Trevor Crawley

Raiders romp to 5-3 win over Ice

The Prince Albert Raiders scored four goals in the first period on their way to a 5-3 rout of the Kootenay Ice on Friday night at Western Financial Place.

The Raiders got goals from Sean Montgomery, Spencer Moe, Cole Fonstad and a pair from Justin Nachbaur, while Dallas Hines, Alec Baer and Colton Veloso responded for the Ice.

Kootenay netminder Bailey Brkin got the start, but was replaced by Duncan McGovern to start the second period after allowing four goals in six shots. McGovern finished out the game with 22 stops in between the pipes while Ian Scott went the distance for the Raiders, stopping 36 shots.

Despite the opening frame, Ice head coach James Patrick said he liked the way his team played the rest of the game.

“I liked the work ethic of a lot of guys in the whole game,” he said. “I thought there was some plays we were really soft on and I’ve got to challenge our defence — when their defencemen have the puck in the offensive zone, you have one job to do as a low forward and defenceman and that is to trying and find coverage and box out.

“So I just thought we were soft for a four or five minute span. I didn’t like some of the goals, but it’s pretty tough giving up four goals in six shots.”

Despite the loss, it was a special night for Connor McClennon, the second overall pick by the Kootenay Ice in the 2017 WHL Draft, who made his regular season debut after joining the team on an emergency recall earlier this week.

Patrick didn’t want to put any pressure or expectations on McClennon, but was impressed with how the young 15-year-old forward performed.

“I thought he played really good,” Patrick said. “He probably was in on two, maybe three scoring chances and he was able to get some open ice. He was okay along the boards in our zone; for a smaller guy he got some pucks out, so we need him to do the same thing tomorrow.”

McClennon made his debut in front of 2,264 fans that included his parents and younger brother.

“It was a super-cool experience, especially just getting out in front of the hometown crowd and the guys have made me feel like I’m a part of the team, so that’s maybe the best part,” he said.

He played on the wing alongside Barett Sheen and defenceman Bobby Russell, who moved from the defensive corps to the forward ranks to help cover for injuries.

McClennon is in Cranbrook on an emergency recall, but can be regularly found skating with the Northern Alberta X-Treme Prep in the CSSHL, where he has piled up 19 points in 12 games.

It remains to be seen how long he’ll be up with the Ice, but it’s a valuable learning experience for a 15-year-old.

“Just trying to work hard and get a feel for the league, what to expect, so just trying to go out there, keep it simple and enjoy it,” McClennon said.

Nachbaur opened the scoring for the Raiders, poking in a loose puck that settled in the crease on a shot from the point. Montgomery doubled the lead just over a minute later, beating Brkin over the shoulder from the slot.

Nachbaur got his second of the game busting out of the penalty box for an odd-man rush and scoring with a laser wrister. Fonstad rounded out the first period scoring for the Raiders, notching a powerplay goal from the side of the faceoff circle.

Going into the second period, Hines sparked some life into the building, scoring on a shot from the point on a two-man advantage. A few minutes later, Baer stole the puck in the offensive zone, danced around the Raiders defence and deked out Scott to make it a two-goal deficit.

However, Prince Albert came back on a play that triggered the ire of fans.

Moe drove to the net on a partial breakaway with an Ice defenceman hounding him and collided with McGovern when he lost his footing. The puck slid across the line and was ruled a good goal by officials.

In the third frame, Veloso picked up the puck in the offensive zone and cut in front of the crease, stuffing the puck past Scott. Despite some late game pressure, including a six-on-four powerplay with an extra attacker, the Raiders were able to hold the line.

The Ice came out on top of the shot clock, putting 39 pucks on Scott and creating a number of high quality chances to score.

“I think our [defense] did a good job getting pucks through and to the net,” said Baer, “I think us forwards could do a better job finding rebounds and screens and causing a little bit of chaos.”

NOTES: The Ice lineup was missing key forwards such as Colton Kroeker, Vince Loschiavo, Jeff de Wit and Loeden Schaufler to injury. Rookie Peyton Krebs was also absent, as he is currently representing Team Canada Red at the World U17 Challenge and will be playing in the gold-medal game against Team USA on Saturday night in Dawson Creek.