They've got speed in abundance, talent up the ying-yang and the pomp-and-circumstance swagger that comes with losing just five of their first 44 games.
These Prince Albert Raiders are the real deal, the team everybody in the Western Hockey League is struggling to beat. They lived up to all the hype in a 6-2 win over the Prince George Cougars in their one and only appearance at CN Centre Wednesday night.
They were one step ahead of the Cats most of the game and gave a sparse gathering of just 2,405 a taste of what they have to offer as they make the stretch run into the playoffs.
The Raiders continue to dominate the WHL as the top-ranked major junior team in Canada and improved their record to 38-5-0-1. The Cougars (16-23-1-2) remained fourth in the B.C. division and eighth in the Western Conference. They still hold the second wild-card conference playoff spot.
The Raiders, as expected, had the Cougars under siege early. They'd already built an 8-2 shot advantage when top-line centre Sean Montgomery tapped in Brett Leason's shot-pass through the crease while parked just off the far-side post. That goal, Montgomery's 19th, came 7:06 in.
A turnover just outside the Cougars' blueline set up the Raiders second goal. Spencer Moe chipped the puck ahead to Parker Kelly and he split the defence and launched a high shot in over Taylor Gauthier's glove.
The Cougars' offence kicked in late in the first period. Raiders goalie Ian Scott had trouble smothering a high bouncing dump-in from Brendan Boyle and the rebound was left for Jackson Leppard, who went to his backhand to put the puck behind Scott.
The Cougars knotted the score a few shifts into the second period. Ilijah Colina won the draw in the Raiders' end and got the puck to Rhett Rhinehart, who dished it to his defence partner Ryan Schoettler. The shot from Schoettler hit Mike MacLean standing in front - the fourth goal of the season for the former Seattle Thunderbird.
The Cougars at that point realized they weren't out of the Raiders' league and played with a lot more confidence than they showed in the first period. They continued to generate scoring chances and had stretches where they rarely allowed a volatile Prince Albert offence that scored 198 goals in their first 43 games to get set up in the danger zone.
All it took was one bad penalty to throw a wrench into that plan.
Just nine seconds after Tyson Upper got caught for tripping in the offensive zone, Alaiksei Protas was set up with a hard pass through the crease from Montgomery and the import from Virebsk, Belarus, got his stick blade on it before Gauthier could react.
Josh Maser, who played briefly for the Raiders two years ago as a 17-year-old, twice tested Scott severely in the second period with defections that forced the Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick out of his comfort zone. Maser came into the game with a team-leading 16 goals.
"Through two periods I thought we were pretty good," said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk. "It's a good learning lesson for us, that's where we want to be in a couple years with our team. Their transition game is so much faster and we're a young team and you have to execute so much faster or they take your time and space away from you.
"There's a reason they've only had five losses, they're the best team in the country for a reason."
The Raiders cashed in their insurance policy for their fourth goal just before the five-minute mark of the third period. Cole Fonstad tried to find a teammate just outside the Cougar crease and the puck hit Rhinehart's skate blade and slid through Gauthier's legs.
Justin Nachbaur made it 5-2 a few minutes later, scoring from a sharp angle with Gauthier down on his knees.
The Raiders and their deep balanced attack had 12 players figure in on the scoring, none of whom generated more than two points. Penalties weren't a big factor. The Raiders went 1-for-6 on the power play while the Cats finished 0-for-3.
Shots were 49-25 in favour of Prince Albert. Noah Gregor, a 20-year-old San Jose Sharks' prospect picked up at the deadline in a trade from the Calgary Hitmen, had 11 of those 49 centring a line with Fonstad and Ozzy Weisblatt.
"By far they're the fastest team we've played yet and they move the puck well," said Colina, who returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing five games with an upper-body injury.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Raiders are just beginning a six-game trip, all against B.C.-based teams. They'll be back in action Friday in Kamloops against a Blazers team that will play the Cougars Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at CN Centre... The Cougars had won four of their last five games... Raiders D Max Martin made his return to Prince George for the first time in a Raiders uniform since the November 2016 trade for D Brendan Guhle. That deal sent Martin, F Kolby Johnson, the Cougars' first-round pick in 2018 (Raiders used that third-overall pick to select D Nolan Allan) and a third-rounder in 2019. Martin drew the second assist on Gregor's goal.
