Two games into the regular season the St. Albert Raiders are having no trouble putting up a healthy dose of goals on the opposing team’s scoreboard.
Coming off the midget AAA home opener against the Leduc Oil Kings, which saw St. Albert give up a lead to finish the game with a 7-7 score, the Raiders once again managed the same tally against the Canadian Athletic Club at Bill Hunter Arena. This time, however, they didn’t give up a goal.
“If we learned anything [Saturday], we got away from the little things and today we refocused and did a good job,” co-coach Sandro Pisani said after Sunday’s 7-0 win.
The scoring started early and strong for the Raiders after a blast from Jayden Hart a minute and a half into the game, followed by a deflection in front of the net that was put away by Carson Samoridny.
The Raiders’ capability to finish on opportunities that were presented to them was another factor contributing to the early lead.
“Today we were very good and our power play was good and our penalty kill was effective early,” said Pisani. “We took three consecutive penalties in the first period but we actually gained momentum off the penalty kill and took some life from them.”
Heading into the second the Raiders continued their crusade. Hart once again managed to sneak one past the goaltender, adding to his goal total that would end with an electrifying hat-trick. Kevin Miller managed to add two of his own totals in the period, with the latter off a dazzling sharp angle shot on the power play that managed to find the corner above the goalie’s shoulder pads.
Although the Raiders improved their game drastically over the previous night’s performance, Hart believes his team still has some key areas to address as the season continues.
“[We need to work on] our all-around game in the defensive zone. We are pretty skilled but we need to get more gritty and get better defensively,” said Hart.
The Raiders continued the roll in the third on a goal scored by Trace Elson, which was helped along by Nelson Gadoury and Shane Brolly.
While the 7-0 finish may have not allowed the highest shot total against the Raiders, goaltender Tanner Kovacs stayed focused until it was over.
“It’s not easy but you need to fight through it and if you don’t, they [the shots] will end up in the back of the net,” said Kovacs. “We can’t have that, like what happened last game in the third period.”
An area to work on as the season continues will be a focal point that can make or break a team’s year: the amount of trips to the penalty box. The judgment that Pisani uses on the amount of penalties permitted is his team’s ability to keep a penalty from resulting in a tally on the scoreboard.
“As far as penalties go we are fairly disciplined. Some of the calls were marginal but if you’re going to take penalties, you have to have a penalty kill to back them up,” sad Pisani.
The Raiders play a series of away games this weekend against the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Calgary Flames.
