By Jeff D'Andrea

Birthday boy Draisaitl gets three assists and Winther gets a hat trick Raiders’ 5-1 over Warriors

Oct 27, 2012 | 10:39 PM

Leon Draisaitl won’t soon forget his 17th birthday.

The Prince Albert Raiders European rookie forward got three primary assists Saturday in a 5-1 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors at the Art Hauser Centre. The dangler from Deutschland even got a special visit from his mother Sandra and his sister Kim, both of whom came all the way from Germany to see him.

Before the game, all the Raiders presented roses to their mothers or billet mothers to celebrate the Raiders Annual Parent/Billet Weekend. As Leon was skating up to present his rose, Sandra jumped up and down in excitement before giving her son a long and warm embrace.

After the game, Draisaitl said having two familiar faces in the crowd watching him gave him a nice, easy feeling heading into the game.

“I felt way more comfortable because my mom’s out here with my sister together,” said Draisaitl, now third in WHL rookie scoring with 11 points. “It always gives you the feeling that your family is here and you’re more comfortable.

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“It’s definitely better to play in front of someone from the family.”

The biggest benefactor of Draisaitl’s apparent comfort was linemate Mike Winther, who scored a hat trick in the game and was named the game’s first star. Winther scored two goals in the first period after receiving passes from Draisaitl, before completing the hat trick in the third.

Winther, a natural goal-scorer who led the Raiders last year with 32 and has five this season, said he loves playing with a skilled playmaker like Draisaitl who can feed him the puck in any situation.

“(Draisaitl’s) definitely a special player,” said Winther. “You gotta get in that open ice and he’ll find you with a pass so you have to be ready at all times.

“I just love playing with him.”

Leon said Winther's game changing speed opens a lot of avenues for his own play.

“(Winther's) a really fast player, I really like playing with him— I love it,” said Leon. “He gives me the open space because of his speed and he's definitely a special player.

“I really appreciate that I can play with him.”

The 5-1 win on Saturday over Moose Jaw was redemption of sorts after the Raiders blew a 2-0 lead Friday in a 3-2 loss to the Warriors.

“I thought tonight was a rebound effort, that was the message, especially playing back-to-back against the same team,” said Young. “I thought we came back and rebounded strong. For the most part tonight, I thought we played a strong team game.”

The Raiders lead 3-0 after the first with two goals from Winther and one from defenceman Josh Morrissey, his third of the year. Morrissey, who’s in his NHL draft year, also added an assist Saturday and now has 13 points in 15 games and is tied for the team lead in plus/minus with Winther at +10.

Dakota Conroy scored his team leading eighth goal in the second period and four goals and six points in his last three games.

Raiders goaltender Luke Siemens, who played for the Warriors last season, had a shutout bid going until overager Justin Kirsch ruined that midway through the third period. Siemens made 27 saves in the game on 28 shots.

Winther completed his hat trick with less than five minutes left in the game.
Daniel Wapple made 25 saves on 30 shots for the Warriors in his third game against the Raiders.

Raider recap

Tim Vanstone played his first game back after missing the previous four to suspension. He checked Moose Jaw Warriors forward Miles Warkentine, who’s from PA, in Moose Jaw Oct. 13 in a 9-0 loss. Warkentine is still recovering from an upperbody injury.

With Vanstone coming back, the Raiders scratched defenceman Shayne Gwinner, who played as a forward on Friday.

Reid Gardiner is still sidelined with an upperbody injury and Anthony Bardaro is in Vancouver tending to a family matter and also missed Friday’s game.

Looking ahead

Although they’re the only team in the Eastern Conference with 20 points and nine wins, the Raiders have been pedestrian at home with a 4-3-0-2 record, tied for seventh in the league.

The Raiders have two more games left in their seven-game homestand, Tuesday against the Swift Current Broncos (6-7-3-1) and Friday against the Edmonton Oil Kings (8-3-1-2).

Young hopes the Raiders can finish the season-long homestand on two positive notes.

“It’s important, we have to build, we have to focus and we have to be ready,” said Young. “We have to be ready to play, any team can win on any given night and I’ve said that before. We have to prepare to win.”

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea