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Redden on the Raiders: Leason takes off as Raiders look for consistency

Feb 23, 2018 | 11:00 AM

Redden on the Raiders is an inside look from the voice of the Raiders, Trevor Redden. It is a mix of information, statistics, opinions, and stories from behind the scenes throughout the Raider season. Feel free to reach out with any questions or comments via Trevor’s email or twitter at the bottom of the article.

Puck luck can be a funny thing.

Over two games on Saturday and Monday, the Prince Albert Raiders directed 80 shots on goal against the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Regina Pats, but were only able to find the back of the net four times, a success rate of just 5%. Considering the average WHL goaltender will turn aside somewhere between 90-92% of shots faced, the Raiders could reasonably have expected to score between 7-8 goals over those two contests, which would have likely been enough to win both games.

It had been a frustrating stretch for Prince Albert, as they controlled play often but seemed to find themselves on the losing side of big games.

These things have a way of sorting themselves out over time, as luck swung the other direction on Wednesday night in Lethbridge with the Raiders lighting up the Lethbridge Hurricanes for eight goals on 34 shots, a rate of 23.5%.

Taking a step back and looking at the last ten games, a stretch in which the team has gone 4-5-1, the shooting percentage comes in at 10.8% with 39 goals on 361 shots. This is a rate even a little higher than you would typically expect, putting the opposition’s save percentage at 0.892.

The conclusion? The Raiders have been doing just fine offensively, but need to be better on the other side at keeping the puck out of the net.

In the same ten-game stretch where the Raiders scored on 10.8% of shots, the opposition was able to convert at a 14.1% rate, which obviously is not a formula for success. Between Curtis Meger’s work in the 5-2 win over Brandon at home Friday night, and Ian Scott’s 35-save performance in Lethbridge Wednesday, both goaltenders have turned in strong performances lately; it’s just a matter of finding more consistency. If that can be done, this Raiders team will be very tough to beat down the stretch.

Leason on a roll

Brett Leason scored just 16 seconds into Wednesday’s game to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. That made it four straight games with a goal for the 18-year-old forward.

He’s been putting together a great run of late, with six goals and seven assists for 13 points in his last 13 games played.

Ahead of Wednesday’s game, Marc Habscheid said it’s been impressive to see his development since Leason joined the team from Tri-City back in October.

“I don’t think he realized how good he could be,” Habscheid said. “He shoots the puck as well as anybody in the league, but I don’t think he shoots it enough. I think as he gets his confidence and realizes that he’s a pretty good player, then he put more demands on himself expecting to score rather than hoping to score, and then he’s started to produce for us.”

Point production up top

The Raiders currently have three players who have produced a point per game or better over the course of the season.

Jordy Stallard (77 points in 60 games), Cole Fonstad (61 points in 60 games), and Kody McDonald (21 points in 21 games) have all been consistent performers this year, and if this rate holds up it would be the first time Prince Albert has had three point-per-game players in a Raider uniform since 2011-12. That year it was Justin Maylan (89 in 72), Anthony Bardaro (37 in 34), and Mark McNeill (71 in 69) leading the way for the Green and Gold.

 

trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden