The Winnipeg ICE began a stretch on Saturday night that would see them play nine straight home games inside of the Wayne Fleming Arena.
The first two would come against a team they’re currently battling for the top spot in the East Division in the Prince Albert Raiders.
In their final game of 2019 on December 30, Winnipeg beat the Raiders, 3-2.
In their first meeting of 2020, Winnipeg once again downed Prince Albert. With the win, Winnipeg has now created a four-point cushion atop the East Division after a 6-3 win.
“We really bought in during the third period,” said Isaac Johnson courtesy of winnipegice.ca. “We have a bunch of young guys on our roster, but they’re all buying in right now and it’s helping us.”
“Some guys came up with some big plays. It was a hard-fought game,” said James Patrick. “Isaac Johnson also made a couple of huge plays for us.”
Winnipeg’s Owen Pederson showed what can happen if you don’t start playing from the first whistle. He scored his 14th of the season, just 57 seconds into the game. Then, 11 seconds later, Pederson notched his second of the game and 15th of the season to give Winnipeg a 2-0 lead.
Prince Albert would respond and trim the deficit in the half. At the 11:08 mark, Ilya Usau notched his 12th goal of the season as Prince Albert trailed just 2-1 after 20 minutes after the dismal start.
Connor McClennon would restore Winnipeg’s two-goal lead in the second. With 7:26 left in the frame, he scored his team-leading 20th goal of the campaign as Winnipeg went up 3-1.
Down by that 3-1 score, Prince Albert took over the remainder of the frame. At the 13:09 mark, Brayden Watts scored his 17th of the season as he continues to be a leader on a Raiders team that is looking to win their second straight WHL title.
Justin Nachbaur would then tie the game with 3:18 left in the second.
The third period brought goals, all of which were for the home team. 20-year-old Isaac Johnson started things with his 13th of the season, just 3:47 in as Winnipeg took a 4-3 lead.
“I have to give all the credit to my teammates,” said Johnson. “They’re making plays and things are connecting. We just have to keep going.”
Jackson Leppard would then score his 12th of the season to give Winnipeg a 5-3 lead at the 6:39 mark. Leppard then notched his 13th of the season and second of the game with 5:01 left in the third. Winnipeg would coast the rest of the way to earn a 6-3 win and they picked up their 24th win of the season in the process.
Prince Albert, meanwhile, has lost eight straight games, seven of which have been in regulation and they’re 20-14-4-1, four points behind Winnipeg for the top spot in the division.
The two teams will meet once again on Sunday inside of the Wayne Fleming Arena. Winnipeg will look to win their sixth straight game.
ICINGS:
- Liam Hughes made 25 saves in the game to pick up his ninth win. Keegan Karki made his debut for Prince Albert in relief of Boston Bilous and he made 32 saves on 36 shots.
- After putting up 14 shots in the first, Prince Albert had just 14 in the remaining two periods. Winnipeg, meanwhile had 29 in the final two periods to go with nine in the first.
- Winnipeg went 1-for-3 on the power play while Prince Albert was 0-for-1.
- Isaac Johnson finished a +3 with one goal and three assists to lead Winnipeg.
