Ian Scott tracks a rebound during Friday night's game five victory over Edmonton at the Art Hauser Centre. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Trevor Redden

Clean Sheet

Steady Scott picks up third shutout of playoffs

Apr 27, 2019 | 3:50 PM

With a 24-save performance to backstop his team to a 4-0 game five victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday night, Raider goaltender Ian Scott earned his league-leading third shutout of the 2019 playoffs.

His latest blank slate may have been lost to a certain degree in the cowbell-ringing noise inside the Art Hauser Centre. The raucous crowd was fueled by Aliaksei Protas’ first career hat trick and a team-wide display of speed and physicality led by Parker Kelly, but Scott helped to provide a steady foundation for his team once again.

The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect has played all 15 playoff games for Prince Albert, and leads the league in wins [11], goals against average [1.83], and save percentage [0.929] in addition to shutouts.

Despite the personal accolades, including recognition as the WHL’s Eastern Conference Goaltender of the Year following a regular season in which he set five franchise records, Scott continued to deflect praise to his teammates after Friday’s victory.

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“A lot of thanks goes toward the guys in front of me, they blocked a lot of shots and cleared a lot of lanes,” Scott said.

This sentiment was echoed by head coach Marc Habscheid after game five, who credited his team defense with keeping the Oil Kings in check.

“Yeah, [Ian] was good. He stopped what he should have tonight obviously, but I thought we didn’t give them much,” Habscheid said.

Regarding the impressive defensive statistics Scott and his team have been able to pile up this postseason, the goaltender continued to defer to the greater cause.

“Just looking for the wins, that’s all we want in playoffs,” Scott said.

Not only is Scott first among all goaltenders in the league in shutouts, he’s now also tied for the CHL lead with Stephen Dillon [Niagara, OHL] and Samuel Harvey [Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL].

Last spring, Scott started all seven playoff games for the Raiders in a first-round loss to the top-seeded Moose Jaw Warriors and has been able to apply some lessons to his play this year. Since then, he’s experienced several other pressure-packed situations including a run to the Calder Cup with the AHL Toronto Marlies last year and an opportunity to represent Team Canada at the World Juniors in Vancouver this winter.

What is the biggest lesson from all of it?

“I think a lot of it is just the mental side of it. You stress about it a lot, not getting too high and making sure it’s even keel and you’re not getting ahead of yourself. I think that’s the most important part,” Scott said.

This was consistent with what his coach emphasized as the Raiders head into Edmonton with a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Championship.

“We did what we needed to do [in game five], but we haven’t won anything yet, they’re a good team over there. We’ve got to go back to their building for an afternoon game, so we’re not going to get too excited about this,” Habscheid said.

Game six will be played at Rogers Place in Edmonton at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. All the action will be carried live on CKBI with pregame coverage beginning at 1.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden