By Jeff D'Andrea

A joke helps Raiders’ Kelly get out weird scoring slump

Jan 12, 2019 | 9:35 PM

Sometimes, a little humour is all you need to get out of a slump. Just ask Prince Albert Raiders forward Parker Kelly.

Kelly had one of the most frustrating five periods, getting robbed by goalies and hitting posts on at least 10 occasions, to scoring twice in the Raiders’ 7-3 victory over the Calgary Hitmen Saturday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

It all started on Friday in the Raiders’ 4-2 win over the Portland Winterhawks as Kelly was robbed at least three times with show-stopping saves from ‘Hawks netminder Joel Hofer.

That continued into the opening 40 minutes of Saturday’s game, as Hitmen goaltender Jack McNaughton stuck out his glove to take away sure goals from Kelly. Then with about 14 seconds left in the second period, this happened.

Let’s start a GoFundMe for good luck charms for Parker Kelly, who’s had absolute glorious chances this weekend but can’t seem to find the back of the net. After Kelly returned to the bench, HC Marc Habscheid jokingly offered Kelly a goalie stick to shoot with instead. pic.twitter.com/3pmjwUPt2d

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

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Kelly only actually went two games without scoring a goal, but it seemed like an awful lot longer than that.

“It definitely felt like a lifetime,” Kelly said. “Lots of open nets, lots of posts.”

After hitting the far-post, Kelly went back to the bench shaking his head. Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid then picked up a goalie stick, poked Kelly with it and jokingly told him to play with the tender’s twig—figuring he might have better luck with it.

Kelly then scored a pair of goals his 19^th and 20^th goals of the season—with his own stick. He also had an assist in the second period.

“The best thing is to laugh about it. I offered for him to try the goalie stick, because the other stick obviously wasn’t working,” Habscheid said. “We’ve been together for so long, since he was 16. He’s a great kid, he’s competitive. Sometimes when you try too hard, things get worse. So a little laugh, was probably the right time for it.”

Just three minutes into the third period, Kelly broke the hex that plagued him all weekend.

Habscheid’s goalie stick joke worked! Parker Kelly finally scores, breaks the curse and gets rid of his monkey too. That’s his 19th of the year. 6-2 Raiders. pic.twitter.com/ZZvWymlaeI

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

Just four minutes after that, Kelly added on a second for good measure and got his 20^th goal of the season.

Wheel, Snipe Kelly is officially back. Parker Kelly once again finds the back of the net, 20th goal of the year and 2nd of the night. Great pass from Moe. 7-3 Raiders. pic.twitter.com/IvjTb7n0e8

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

“It’s a little thing, but obviously it’s a nice relief. Every player goes through a slump every couple of games. Obviously, it’s nice to get back on track here and get two big ones this weekend.”

Kelly wasn’t the only one that did the ‘monkey off the back’ celebration. Raiders newcomer and Kelly’s linemate Dante Hannoun did the same thing. Hannoun scored his first goal in five games as a Raider. He also added an assist in the game and now has four points as a Raider.

It’s High Noon Hannoun with his first goal as a Raider, as Dante Hannoun picks off the monkey from his back and throws it away. 4-1 Raiders. Raiders defenceman Zack Hayes was sure to retrieve the puck to celebrate Hannoun’s first PA goal. pic.twitter.com/J83Vgle9g3

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

“It’s pretty special to get that one and put it behind me right now,” Hannoun said. “It was good play there, battling hard on the wall, poke the puck out and I was just lucky enough to be there and get a quick shot on net.”

Former Raider Luke Coleman scored for the Hitmen, that’s his third goal in nine career games against his former team.

Scoring Summary

First Period

1-0, Raiders, Ozzy Wiesblatt from Aliaksei Protas and Sergei Sapego (power play), 5:15

Cue up Crazy Train, because Ozzy Wiesblatt just put the Raiders up 1-0, 5:15 into the first over his hometown Hitmen pic.twitter.com/yHaeFH718V

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

2-0, Raiders, Brayden Pachal (unassisted), 19:13

Dante Hannoun’s great chance is blocked, but Brayden Pachal scores right after anyway with 46.4 seconds left in the first period. Raiders lead 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes. Shots 15-4 for the Raiders pic.twitter.com/hnFcxGCIMr

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

Second Period

2-1, Hitmen, Riley Stotts from James Malm, 8:21

Hitmen take advantage of broken play for the Raiders, and James Malm feeds Riley Stotts on the backdoor. Raiders still lead 2-1. pic.twitter.com/1TF3EsYCO6

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

3-1, Raiders, Cole Fonstad from Ozzy Wiesblatt and Jeremy Masella, 9:35

Just 41 seconds later, Cole Fonstad restores the 2-goal lead for the Raiders. Nice long feed for Wiesblatt, who now has 1G, 1A in the game so far. pic.twitter.com/XM681fub0r

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

4-1, Raiders, Dante Hannoun from Parker Kelly, 10:40

4-2, Hitmen, Luke Coleman from Carson Focht (shorthanded), 13:15

Raiders fluff it in their own zone on the power play, and Carson Focht hands it over to ex-Raider Luke Coleman who goes bar down and puts the Hitmen back to within a pair. 4-2 Raiders pic.twitter.com/EEBqgDiR8c

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

5-2, Raiders, Brett Leason from Cole Fonstad and Noah Gregor (power play), 16:52

Brett ‘the Reason’ Leason scores in his second consecutive game. This one on the power play and it’s 5-2 Raiders with 3:08 left in the 2nd period. That’s Leason’s 30th goal of the year. pic.twitter.com/dSrlwHB1nM

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

Third Period

6-2, Raiders, Parker Kelly from Dante Hannoun, 3:13

6-3, Hitmen, Riley Stotts (unassisted), 5:29

Riley Stotts turns on the jets and snipes. 6-3 Raiders still lead 5 minutes into the third period. pic.twitter.com/6xoeD4x4ap

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) January 13, 2019

7-3, Raiders, Parker Kelly from Spencer Moe and Sergei Sapego, 7:42

Off to B.C.

The Raiders will head into their B.C. road swing with a 36-5-0-1 record, and a 19-3 record on home ice. They will play their next six games in B.C., starting on Jan. 16 against the Prince George Cougars. They’ll also be in Kamloops on Jan. 18, Kelowna Jan. 19, Victoria Jan. 22, Vancouver Jan. 24 and Kootenay Jan. 26. The Raiders will return to the Art Hauser Centre on Feb. 1 against Edmonton.

jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW