Raiders defenceman Kaiden Guhle catches Royals forward Brandon Cutler at centre ice. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Kaiden Goahle

Raiders shut out Royals in comfortable win, Guhle steps up again

Jan 29, 2020 | 10:31 PM

Kaiden Guhle’s goals are kind of like bananas, they tend to come in bunches.

Guhle scored the first goal of the Raiders’ 3-0 defeat over the Victoria Royals Wednesday at the Art Hauser Centre, extending the Raiders’ point streak to nine games (5-0-1-3), and registering 14 out of 18 possible points in that span. That came after Guhle scored the tying 3-3 goal in the third against the Medicine Hat Tigers in a 4-3 shootout defeat on Saturday.

The win now puts the Raiders back in a tie for first place in the WHL East Division along with the Winnipeg ICE. Both teams now have 59 points, though the ICE have played two fewer games. The Victoria Royals are 25-18-4-0, second in the B.C. Division but are winless in their last six games (0-5-1-0).

Guhle now has nine goals now on the season, including a string of four games he scored earlier in the year. He’s tied for ninth in WHL goal scoring among defencemen, and 16^th in points 30. All the blueliners ranked ahead of him are all older. He credits a lot of that to the work he’s done in the offseason on improving his shot.

“In the summer, I thought my shot could have gotten a lot better. I worked on it in the summer,” Guhle said, after scoring three goals in his rookie season last year. “And obviously with more playing time, you get more confident with the puck. I think those two things put into play are good for goal scoring.”

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Both teams only had four shots each after a scoreless first period, and the message was pretty clear from the Raiders’ coaching staff: “get pucks on net.” Guhle received that message loud and clear and delivered with the game’s first goal 16:54 into the second.

“In the first period we only had four shots, so in the intermission we really emphasized putting pucks on net and getting pucks to the net. Bob [Ilya Usau] made a great screen and I don’t think the goalie saw it. I just tried to put it on net, and obviously it went in.”

Guhle was a big factor in the game, as he also had a goal and an assist. The Raiders have been getting a lot of production from their defence lately, as Landon Kosior entered the game on a three-game goal scoring streak.

“In the offensive zone, we allow our defencemen to move a lot. When there’s switches, there’s mismatches and confusion sometimes with the other team,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “That can create some lanes and when they get some lanes, they’re good enough players and smart enough players to make some good decisions. Obviously Guhles with that shot really helped us. When you get the first goals, things change a little bit.”

Usau had a goal and an assist in the game as well. Reece Vitelli scored on an empty net.

Max Paddock registered his first shutout as a Raider, making 17 saves. That’s also his fifth shutout of his career.

Adam Evanoff made 24 saves on 26 shots for the Royals, including this jaw dropper to completely rob Ozzy Wiesblatt on a breakaway.

The Prince Albert Royals/Victoria Raiders

The Raiders and the Royals have been very busy trading partners with each other over the last few seasons.

Carson Miller is proof of that, as he went into the visitors’ dressing room for the first time in his WHL career suiting up for the Royals. He has eight goals and 20 points in 31 games for the Royals this season as an assistant captain.

The Raiders built a big part of their championship winning roster last year with some big moves from the Royals, including acquiring Dante Hannoun at the trade deadline in that Miller trade, and the rights to Noah Gregor last offseason. Brayden Pachal, who was the Raiders’ captain last year during their Ed Chynoweth Cup winning year, was also a former Royal. As for current Raiders, Jeremy Masella and Remy Aquilon both were with the Royals.

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring.

Second Period

1-0, Raiders, Kaiden Guhle from Zack Hayes and Ilya Usau, 16:54

Third Period

2-0, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Ozzy Wiesblatt, 4:11

3-0, Raiders, Reece Vitelli from Evan Herman and Kaiden Guhle, 18:21

End of the home stand

The Raiders will close out their home stand on Friday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Then, the Raiders will play their next four games on the road against Central Division opponents, Feb. 1 against the Swift Current Broncos, Feb. 5 at the Medicine Hat Tigers, Feb. 7 at the Calgary Hitmen and Feb. 8 at the Hurricanes.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW