By Jeff D'Andrea

100-goal man Gregor shines in Raiders win over Wheaties

Dec 8, 2018 | 9:37 PM

Noah Gregor reached an elusive milestone on Saturday night as his Prince Albert Raiders won 5-2 over the Brandon Wheat Kings at the Art Hauser Centre.

At the 14:30 mark of the third period, Gregor scored the 100^th goal of his WHL career. It was also the 14^th of the year.

Noah Gregor has been an animal here tonight. He scores the 5-2 goal and his 4th point of the night. 5-2 Raiders. pic.twitter.com/2x1SEJxqTV

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) December 9, 2018

“It definitely feels like it’s travelled fast. I don’t feel like I’m a 20-year-old in my last year,” Gregor said. “Hopefully, there’s more goals to come.”

Along with that milestone goal, Gregor added three helpers. Two of those were primary assists on Cole Fonstad’s pair of goals. 

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Looking at Gregor and Fonstad click on Saturday was like poetry in motion, with two players totally in-sync. But Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said that was far from the case earlier when he put the two together. A lot has happened since.

“We tried them early. They’re both intelligent players and they like to freelance,” Habscheid said. “When you get two players like that, sometimes it takes a little time to gel because their tendencies aren’t necessarily consistent—they freelance a bit. But they’re smart enough to figure each other out, it just might take a little longer.”

For Fonstad, he scored three goals and four points in the home-and-home sweep over the Wheat Kings this year. In fact, four of out of the 10 goals he has this year have come in the three contests against the Wheaties this year.

Despite Fonstad’s seven-game point streak (four goals, four assists), his production has dipped from last year’s (0.77 this season, down from 1.01 last year). Habscheid hopes the new-found confidence and chemistry will help carry Fonstad for the rest of the year.

“We need him to [score]. He’s a drafted guy, he’s 18 years old,” Habscheid said of Fonstad, who was selected in the fifth round last year by the Montreal Canadiens. “He’s a big part of our team and was a big part last year. If he can step up and keep playing, that will help our depth and make us harder to defend against.”

“Goal scorers score goals. If they don’t, they get frustrated and lose a little bit of confidence. He got a couple tonight; that should help his confidence.”

The Raiders remain unbeaten at home with a perfect 14-0 record. They’re 28-1-0-1 on the season. The Wheat Kings had won four straight before the pair of losses to the Raiders Friday and Saturday night. They’re 14-9-3-3 on the year.

Big crowd in

The Raiders announced an attendance of 3,107 for Saturday night. That’s their highest of the season by 278 fans, and also beats all their regular season and playoff games from last year. It’s their largest crowd since Mar. 18, 2016 when they welcomed 3,299 fans.

Did Brett Leason extend his scoring streak?

You already know the answer to this.

Leason has now scored at least one point in each of the 30 games the Raiders have played in this year. That streak is almost double the length of any other point streak, current or otherwise, in the WHL this year. Portland’s Cody Glass extended his current point streak to 16 games on Saturday night.

Leason added a pair of assists on Saturday and has 28 goals and 64 points on the year. He leads the league in both categories.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Wheat Kings, Linden McCorrister from Zach Wytinck and Connor Gutenberg (power play), 14:18

Sticks fly as the Wheat Kings score on the power play, 1-0 Wheaties in the first. They announce the goal to Stelios Mattheos but that could change. Raiders’ Pachal upset as he couldn’t defend on the play after McCorrister knocked the stick out of his hands. pic.twitter.com/0s92YHv3xm

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) December 9, 2018

Second Period

1-1, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Noah Gregor and Brayden Pachal, 14:31

The Raiders have looked much better in this second period, but weren’t rewarded until now. Cole Fonstad ties the game as the Raiders are able to keep it in at the line twice. Nice corner picker from Fonstad. 1-1 at the 2nd period break, shots 29-18 Raiders, 19-4 this period. pic.twitter.com/H8FFHzMKT1

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) December 9, 2018

2-1, Raiders, Kody McDonald from Noah Gregor and Jeremy Masella, 15:11

Kody McDonald gives the Raiders a 2-1 lead. After Gregor’s shot his the end boards, McDonald waits for it to come in front of the net. It’s been all Raiders in this second period. pic.twitter.com/HwV3tOUJD4

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) December 9, 2018

3-1, Raiders, Sean Montgomery from Brett Leason and Max Martin (power play), 16:00

Snipin’ Sean Montgomery pots one on the power play and it’s 3-1 Raiders. He scored last night and has now tied a career high for goals (13). Brett Leason got the primary assist, extending his streak to 30 games. pic.twitter.com/QTLJojBj1Y

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) December 9, 2018

3-2, Wheat Kings, Luka Burzan from Ridly Greig and Stelio Mattheos, 16:50

Third Period

4-2, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Noah Gregor, 1:56

Here’s Fonstad’s second goal of the game ICYMI pic.twitter.com/Thq0VBWt27

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) December 9, 2018

5-2, Raiders, Noah Gregor from Brett Leason, 14:30

Noah Gregor has been an animal here tonight. He scores the 5-2 goal and his 4th point of the night. 5-2 Raiders. pic.twitter.com/2x1SEJxqTV

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) December 9, 2018

Shorthanded Wheat Kings

The Wheat Kings scratched six players for Saturday’s game, three of which were lost after Friday’s game against the Raiders. Jonny Hooker and Jonny Lambos were both injured on Friday. Cole Reinhardt received a one-game suspension for this hit on Raiders captain Brayden Pachal.

We had Brandon’s Cole Reinhardt drill Prince Albert’s Brayden Pachal. He was given a 5 minute major and GM. pic.twitter.com/W6OAhe3k3v

— Brandon Rivers (@BriversWHL) December 8, 2018

Braden Schneider, who’s from Prince Albert, hasn’t played since leaving the Nov. 17 game to a lower body injury. That also happened to be against the Raiders.

Heading down to Saskatoon

The Raiders will head back on the road for a Sunday affair against the Saskatoon Blades for their Teddy Bear Toss Night. The game will complete the Raiders’ three-games-in-three-nights stretch.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW