By Jeff D'Andrea

Ice pile goals late in 5-2 victory over Raiders

Jan 16, 2015 | 9:17 PM

Through 45 minutes, the Prince Albert Raiders, Kootenay Ice contest was a tightly contested 1-1 game, a typical product of the Ice’s trademark conservative style.

But one flick of the wrist changed the whole fabric of the game.

On what seemed like an innocent play early in the third period, Luke Philp floated over the blueline, but stung the Raiders with a wrist shot from the high slot.

That gave the Ice the momentum they needed as they scored three more to explode out to a 5-1 lead by the third period radio timeout and eventually won 5-2 Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. That stopped the Raiders’ winning streak at three, and snapped a four-game skid for the Ice.

“That was definitely a momentum shift,” said Raiders defenceman Colton Heffley. “They were buzzing in our end for most of the period after that.

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“I think that definitely shifted the momentum for them.”

Philp, who scored both of the Ice’s first two goals, said it was important to restore their advantage in the third period.

“That next one was huge. Both teams are obviously looking for the go-ahead and it was really big for momentum,” said Philp. “We started to roll after that. I was happy it went in.”

The Ice rolled after that and scored four consecutive goals to get out to a 5-1 lead on goals from Zak Zborosky, Ryan Chynoweth and Jaedon Descheneau. Descheneau’s goal was moments after a huge gaffe between Rylan Parenteau and defenceman Mackenze Stewart.

“We had our chances to score, we didn’t, and then they got opportunities that we created ourselves,” said Raiders forward Tim Vanstone. “We gave them opportunities and they put them in the back of the net.

“Of course in the third period when they spotted us four answered, that’s really a dagger. You can’t give up those leads in the third period.”

Vanstone didn’t stop working however as he found Simon Stransky in front of the net with 4:35 left in the game to make it 5-2. That was Vanstone’s second assist of the game, as he also got the primary assist on Matteo Gennaro’s second period marker.

Although the Raiders top units were shutout in Friday’s game, the third forward unit has really increased its production as of late.

Vanstone has three multi-point games and six total points in his last four games, Gennaro has been a point-per-game player in his last four and Stransky chipped in with a goal on Friday.

“In the last five games, our line has really been clicking,” said Vanstone. “Me and Matteo have been playing unreal together and I gotta credit those guys for putting numbers on my sheet.

“As the third line, we gotta be the anchor, you gotta glue that holds everyone together. We have to be good defensively and we have to contribute offensively when we get the chance.”

Playoff picture

With 45 points, the Ice sitting in the final Wildcard spot. After Friday’s win, the Ice now have a six-point lead on the Raiders. The Raiders could have closed the gap to two points with a win. There is plenty of hockey left to play, obviously, as both the Ice and the Raiders have 28 games remaining on the season.

Quick hitters

With his two assist effort, Sam Reinhart is now just one point off the Ice franchise record for points, behind current Los Angeles Kings centre Jarret Stoll who had 286 from 1998-2002.

Reinhart, who played his fourth WHL game after winning gold with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, has dominated the Raiders in his career with 21 points in 13 games.

“Sam, he’s unbelievable every night,” said Philp. “The things he does with the puck, subtle things not everyone notices but it helps so much out there.

“He’s such a great player and he’s so fun to watch.”

Eyes on the Tigers

The Raiders will take on the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre, who have led the WHL Central Division for most of the season. This will be the Tigers’ first trip to P.A. this year. Their only previous meeting was a 7-4 Tigers win Dec. 13 in Medicine Hat.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid pointed out that that before Friday, the Raiders had a rare six-day layoff which could have played into some rust. He believes now that they’re back in action, they’ll be more in-synch for Saturday’s matchup against the Tigers.

“I thought the whole game, I didn’t think we were mentally sharp. That usually drives the rest of your game, individually and as a team,” said Habscheid. “I think we’ll be better tomorrow, we hadn’t played in six days—maybe that had something to do with it.”

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea