Raiders forward Dante Hannoun celebrates his first period goal Tuesday against the Swift Current Broncos. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D'Andrea

xyz- Raiders

Raiders clinch league’s top spot with win over SC

Mar 5, 2019 | 10:17 PM

For the second time in team history, the Prince Albert Raiders clinched first place in the Western Hockey League regular season.

And they did so in style, beating the Swift Current Broncos 6-0 on Tuesday night at the Art Hauser Centre to win the 2018-19 Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy.

The only other time the Raiders won the WHL’s regular season award was back in the 1984-85 season. They won 58 of 72 games that year, and went on to win the Memorial Cup.

“Pretty proud of them. I talked to them after the game, saying we’ve got bigger fish to fry. But at the same time, that’s a tough trophy to win. It’s been a long time since the Raiders have got it,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said. “Right now, I want them to enjoy that. As much as anything, you have to enjoy that feeling of winning. Because if you do, you want it back even more.

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“It’s an accomplishment. Obviously, there’s another trophy we want even more. But this one’s nice to have, as well.”

For some Raiders like forward Justin Nachbaur, this is the first time they’ve been on a team that won the regular season title.

“It’s never happened to me before. It’s a pretty good feeling right now,” Nachbaur said, who scored two goals a day after his 19^th birthday. “It’s a big accomplishment for our team.”

Great Scott

It’s been a heck of a year already for Ian Scott. In the year, he’s scored a goal, signed an NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and made Team Canada to play at the World Juniors.

Now, Scott is on the verge of winning three different Raiders’ franchise records for goaltenders. Scott picked up his sixth shutout of the season on Tuesday, making 24 saves. That puts him a three-way tie for the Raiders’ clean sheet record with Luke Siemens (2012-13) and Rejean Beauchemin (2003-04).

“I didn’t really know about it until far in the season,” Scott said. “I just kept it in the back of my head that it was a possibility. To tie it tonight was pretty cool, and a lot of thanks goes to the guys in the room.”

Also, Scott is also poised to set new standards for the Raiders in both goals against average (1.90) and save percentage (.931). Right now, Beauchemin has the GAA record at 2.32 and Siemens has the save percentage mark at .912.

Raiders’ reinforcements

Max Martin played in his first game on Tuesday, since getting hit in the head with a puck and receiving an upper body injury in Brandon on Feb. 16. Martin sat out six games, before being medically cleared to take on the Broncos.

Parker Kelly also returned to the lineup, after serving his three-game suspension for a boarding major on Feb. 23.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Sergei Sapego from Cole Fonstad, 5:30

2-0, Raiders, Dante Hannoun from Parker Kelly and Max Martin, 7:00

Second Period

3-0, Raiders, Justin Nachbaur from Brayden Pachal and Dante Hannoun, 11:12

4-0, Raiders, Aliaksei Protas from Brayden Pachal and Zack Hayes, 12:12

5-0, Raiders, Eric Pearce from Kaiden Guhle and Ozzy Wiesblatt, 13:32

Third Period

6-0, Raiders, Justin Nachbaur from Aliaksei Protas and Dante Hannoun, 13:02

Broncos again, then again

The Raiders will have two rematches against the Broncos, on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre and Saturday at the Credit Union iPlex. Then the Raiders will close out the regular season with a home-and-home against the Saskatoon Blades on March 15-16. The Raiders’ home leg will be on the 15^th at the Art Hauser Centre.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW