The Swift Current Bantam Raiders played out the final two games of their Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League regular season at home over the weekend as they locked up second spot in the South Division.
Friday, the Raiders had their way with the last place Moose Jaw Warriors, out-shooting them 50-12 in a 4-1 win.
The Raiders out-shot the visitors 17-3 in the first period but went to the locker room tied 1-1 after allowing a late goal by Jeremy Bisson with only five seconds left in the frame. They broke out in the second period with two goals while out-shooting Moose Jaw 22-6 and then added an insurance goal in the third period.
Kole Lind opened the scoring for the Raiders and added the eventual game winner in the second period. Tristan Carey and Dylan Rossiter assisted on both of Lind’s goals. Carter Tangen and Jarett Gerlach both added goals for the Raiders in the win. Tanner Fritzke and Caleb Stevenson each added assists and Joshua Sundquist picked up the win in goal with 11 saves.
Saturday, the Raiders’ finished up the regular season with a 6-2 win over the Melville Millionaires.
Lind’s scoring barrage continued with two goals and two assists and Tanner Nagel added a hat trick to close out the season. Rossiter had three assists and Carey added two helpers. Fritzke added a goal and an assist from the blueline, while Cole Keenleyside, Riley Couch and Tyde Hutchinson all added assists. Jackson Granrude earned the win in goal.
“It was how most of 2013 has been going for us,” said head coach Kent Woods of another dominant weekend. “Guys have been working really hard doing a lot of the little things that we have been doing. We have been getting pucks in deep, staying above wingers on our forecheck, and basically making the other teams make turnovers until we score goals.”
The Raiders finished second in the South Division with a 15-7-5 record. They will enter the playoffs on a roll with a 9-2-1 record in 2013 after opening the season with a mediocre 6-5-4 mark in 2012.
The Raiders will now face the Millionaires in a best-of-three series to open the playoffs. The Raiders hold a 2-0 record against Melville this season, outscoring them 11-3 in two wins this month.
The Millionaires, who can score with the top teams in the league, are led by the high scoring line of Caleb Reiss, Marial Benny, and Drayson Skulmoski, as well as defemseman Dawson Davidson, who put up 49 points in 25 games this season.
“If you shut them down they don’t really have a whole lot after that,” said Woods. “But that line is dangerous, they are probably the best line in the league. For us it is a matter of shutting down that line and hopefully capitalizing against their other two lines and that is kind of what we did against them here on the weekend and down in Melville.”
The opening round playoff series against will likely open this week in Swift Current but no dates have been finalized yet.
