitoba Bisons.

    The Huskies finished third in the Canada West Conference with a 17-7-2-2 record this past season. They lost two overtime games in the post-season falling in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series 2-0 to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

    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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