Wednesday's highlights . . .

WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:

In Edmonton, RW Michael Stickland scored twice to give the Kootenay Ice a 2-1 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Stickland broke a scoreless tie at 11:12 of the third period and added insurance at 15:40. . . . That second goal turned out to be needed as LW Breitkreuz scored his 13^th goal at 19:16. . . . Stickland has 16 goals for the Ice (27-15-3-0), which has won four of five. . . . The Oil Kings (15-23-3-6) have lost four straight but, in today’s hockey lingo, actually are 2-3-0-2 in their last seven games. . . . Kootenay G Kris Lazaruk stopped 29 shots, six fewer than Edmonton’s Alex Archibald. . . . Edmonton, with just three healthy defencemen, lost D Cameron Cepek (shoulder) in the first period. . . . The Oil Kings moved F J.P. Szaszkiewicz and F Brent Henke back to defence and had D Mark Pysyk, the third player chosen in the 2007 bantam draft, in the lineup. . . . According to Jeff Bromley of the Kootenay NewsAdvertiser: “Tylan Stephens, one of the Ice’s top forwards all-around of late was a healthy scratch for off-ice/discipline issues.” . . .

In Chilliwack, the Bruins broke a 2-2 tie with three third-period goals and beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2. . . . The Bruins (21-19-3-1) had lost two in a row and now are sixth in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Thunderbirds (19-16-5-1) and the idle Kamloops Blazers. . . . Chilliwack LW Mark Santorelli drew four assists and pulled into a tie with Kelowna Rockets C Colin Long for the WHL points lead. Each has 69 points. . . . Chilliwack D Nick Holden broke a 2-2 tie with a PP goal, at 2:47 of the third period. He added his 11^th goal of the season two minutes later. . . . Bruins C Oscar Moller had a goal, his 26^th, and two helpers. . . . The Bruins had G Luke Siemens, a seventh-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, backing up starter Mark Friesen. That’s because Matt Esposito may be concussed after taking a shot off his mask a week ago in Kelowna. . . . The Bruins have released Czech D David Hoda, 18. The 10^th overall pick in the CHL’s 2007 import draft, he couldn’t get into the lineup on a regular basis. . . .

In Moose Jaw, D Ty Wishart’s second goal of the game, on a third-period power play, lifted the Warriors to a 5-4 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Warriors (24-13-4-4) have won three in a row. They are 3-0 versus the Raiders this season. . . . The Raiders (15-27-3-2) have lost five straight. . . . Prince Albert scored three straight third-period goals, in a span of 1:45, to lead 4-3. . . . C Riley Holzapfel, who also had two assists, tied it for Moose Jaw at 12:42 and Wishart won it at 14:25. . . . C Matt Robertson got his 20^th of the season for the Raiders. . . .

In Prince George, the Portland Winter Hawks snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Cougars 3-2 in a game that went to the circus. . . . Czech LW Radim Valchar tied the game at 1:17 of the third period and then was the only one of 10 shooters to have success in the circus. . . . The Cougars (14-29-1-1) had beaten the Winter Hawks 5-2 on Tuesday to end a six-game losing slide. P.G. is 14 points out of a playoff spot. . . . The Winter Hawks are 9-35-0-1. . . . Prince George got two goals from F Justin Maylan, a 16-year-old who came over from the Moose Jaw Warriors at the trade deadline. He gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead in the first period. . . . G Ian Curtis, who was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos, stopped 26 shots as he made his third straight start for the Cougars. . . . Portland G Kurtis Mucha stopped 28 shots. . . . The Cougars were without head coach Drew Schoneck, who was ill. Part-time assistant Brent Arsenault, an elementary school principal, joined assistant coach Wade Klippenstein behind the bench. . . . The Cougars lost RW Ryan Kowalski in the first period after a boarding major and game misconduct, and D Art Bidlevskii left in the second period with a suspected separated shoulder. . . . The Winter Hawks, with three defencemen hurt, had C Chris Francis playing on the back end. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Blades got a goal from D Sam Klassen in the 13^th round of the circus and beat the Vancouver Giants, 2-1. . . . The Blades (16-27-2-1) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Giants (31-9-1-5) had won two in a row. . . . With the Blades shooting first in each round, Saskatoon G Braden Holtby stopped Vancouver F Craig Cunningham to wrap it up. . . . Holtby made 11 saves in the shootout. . . . Saskatoon hit three posts in the circus and Vancouver hit two. . . . Vancouver G Tyson Sexsmith stopped 10 shooters but was beaten three times. . . . The Giants had the game’s first 12 shots but Holtby was solid. . . . Saskatoon freshman F Curtis Hamilton scored a PP goal at 14:44 of the first period. . . . Vancouver D Brent Regner answered with a PP goal 45 seconds into the third period. . . . Through OT, Vancouver held a 37-25 edge in shots. . . . Saskatoon RW Walker Wintoneak (shoulder) sat this one out. He was injured Tuesday on a check from Moose Jaw Warriors D Keaton Ellerby. That check resulted in a broken pane of glass. . . .

I stand to be corrected on this – and, please, don’t be afraid to do so if necessary – but I think the Saskatoon-Vancouver 13-round shootout is a new WHL record. I couldn’t find a category for shootouts in the WHL record book, but I know that two previous games went 12 rounds. The Portland Winter Hawks beat the visiting Kamloops Blazers 3-2 in the 12^th round on Oct. 1, 2006, and the visiting Everett Silvertips went 12 rounds to get past the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-4, on Dec. 27, 2006. . . . If you know of a game that went 12 or more rounds, please e-mail me at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca. . . .

In Spokane, LW Lukas Vartovnik broke a 1-1 tie at 12:04 of the third period to give the Everett Silvertips a 2-1 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Spokane is 31-9-1-3. . . . The Silvertips (25-20-0-2) have won five of their last six games. . . . Vartovnik, a Slovakian freshman, has seven goals. . . . Everett C Zach Hamill got the game’s first goal, at 5:25 of the first period. . . . Spokane LW Drayson Bowman tied it with his 30^th at 5:08 of the second. . . . Everett G Leland Irving stopped 39 shots, while Spokane’s Dustin Tokarski turned aside 20. . . . Spokane C Chris Bruton, just back from a three-game suspension, received a match penalty for attempt to injure as the game ended. That was for a punch that knocked Everett F Kyle Beach to the ice. He was down for a few minutes and left wearing a neck support. . . . The Chiefs maintain Beach started things by shoving Spokane C Mitch Wahl. . . . "I saw two punches -- one punch with a glove on and (another) punch with a glove on," Spokane head coach Bill Peters told Jessica Brown of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. "I'd be shocked if there's (a suspension on Bruton) from that -- absolutely shocked. Let's not kid ourselves, you talk about acting 101. You get knocked down, you get up, that's hockey." . . .

In Swift Current, RW Dale Weise scored three times and set up another as the Broncos whipped the Red Deer Rebels, 9-3. . . . Red Deer actually scored first in this one and then gave up seven straight goals, including six in a 12:26 span of the first period. . . . The Broncos (23-19-0-5) had lost two in a row. They are 4-0 versus Red Deer this season. . . . The Rebels (13-29-4-1) had won their previous two games. . . . Weise has 23 goals. . . . Swift Current D Jesse Dudas had just one assist but finished plus-5. On the other side of the coin, Red Deer D Justin Weller was minus-6. . . . The Broncos got two goals from RW Mike Brown and two assists from each of D Eric Doyle, C Justin Dowling, LW Erik Felde, D Derek Claffey and C David Stieler. . . . D Ryan Molle was back in the Swift Current lineup after missing time with a knee injury suffered while blocking a shot.