Raiders goaltender Carter Serhyenko slides across the crease while Giants forward Jackson Shephard tips a one-timer towards the goal Tuesday at the Art Hauser Centre. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Raiders 4 Giants 2

Serhyenko shines in WHL debut as Raiders beat Giants in WHL finals rematch

Oct 8, 2019 | 10:31 PM

Carter Serhyenko didn’t know he was going to be a goaltender with the Prince Albert Raiders until he signed with the team on Sept. 13, hours before the second last pre-season game.

He came to camp as an undrafted, unsigned prospect. But since then, he got the contract, practiced with the team and watched the first six games from either the bench or the press box before finally getting his shot.

In his first WHL career appearance, Serhyenko beat the defending WHL Western Conference champion Vancouver Giants, and made 25 saves on 27 shots as his Raiders won the game 4-2. The Raiders are now 5-0-2 to start the season. The Giants, who the Raiders defeated in seven games in the 2019 WHL Championship Series, are 4-4 to begin their campaign.

“It’s all happened pretty fast,” Serhyenko said of his journey with the Raiders this year. “It’s been pretty exciting.”

“I knew I was capable of it, but it was nice to get an opportunity to go and show it for everyone, so that was nice,” added Serhyenko. “Hopefully I can keep playing well.”

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Before Tuesday, starting goaltender Boston Bilous had played every one of the previous 371 minutes of the Raiders’ season through six games. He registered a 4-0-2 record, 1.46 goals against average and .926 save percentage. Bilous came into Friday tied for the league lead with four wins and two shutouts.

But Bilous didn’t get the start in the WHL Finals rematch Tuesday. Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid made the decision to put in the rookie Serhyenko as it was an out of conference game, and that the rookie from Saskatoon had proven himself in training sessions throughout the year.

“We just treated it like a game in the regular season. It wasn’t a special game, every game is important. Maybe this one, you could say, is less important because it’s out of conference,” Habscheid said. “We wanted to give him a chance, he’s been playing real good. [Goaltending coach] Kelly Guard’s been doing a good job with him in practice, and he’s been real good in practice. For him to play well tonight is no surprise.”

“Boston’s our guy right now, but it’s nice to get [Serhyenko] in there and give him a chance to play and get a win against a good team from the other conference,” added Habscheid. “That will help his confidence for sure.”

The Raiders didn’t have a power play through the first 55 minutes of the game until Justin Sourdif took a double-minor for boarding new Raider Daniil Stepanov along the half boards. That gave the Raiders a four-minute power play with 4:58 left in the third period of a 2-2 game.

Raiders defenceman Kaiden Guhle scored in the second half of the double-minor with 1:28 remaining in regulation, giving the Raiders their winning goal.

That crucial goal that gave the Raiders the win over the Giants, came a game after Guhle had a career one-goal, four-point night in the Raiders’ 6-0 win over the Regina Pats.

“The last five or 10 minutes started to feel like last year,” Guhle said. “I know all the guys that were here last year were really happy to get the win. It was huge for us tonight.

“The last couple practices, I’ve been trying to get my shots through,” added Guhle. “I’ve been getting my shots blocked the past couple games, but it felt good to get it through and it went in the net.”

Viper bites back

After having his five-game scoring streak stopped by the Regina Pats on Saturday, Aliaksei Protas triumphantly returned to the score sheet in a big way on Tuesday. Protas scored the Raiders’ second goal, then got assists on the game-winner and the empty-net goal by Ilya Usau. That gives Protas four goals and seven assists for 11 points in seven games played this year. He’s the first Raider to register double digits in points.

Masella vs Byram?

In a very unlikely fighting match up, Jeremy Masella stood toe-to-toe with Colorado Avalanche top pick Bowen Byram. Byram hit Spencer Moe in the neutral zone, to which Masella took objection to. Masella received an instigator penalty on the play.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Justin Nachbaur (unassisted), 1:47

1-1, Giants, Justin Sourdif from Tanner Brown, 16:33

Second Period

2-1, Raiders, Aliaksei Protas from Brayden Watts and Jeremy Masella, 14:28

Third Period

2-2, Giants, Jackson Shepard from Dylan Plouff and Seth Bafaro, 3:50

3-2, Raiders, Kaiden Guhle from Aliaksei Protas and Ozzy Wiesblatt (power play), 18:32

4-2, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Aliaksei Protas (empty net), 19:57

Two more before the road swing

The Raiders have two more home games before they embark on their U.S. Division road trip, starting on Oct. 19 against the Everett Silvertips.

They will play a pair of games on the weekend, Friday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Saturday against the Moose Jaw Warriors.

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jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW