Raiders goaltender Max Paddock makes a save in tight on Ben McCartney. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Spencer Moe, Whattaya Know?!

Raiders keep Wheat Kings at bay

Feb 15, 2020 | 10:29 PM

It took him a little longer than he wanted, but Spencer Moe finally was able to reach back on his name bar and rip that monkey off his back.

Moe broke a 13-game goalless streak to get the Raiders off and running in a 4-1 victory of WHL East Division rival in the Brandon Wheat Kings Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders as a whole have been involved in a lot of low scoring, defensive games since returning from the holiday break and even the top line was feeling that a little bit. Moe had just three assists since he last scored on Jan. 7 against the Red Deer Rebels.

But he and his linemates in Aliaksei Protas and Brayden Watts have returned to their high-scoring ways. Including Friday’s 5-0 win over the Swift Current Broncos, the trio combined for four goals and four assists.

“Our line’s finally coming back. We were on a slide for maybe a month or so,” Moe said, who had a goal on Saturday and a helper on Friday. “So it’s nice to get back on track. I think it’s going to carry on for the rest of the season and carry on until playoffs.”

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Seeing Moe get back to his old ways pleased his head coach.

“For Moe, he plays quality minutes and he plays a lot. He’s had a tough time lately, so that one really helped us, especially being up first,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said.

And the victory could turn out to be a big one for rankings when the playoffs roll around. Heading into the game, the Wheat Kings were in third place in the WHL East Division and were just four points behind the first place Raiders. But the Raiders’ win (30-16-5-4, 69 points) extends their lead to six points over the Wheaties (29-19-3-2, 63 points). Of course, the Raiders will play the Wheat Kings three more times before the season is done, at Brandon on Feb. 22, and a home-and-home on March 6 and 7.

“It’s a huge win for us. Before the game, they were four points behind us. There’s a little gap obviously with the win tonight,” Moe said. “We play them three more times and this is really good for us. It’s going to create more momentum into playoffs.

“It’s going to be a potential series, so we want to at least do our best to close out the season. If we do meet them in the playoffs, we want them to remember the last half here.”

Another Raider getting rid of a back monkey was rookie forward Tyson Laventure. Although his second period goal was his fifth of the season, it was his first goal at the Art Hauser Centre. All his previous four came on the road, with his last coming on Dec. 7 in Moose Jaw against the Warriors.

“It was pretty nice to get that one and help the team win tonight,” Laventure said. “It’s great to score in the home barn. I love playing in front of the crowd here.”

Something weird

You don’t see 4-on-0 rushes every day. What’s even more mind-bendingly weird than that is a 4-on-0 rush that doesn’t result in a shot on goal.

That’s what happened with the Wheat Kings and the Raiders. After a turnover while the Raiders were changing, the Wheat Kings came hard the other way with four players and no Raider in sight. But Ben McCartney got cute with a behind-the-back pass, allowing Raider forward Brayden Watts just enough time to get off the bench and break the play up.

“It’s kind of unique. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that,” Moe said. “It was a bad change by us but good on everyone trying to come back quickly and disrupt the play. I don’t think they even got a shot off on that play. Good on us.”

Whenever they were able to get a shot on the Raiders goal, Max Paddock seemed to have the answers. He made 26 saves on 27 shots. His numbers since arriving in Prince Albert at the trade deadline don’t exactly suck either, .944 save percentage, 1.48 goals against average, two shutouts and an 8-2-0-2 record in 12 starts.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Spencer Moe from Aliaksei Protas and Nolan Allan, 4:06

1-1, Wheat Kings, Cole Reinhardt from Ridly Greig and Braden Schneider, 18:00

Second Period

2-1, Raiders, Tyson Laventure from Kaiden Guhle and Zack Hayes, 3:08

Third Period

3-1, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Matthew Culling, 4:18

4-1, Raiders, Aliaksei Protas from Justin Nachbaur, 18:30

Experience Prince Albert

The Regina Pats will come up to the Art Hauser Centre on Tuesday for a belated Family Day game. The Raiders are 3-0-1-1 against the Pats so far in their season series.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW