Raiders forward Matthew Culling celebrates his goal against his old club Friday night at the Art Hauser Centre. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

#14 on Feb. 14

Culling has happy Valentine’s Day in win over old club

Feb 14, 2020 | 10:28 PM

There’s something poetic about a player wearing number 14 scoring on Valentine’s Day.

Matthew Culling not only accomplished that rare feat, but also scored against his former team. Culling’s goal was part of a 5-0 win for the Prince Albert Raiders over his old Swift Current Broncos at the Art Hauser Centre.

Culling’s goal was the Prince Albert Raiders’ fourth as they went on to win 5-0 over the Swift Current Broncos on Valentine’s Day Friday at the Art Hauser Centre.

“It was a good night to play against the old team, and it was nice to get one too,” Culling said. “Just tried to take it as a regular game and play a full 60 minutes, work hard and see what happens.”

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Culling’s numbers aren’t going to jump out at you, but he has seven goals and 10 points in 52 games this season—four goals and six points in 21 games with the Raiders since coming over on Dec. 27.

But the 18-year-old from Regina contributes in other ways. His quick stride and high energy have elevated him into the lineup, as he’s been playing on the team’s second line with Ozzy Wiesblatt and Ilya Usau for the past couple weeks.

“He works hard, he’s smart and plays the right way,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “He’s a good teammate and he’s fitting in well with us, for sure.”

Raiders goaltender Max Paddock made 13 saves for the shutout, his second as a Raider and fourth total on the season. That’s Paddock’s lowest number of shots he’s faced in a full game in his career, the second being the 17-save shutout he had in a 3-0 win over the Victoria Royals on Jan. 29.

The Raiders now have a 29-16-5-4 record, good for 67 points. They have a narrow two-point lead on the Winnipeg ICE for first place in the WHL East Division as the ICE fell 5-4 in regulation to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday. The ICE do have a game in hand.

The Viper of Vitebsk

Raider fans are witnessing the best season in WHL history from a player born in Belarus. Aliaksei Protas already has long beaten the record. Back in Jan. 25, Protas got two assists to beat former Raider Igor Revenko’s record of 55 points he had in 2009-10 season. Protas now has 64 points in 48 games, after adding a goal and two helpers on Friday.

“It’s a huge honour for me, but I have to keep it going and help my team win,” Protas said. “I have to score more and produce offensively, and improve defensively to help my team win.”

And Ilya Usau is already close to the top five in the top WHL point seasons by a player from Belarus, despite having dual-citizenship with the United States. Usau has 42 points, just behind the 43 points that Igor Martynov had for the Victoria Royals in the 2017-18 season.

Although Usau had a goal and an assist on Friday, Habscheid wasn’t crazy about Usau’s game. Usau was doing a little bit of chirping in between whistles, which agitated the Broncos and made the game unnecessarily chippy. Usau saw his ice time diminish as a result.

“We’ve talked to him about yapping, and he doesn’t listen. So he doesn’t play,” Habscheid said. “Teammates talk to him and everybody talks to him. What happens is you talk after the whistle and you tick off the other team, and then all of a sudden [captain Zack] Hayes and these guys have to clean up his mess. That’s not fair to them. So if he’s going to do that, then stick up yourself. If not, then be quiet. If not, then you’re going to sit on the bench. It’s pretty simple.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Michael Horon from Zack Hayes and Tyson Laventure, 14:07

2-0, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Aliaksei Protas and Ozzy Wiesblatt, 15:30

Second Period

3-0, Raiders, Aliaksei Protas from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Nolan Allan (power play), 4:42

4-0, Raiders, Matthew Culling from Ilya Usau and Kaiden Guhle, 15:21

5-0, Raiders, Brayden Watts from Spencer Moe and Aliaksei Protas, 17:36

Third Period

No scoring.

The ‘Braden’ Wheat Kings

On Saturday, the Raiders will get set to entertain Prince Albert’s Braden Schneider and the Brandon Wheat Kings at the Art Hauser Centre. The Raiders will then end their three-game Hauser homestand with a Tuesday matchup against the Regina Pats.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW