Friday's highlights . . .

Goll-eeeee, as that old left winger, Gomer Pyle, used to say. Or was it goallll-eeeeee? . . . Anyway, the WHL came as close to having a perfect night Friday as any league ever has. Perfect? Well, consider that there were 10 games. That, of course, means there were 20 teams in action. . . . And at night’s end 15 of those teams had picked up at least one point. . . . Welcome, folks, to the wonderful world of hockey in the era of loser points. Lose in overtime and get a point. Lose in the circus and get a point. . . . On Friday night, only the Chilliwack Bruins, Prince George Cougars, Red Deer Rebels, Saskatoon Blades and Vancouver Giants didn’t get rewarded for losing. . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes and Swift Current Broncos were idle. The hockey pooh-bahs have yet to figure out a way to reward idle teams with a point or two for not playing. . . . But, on this night, almost everyone went home happy and that’s what it is all about these days. . . .

FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Kelowna, LW Evan Bloodoff’s goal at 4:02 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie as the Rockets beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 3-2. . . . The Rockets (28-14-2-4) are 5-1 versus the Bruins this season. Kelowna is fourth in the Western Conference, six points out of first-place overall. . . . The Bruins (21-20-3-1) are tied for sixth with the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Kelowna C Cody Almond got the game’s first goal, 28 seconds in. . . . F Brayden Metz, who went into the game with one goal, scored both Chilliwack goals. . . . Kelowna G Torrie Jung (back) was scratched. He tweaked his back Tuesday during the pregame warmup in Kamloops. G Daniel Salamandyk, who is playing for the junior B Sicamous Eagles, backed up Kris Westblom. . . . The game featured the WHL’s two highest scorers. Kelowna C Colin Long had one assist, giving him 70 points and a one-point edge over Chilliwack LW Mark Santorelli, who was held pointless. . . . Kelowna LW Brandon McMillan has been added to Team Red’s roster for the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game that is scheduled for Wednesday in Edmonton. McMillan replaces Patrice Cormier of the Rimouski Oceanic, who is injured. McMillan has 34 points in 48 games. Kelowna defencemen Tyler Myers and Luke Schenn will be on Team White. . . .

In Brandon, the Wheat Kings edged the Saskatoon Blades 4-3 in a game that featured a third-period line brawl. . . . The Wheat Kings (28-16-0-1) had lost their previous two games. They now are 5-1 versus the Blades. . . . Saskatoon (16-28-2-1) slipped into 11th place in the Eastern Conference, 16 points out of a playoff spot. . . . Brandon led 3-0 after one period and 4-1 after two. . . . The Blades scored twice in the game’s last six minutes. . . . Brandon G Andrew Hayes, who has beaten the Blades three times, stopped 32 shots. . . . Brandon F Scott Glennie was hit with a major penalty for boarding, a penalty that could draw a WHL suspension. . . . He was one of 10 players to be ejected at 13:25 of the third period. . . . Brandon C Tyler Dittmer, who leads his team with 47 points, hasn’t hit the scoresheet in five games. . . .

In Edmonton, F Brock Nixon’s goal at 2:47 of OT gave the Calgary Hitmen a 2-1 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Calgary (32-12-1-2) has won eight in a row and is 5-2 against Edmonton. . . . The Oil Kings (15-23-4-6) have lost five straight. . . . Slovenian LW Bostjan Golicic gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 5:03 of the first period. . . . Edmonton C Clayton Cumiskey tied it at 1:19 of the third. . . . D Alex Plante, who had been out with a concussion, returned to Calgary’s lineup. . . . Edmonton G Alex Archibald made 35 saves, 11 more than Calgary’s Dan Spence. . . .

In Everett, RW Dan Gendur scored at 3:20 of OT to give the Silvertips a 2-1 victory over the Portland Winter Hawks. . . . The Silvertips (26-20-0-2) have won three straight and 8 of 11. They are 7-1 versus Portland. . . . The Winter Hawks are 9-35-1-1. . . . Gendur has 17 goals. . . . LW Clayton Bauer scored for Everett in the second period. . . . C Jacob Dietrich forced the overtime with a goal at 7:55 of the third period. . . . Everett G Shayne Barrie made 28 saves. . . . G Kurtis Mucha stopped 38 shots for Portland. . . . The Winter Hawks have five players injured and dressed just 17 skaters, one under the maximum. . . . C Colin Reddin, who left the U.S. National Team Development Program, has yet to play for the Winter Hawks because of red tape involved in his transfer. . . .

In Kamloops, C Alex Rodgers had two first-period goals to help the Blazers to a 5-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Blazers (22-23-1-1) have won three in a row overall and five in a row at home. . . . The Cougars (14-23-1-1) are 15 points out of a playoff spot. . . . LW Ivan Rohac had three assists for Kamloops and RW Juuso Puustinen, who plays on a line with Rohac and Rodgers, had a goal and two helpers. . . .

In Cranbrook, the Ice took a 4-1 first-period lead, only to end up losing 6-5 in the circus to the Regina Pats. . . . The Pats (29-15-3-1) have won four in a row and five of six. . . . The Ice (27-15-3-1) had won two straight. . . . C Dustin Sylvester had two goals for the Ice, giving him 25. . . . Regina scored the only three goals of the second period to tie it 4-4. . . . Czech LW Rudolf Cerveny gave Regina a 5-4 edge early in the third period, only to have Sylvester tie it two minutes later. . . . Cerveny, who has six goals, scored the only goal of the circus. . . . Regina C Jordan Eberle got his 28th goal. . . . D Victor Bartley, who was acquired from Kamloops on Jan. 5, had one assist in his Regina debut. He had been out since injuring a groin in practice with Kamloops on Jan. 2. . . . Ice G Kris Lazaruk has a leg injury and didn’t start. . . . Ice F Kris Foucault sat out the game for what the team called “actions deemed detrimental to the team.” He and F Tylan Stephens, who sat out a one-game team-issued suspension earlier in the week, are cousins. Hmm, maybe they were at a family function. . . .

In Medicine Hat, LW Colton Yellow Horn, the WHL’s leading goal scorer, sniped three times to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 5-4 victory over the Tigers. . . . RW Blair Macaulay got the winner just 55 seconds into OT. . . . The Americans (32-10-1-2) have won four in a row and are just one point out of first place overall. . . . Yellow Horn now leads the WHL with 34 goals. He went into the game having scored the winner in four of his club’s last six goals. He didn’t get the winner in this one, but he did erase the Tigers’ 4-2 lead with goals at 11:53 and 12:26 of the third period. Both goals came on assists from C Shaun Vey and D T.J. Fast. The first came on a 5-on-3 advantage; the second on a 5-on-4 edge. . . . Yellow Horn’s first goal came with the Ams shorthanded. . . . The Tigers (25-16-4-1) have lost four of five. They also have lost four of their last five home games. . . . Vey had three assists. . . . Yellow Horn is six points out of the WHL scoring lead. . . .

In Moose Jaw, LW Frazer McLaren, playing in his 298th game, had two goals as the Warriors bounced the Vancouver Giants, 6-1. . . . The game featured five fights. . . . The Warriors (25-13-4-4) have won four straight and are tied for third in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Giants (31-10-1-5) are tied for first place overall. . . . Vancouver RW Garet Hunt served the last game of a six-game suspension. . . .

In Prince Albert, C Max Brandl scored twice to help the Raiders to a 6-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Raiders (16-27-3-2) had lost seven of their last nine games. This victory lifted them into 10th place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Saskatoon Blades. . . . P.A. C Matt Robertson had a goal, his 21st, and an assist. He has 11 points in his last five games. . . . The Rebels (13-30-4-1) are last in the conference, 20 points out of a playoff spot. . . . LW Troy Ofukany had two goals fro Red Deer. . . . D Nathan Deck drew three assists for the Raiders. . . . The teams had split the first four games of the season series, with the visiting team winning each time. . . .

In Seattle, LW Ondrej Roman scored in the fourth round of the circus as the Spokane Chiefs beat the Thunderbirds, 5-4. . . . The Chiefs (32-9-1-3) had lost two in a row. They now are 5-0 versus Seattle this season. . . . The Chiefs are tied with the Vancouver Giants for first place overall. . . . The Thunderbirds (19-16-5-2) have lost three in a row. . . . Spokane G Kevin Armstrong stopped four shooters in the circus; Seattle’s Riku Helenius stopped Spokane’s first three shooters before Roman beat him. . . . F Judd Blackwater’s PP goal at 11:31 of the third period gave the Chiefs a 4-3 lead. . . . Seattle tied it on RW Bud Holloway’s PP goal five minutes later. It was Holloway’s 20th goal. . . . Spokane held a 42-27 edge in shots. . . . Seattle, with the WHL’s second-worst power play, was 3-for-8 on the PP; the Chiefs were 3-for-6.