Sean Montgomery has been a scoring machine against the Blades this series. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Meet your playoff player of the week

Snipin’ Sean Montgomery living up to his nickname

Apr 8, 2019 | 12:04 PM

Sean Montgomery made a huge impact in the first two games of the Prince Albert Raiders, Saskatoon Blades second round playoff series.

The longest-serving Raider ever has outscored the Blades by himself thus far in the series with four goals (the Blades have three) to earn himself the WHL On the Run Player of the Week. The league made the announcement on Monday.

Montgomery scored the game-winning goal on Sunday to complete the Raiders’ comeback in a 3-2 win over the Blades. And in game one, he netted his first-ever Western Hockey League hat trick after 345 regular season games and 17 post-season games.

So how is Montgomery filling the net at relative ease?

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“I don’t know,” he said with a laugh. “It’s just one of those things. The puck’s finding me, so I’m not going to complain.”

Montgomery’s game winner on Sunday was scored on the power play. That’s Montgomery’s second power play goal of the series, as the Raiders went 3-11 in the first two games.

Just as he tapped in the rebound, Montgomery got rolled over by Blades’ defenceman Brandon Schuldhaus, but was just glad the puck crossed the line.

“It would have hurt a lot more if it didn’t go in,” Montgomery said.

Counting the four-game sweep over the Red Deer Rebels, the Raiders have outscored their opposition 26-10, which leads the WHL in goal differential.

Montgomery credits the scoring depth in the team for their offensive success, as well as being able to count on different players every night.

“I think we just rally after each other,” Montgomery said. “We have three, four lines even, that can score pretty easily. We like our depth, and that helps with scoring in quick succession.”

Looking ahead

Games three and four are at the SaskTel Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday. If the Blades win one of those, then game five will be on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. If the Blades win both, then a game six on Sunday at the SaskTel Centre will be necessary.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW