Raiders goaltender Boston Bilous dives across the crease to completely rob ICE forward Isaac Johnson in the first period of Saturday's game. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

Masella now a sniper

‘Big Diesel’ ends it in OT after beautiful blocks by Bilous

Sep 28, 2019 | 10:29 PM

Jeremy Masella does a lot of things. He blocks shots, he kills penalties, he’s physical, and opposing attacks are usually erased when the play gets near him.

But one thing the six-foot-five, 216-pound stay-at-home defenceman is not is much of a sniper. Heading into Friday’s game against the Winnipeg ICE, Masella had six goals in 167 WHL career games. His only game-winning goal was the fifth Raiders’ marker in an 8-4 win over the Calgary Hitmen last year.

That all changes now. Masella doubled his GWG total on Friday as his wicked wrister in overtime against the ICE to give the Raiders the full two points with a 3-2 victory at the Art Hauser Centre. That gives the Raiders a 3-0-1 record on the season. The ICE evened their record to 2-2.

“The ‘Big Diesel.’ You can’t stop him, you can just hope to contain him. The offensive juggernaut was let loose in overtime and he put it away,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “It’s good to see. He’s an incredible human being. He logs a lot of tough minutes defensively. He plays hard, blocks shots and does all the things that it takes to win.

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“He got a chance to chip in offensively, maybe we have a new offensive dynamo on our team.”

At the moment, Masella and fellow 20-year-old defenceman Max Martin are the only two Raiders wearing letters for the team. Both have stepped up in leadership roles, and Masella is embracing that and is playing in even more game-on-the-line situations this year.

“It’s always awesome to be out there in certain situations when the game’s on your stick,” Masella said. “It’s fun to be out there and take advantage of it when you can.”

The man that gave him the puck for the game-winning goal was Aliaksei Protas, who has hit the ground running so far to start the season. Protas leads the Raiders with three goals, seven points, 15 shots on goal and has scored one of two Raider power play goals. He’s also the only Raider to have scored in all four games of the regular season so far.

Protas had quite the eventful offseason, getting drafted and signed by the Washington Capitals, and got a long look from them this pre-season. Protas said that helped give him a boost heading into this year.

“Playing the two pre-season games with the Capitals gave me much experience. It was an awesome time,” Protas said. “I met very good guys, very good teammates, so I was happy spend a few weeks in Washington. I think it helped me a lot.”

“I’m just trying to play the same style of last season, trying to help my team and trying my best every game.”

Beautiful blocks by Bilous

Boston Bilous may have surrendered two goals on 18 shots for the victory, but if it wasn’t for an incredibly strong first period, the ICE could have had a lot more.

Bilous made two saves that boggle the mind in the opening frame. One was a glove save while on his belly against Nino Kinder, who scored a hat trick on Friday in a 7-6 ICE win over the Saskatoon Blades.

Bilous then dove across his crease to totally rob Isaac Johnson of a sure goal with a paddle save.

Sitting on the lead

The Raiders had a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes of play, including the first WHL career goal from rookie Ilya Usau, but ICE scrapped a point out of the deal with a strong third period, and goals from Michael Milne and Austin Schellenberg.

“It was river hockey tonight. We weren’t really structured. Passing wasn’t very good. Our puck management wasn’t very great. But we found a way to win, that’s what’s important,” Habscheid said. “You can’t get a false sense of security either if you’re not doing the right things, because eventually it will cost you. You don’t want to critique too much because you’re winning, but you definitely want to fix some things.”

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Aliaksei Protas from Ozzy Wiesblatt (power play), 4:51

Second Period

2-0, Raiders, Ilya Usau from Cole Fonstad and Spencer Moe, 7:09

Third Period

2-1, ICE, Michael Milne from Cole Muir, 2:27

2-2, ICE, Austin Schellenberg from Cole Muir, 11:53

Overtime

3-2, Raiders, Jeremy Masella from Aliaksei Protas and Brayden Watts, 2:02

Oy Savoie

After playing both games in the opening weekend, the ICE sent 15-year-old phenom Matt Savoie to the play midget prep hockey with the Rink Hockey Academy in the CSSHL. Despite just playing two games, Savoie leads the midget prep league in scoring four goals and 10 points. He had a three-goal, eight-point night on Friday against the Banff Hockey Academy.

Homesticking

Saturday’s contest kicked off a six-game homestand for the Raiders. They’ll play the Saskatoon Blades on Oct. 4, and the Regina Pats on Oct. 5, before a rematch against last year’s finalists in the Vancouver Giants on Oct. 8, the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Oct. 11 an the Moose Jaw Warriors on Oct. 12.

The Raiders will then depart on their U.S. Division road trip from Oct. 19-Oct. 26.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW