Raiders forward Ilya Usau celebrates his first goal of Saturday's game against the Moose Jaw Warriors. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Usau catching fire

Usau’s hockey studying is paying off big time

Oct 12, 2019 | 10:23 PM

Prince Albert Raiders rookie Ilya Usau said in the preseason that he needed a little time to get used to the way his new team plays.

It didn’t take him too long to figure it out.

Usau scored two goals and added two assists as his Raiders doubled up the Moose Jaw Warriors in a goal festival 8-4 game Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre. The win improves the Raiders’ record to 7-0-2 to start the season.

The Belarusian-born forward that now hails from Denver was able to catch on pretty quickly, mostly because he’s a student of the game.

“Usau, he’s smart. He’s got a book, he writes things down. He’s really good at his craft and he wants to get better at his craft,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “He’s a really smart player, he’s good defensively.”

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The 18-year-old rookie has been on an absolute tear lately, as he’s scored four goals and eight points during a four-game scoring streak.

“I’m not trying to focus on that too much, I’m just trying to help the team win and focus on the right things, focus on the details,” Usau said. “Obviously, our line just found some chemistry lately. It’s just been going well so far. Hopefully it continues.”

He’s not kidding. Cole Fonstad and Spencer Moe have caught fire at the same time. Fonstad had a goal and five assists in the two games this weekend, including a goal and two helpers on Saturday. Moe had three assists on Saturday, after a two-goal performance in a 4-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday.

“I think it took a couple games. It was kinda frustrating, but now that we got it going, I think it’s going to be good,” Fonstad said. “They’re great players. Spencer is super fast, he’s going to get to those areas and Ilya kind of brings a little bit of everything. It’s easy to play with them right now.”

Another Raider that added to the scoresheet rookie Nolan Allan, who scored his first WHL career goal. Allan, who the Raiders chose third overall in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, slid across the blueline during a delayed Warriors penalty and threaded the needle with a shot through a tough screen.

“It’s nice to get that one out of the way, but obviously the two points are more important,” Allan said.

Hot start

The Raiders are the only team in the WHL yet to lose a game in regulation with a 7-0-2 record.

That start has turned a few heads, even the bench boss’.

“I’d be lying if I said I’d be expecting that. Good on the guys, they want to win,” Habscheid said. “They’re defending champs, and once you taste it, you don’t want to give it up. That’s what’s happening now.”

Fonstad said is a little bit less surprised that the Raiders are proving a few people wrong this year.

“I knew it was coming. Lots of people think after you win a championship, you’re going to have a bad team the next year,” Fonstad said. “It’s happened in the past. But with the culture we’ve built here and the returning games coming back, I don’t think we really took too much of a step back. It’s good to see.”

Viper top of the league

Aliaksei Protas had a two goals and an assist to give him 14 points in eight games this season. That ties him for the league lead in points with Bryce Kindopp of the Everett Silvertips, as of the writing of this article. That’s also the third time this season that Protas has registered three points in a game this season.

On the Warriors’ side, Brayden Tracey was a part of all four of his team’s goals. He scored one and assisted on the others in his second game since returning to the Warriors from injury he suffered this preseason with the Anaheim Ducks.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Ryder Korczak from Alek Sukunda and Brayden Tracey, 4:16

1-1, Raiders, Nolan Allan from Ozzy Wiesblatt, 8:08

2-1, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Spencer Moe and Cole Fonstad, 8:54

3-1, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Cole Fonstad and Spencer Moe, 17:58

Second Period

4-1, Raiders, Brayden Watts from Aliaksei Protas and Landon Kosior, 1:22

4-2, Warriors, Brayden Tracey from Jadon Joseph, 5:32

5-2, Raiders, Aliaksei Protas from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Brayden Watts, 15:00

5-3, Warriors, Owen Hardy from Brayden Tracey and Ryder Korczak, 15:48

Third Period

6-3, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Ilya Usau and Spencer Moe, 2:49

7-3, Raiders, Aliaksei Protas from Ilya Usau and Kaiden Guhle (power play), 5:27

7-4, Warriors, Jadon Joseph from Brayden Tracey and Daemon Hunt (power play), 9:58

8-4, Raiders, Daniil Stepanov from Remy Aquilon, 19:38

Road swing

The Raiders won’t play another home game until Nov. 1 when they take on the Regina Pats. Before then, the Raiders will play the U.S. Division on a five-game road trip from Oct. 19-26. They’ll kick it all off taking on the Everett Silvertips on Oct. 19, moving on to Seattle to play the Thunderbirds on Oct. 22, then the Portland Winterhawks on Oct. 23. The Raiders will then close out the trip against the Tri-City Americans on Oct. 25 and the Spokane Chiefs on Oct. 26.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW