Mooseheads goaltender Alexis Gravel makes a glove save despite the traffic from Raiders forward Spencer Moe. Vincent Ethier/CHL Images.

By Jeff D'Andrea

Nervous Energy

Raiders caught in the spotlight

May 17, 2019 | 9:24 PM

HALIFAX—“Start on time.”

That’s the wisdom that Prince Albert Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said he was going to pass down to his team during the coach’s press conference Wednesday for the 2019 Memorial Cup Presented by Kia.

Later in that press conference, Halifax Mooseheads head coach Eric Veilleux joked that he was going to steal that phrase.

He did. And more importantly, so did his team.

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When both teams met Friday, the Mooseheads got out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and went on to win the first game of the 101^st Memorial Cup by a score of 4-1 at the Scotiabank Centre.

“I thought we prepared them in a way where they couldn’t be hesitant, they needed to feel at ease and feel like they were, regardless of the mistakes they do, they just needed to use our fans to our advantage. And that’s what we did,” Veilleux said.

The Raiders looked out of sync, uncharacteristically hesitant and nervous. With Raiders were caught watching at times, certainly in the first period.

“It’s the big stage and our guys aren’t used to that, really. Coming from a small town and a small building, all of a sudden the bright lights hit us and we weren’t very good,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “That’s on me, I have to talk to them about that and prepare them a little better. They were nervous and missing some passes they usually don’t miss. They’re good kids, they try, they care, but nerves got the best of them, everybody could see that.”

Heading into the tournament after the first game, there were always going to be a butterfly or two in the stomach to deal with. Regardless, Raiders captain Brayden Pachal wanted to see more resolve from his team.

“Obviously, the Memorial Cup is the holy grail of hockey. There’s nerves to be expected, but I think we could have handled it in a better way,” Raiders captain Brayden Pachal said. “We came out a bit nervous and they got one out quick on us. We’ll be better next game.”

Even with their slow start, the Raiders were still able to generate three power play opportunities in the first period to start the game. But gripping the sticks a little too tightly is a recipe for disaster on the power play.

“That’s tough. Overall, special teams weren’t great for us,” said Raiders forward Noah Gregor, who scored the lone goal for the Raiders. “We had four opportunities on the man advantage… The three early was tough not to get any on that, so that’s an area we’re going to look at.”

Samuel Asselin stepped up for the Mooseheads to start to take the game over. He scored the opening goal and set up Xavier Parent to make it 2-0 early.

When the Mooseheads acquired Asselin at the beginning of the season from last year’s Memorial Cup winning Acadie-Bathurst Titan, they projected him to be the best third-line centres in the league. Instead, he became one of their most lethal offensive options by scoring 38 goals.

The Mooseheads were wearing special jerseys to commemorate the Nova Scotia Highlanders, one of two regiments from the Maritimes that took part in the Landing of Normandy on D-Day in World War II.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Mooseheads, Samuel Asselin from Raphaël Lavoie and Maxim Trépanier, 10:49

2-0, Mooseheads, Xavier Parent from Samuel Asselin and Maxim Trépanier, 18:44

Second Period

2-1, Raiders, Noah Gregor from Max Martin and Cole Fonstad, 10:46

3-1, Mooseheads, Jake Ryczek from Maxim Trépanier and Keith Getson (power play), 15:52

Third Period

4-1, Mooseheads, Antoine Morand from Benoit-Olivier Groulx (empty net), 18:07

Looking ahead

The Raiders will move on in the Memorial Cup and take on the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Monday. They’ll then take on the Guelph Storm on Tuesday, the champions of the OHL. Both games will be at 8 p.m. local time, and 5 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW