By Jeff D'Andrea

Goal-getting Gregor

Gregor goes full beast mode in response win over rivalling Warriors

Feb 18, 2019 | 7:29 PM

Prince Albert Raiders forward Noah Gregor took the game over as he scored two goals and two assists in the Raiders’ 4-3 win on Family Day Monday at the Art Hauser Centre.

It was a huge response game from Gregor and the Raiders, as both had disappointing weekends. The Raiders came away with just one point against the Brandon Wheat Kings in their home-and-home series this weekend, falling 5-4 in overtime on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday. That’s the first time this season that the Raiders have lost back-to-back games. Gregor himself was pointless for his previous three games and goalless and was benched for part of Friday’s defeat.

But Gregor rose to the challenge presented to him by his coaching staff and was downright dominant. He was in on all four Raiders goals, scoring two and getting primary assists on the others.

Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said the biggest difference on Monday was Gregor’s work ethic.

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“I think it’s just to play hard. It’s one thing to help out the Raiders, it’s another for him if he wants to play in the National Hockey League,” Habscheid said. “He’s got big time skill, but if you don’t play hard and you don’t utilize that God given talent, you’re going to play in the National Hockey League—that’s just it. I think the beauty with him is he has that skill. So he’s in control of his destiny.

“There’s a lot of guys in the game that would give their right arm to have the skill that Noah Gregor has—they don’t have it, Noah has it. All he has to do to be successful at any level is to compete and work hard.”

Gregor and the Raiders piled on four goals within the first 25 minutes of the game.

A key moment was near the end of the first period, Warriors forward Tristin Langan slashed the stick out of the hands of Raiders forward Sean Montgomery, then took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty arguing the call. Montgomery picked that stick up off the ice and scored on the power play 23 seconds later to make it 3-0 at that point.

Ozzy Wiesblatt also scored for the Raiders, drawing first blood 10 minutes into the frame.

The Warriors were able to score three times in the third period to crawl back, as Langan scored with 12 minutes left and Brayden Tracey scored a pair of power play goals in the final 1:30 to make it an interesting finish.

With the win, the Raiders improve to a 47-8-1-2 record on the season and are the top-ranked team in the WHL. The Warriors are 31-16-6-2 and sit in third place in the WHL East Division.

Injuries piling up

As the regular season is inching closer to ending, the Raiders added another key player onto their injured list.

Max Martin was struck in the head with the puck in the final minute of the Raiders’ 6-3 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday and sat Monday’s game with an upper body injury.

Monday also marked the fifth straight game that Brett Leason and Ian Scott have missed due to lower body injuries. In the first period of the 8-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen on Feb. 8, Leason collided with Hitmen goaltender Jack McNaughton.

Leason has been skating with the Raiders in practice, and did on Sunday at the Kinsmen Arena in non-contact drills.

Scott also practiced on Sunday but is still recovering.

“When the doctor says they’re ready to go and when the players say they’re ready,” Habscheid said. “They should be back shortly, but we’re not going to push them back.”

Boston Bilous has started all five games for the Raiders in Scott’s absence, and has a 3-0-1 record. He made 23 saves for the victory on Monday.

Cole Nagy played his second WHL game, getting called up from the Saskatoon Blazers. Loeden Schaufler played in his eighth game with the Raiders, but his first as a defenceman—his traditional position.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Ozzy Wiesblatt from Noah Gregor and Sergei Sapego, 10:14

2-0, Raiders, Noah Gregor (unassisted), 15:06

3-0, Raiders, Sean Montgomery from Noah Gregor and Dante Hannoun (power play), 18:00

Second Period

4-0, Raiders, Noah Gregor from Cole Fonstad, 4:08

Third Period

4-1, Warriors, Tristin Langan from Daemon Hunt and Carson Denomie, 8:31

4-2, Warriors, Brayden Tracey from Josh Brook and Jett Woo (power play), 18:31

4-3, Warriors, Brayden Tracey from Justin Almeida (power play), 19:54

More home stickin’

The Raiders will play four more consecutive games at the Art Hauser Centre, taking on the Kootenay ICE on Friday, the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday, the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Feb. 27 and the Red Deer Rebels on March 1.

Seven of the remaining 10 games for the Raiders will be at the Art Hauser Centre.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW