Raiders forward Brett Leason scored twice for the Raiders during their historic first period Tuesday at the Langley Events Centre. Submitted photo/Rik Fedyck

By Jeff D'Andrea

Magical period

Raiders ride best playoff period in 33 years to take final series lead over Giants

May 8, 2019 | 12:19 AM

LANGLEY—The Prince Albert Raiders started off Game 3 of the 2019 Rogers WHL Championship Series with one of the best periods in league playoff history.

Before the Zamboni could clean up the ice during the first intermission, the Raiders already had a 7-0 lead over the stunned Vancouver Giants. The Raiders went on to win 8-2, giving the Raiders a 2-1 advantage in the series heading into Wednesday’s Game 4 at the Langley Events Centre.

After the game, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid sat at the press conference tables and was flanked by forwards Brett Leason and Parker Kelly—both of whom scored twice in the first period.

When asked if they had ever been a part of a period like that before, Habscheid piped up.

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“Well, I’m the old guy and I haven’t,” he said. Leason and Kelly both silently shook their heads to the question, as if they were still in disbelief.

You have to go back 33 years to find a higher scoring period in the postseason. The Saskatoon Blades scored nine goals in a single period back in 1986, which is the WHL playoff record. The Regina Pats (1984) and the Blades (1975) also managed eight goals.

Leason ended the game with two goals and two assists. That extends his point scoring streak to six games, giving him six goals and nine points in that span. That’s the longest current streak, and one game away from the longest of this postseason.

Streaks aren’t new to Leason this year. He started the regular season on a 30-game scoring streak, scoring 28 goals and 64 points. That was 12 games longer than any other streak this year. But even still, Leason says his current streak is better.

“I want to say this one here,” Leason said. “The playoffs are on another level and you have to bring your game up. To be on the point streak that I am, I’m pretty grateful for that. My teammates are helping me out along the way, and putting in good team efforts.”

From the other side of the coin, the Giants saw it snowballed and couldn’t do too much about it. Giants goaltender David Tendeck was pulled just 2:27 after surrendering two goals, to give way to Trent Miner. But after Miner gave up five goals, Tendeck was reinserted to start the second period.

“It just went from bad to worse, that’s all,” Giants head coach Michael Dyck said. “We got on our heels, they generated some momentum. It just seemed like everything they put at the net went in.”

The Giants then got into some serious penalty trouble, taking four penalties within the first six minutes of the game. The Raiders went 3-4 in that span and had a 5-0 lead by the eight-minute mark.

The Raiders have now outscored the Giants 12-2 in the last two games, and have a chance to take a 3-1 series lead on Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Parker Kelly from Justin Nachbaur, 0:41

2-0, Raiders, Ozzy Wiesblatt from Aliaksei Protas (power play), 2:27

3-0, Raiders, Brett Leason from Aliaksei Protas and Sergei Sapego, 4:17

4-0, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Noah Gregor and Brett Leason, (power play), 6:33

5-0, Raiders, Brett Leason from Dante Hannoun (power play), 8:20

6-0, Raiders, Parker Kelly (unassisted), 16:30

7-0, Raiders, Noah Gregor from Jeremy Masella and Sean Montgomery, 19:44

Second Period

8-0, Raiders, Dante Hannoun from Sean Montgomery and Brett Leason (power play), 16:11

8-1, Giants, Brayden Watts from Lukas Svejkovsky and Jared Dmytriw (power play), 19:08

Third Period

8-2, Giants, Yannik Valenti from Bowen Byram and Dylan Plouffe (power play), 14:44

More on the way

The Giants will host the Raiders for two more games at the Langley Events Centre. Game 4 will be on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Saskatchewan time, and Game 5 will be on Friday at 8:30 p.m.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW