One night after the four lower-seeded teams opened the second round of the WHL playoffs with victories, sanity returned . . . or did it?
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In Swift Current, the Eastern Conference-champion Calgary Hitmen got four points from T.J. Galiardi as they dumped the Broncos 5-2 to even that series at 1-1. . . . They’ll play Game 3 in Calgary on Tuesday. . . . Galiardi, who didn’t get a point in the opener, moved back atop the postseason scoring race with 17 points. . . . He had two goals, the second one into an empty net, and two assists in this one. . . . Swift Current held a 40—34 edge in shots. . . . This season, Calgary is 41-0 when leading after two periods. . . . Calgary got three assists from F Brandon Kozun. . . . Calgary G Dan Spence stopped 38 shots. Spence picked up his 14th playoff victory, which ties him with Justin Pogge for second spot on Calgary’s list. Only Alexandre Fomitchev (25) has more postseason victories. . . . Attendance was 2,865. . . . Swift Current D Jesse Dudas, who suffered a broken wrist in the first round, has been fitted with a playing cast and hopes to be back on the ice before this series is over. . . .
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In Lethbridge, the Hurricanes blew a 4-0 third-period lead and then got an OT goal to beat the Kootenay Ice, 5-4, and even that series 1-1. . . . F Dwight King got the winner at 2:41 of sudden-death. . . . The Hurricanes led this one 4-0 with 12 minutes – yes, 12 minutes – to play in the third period. . . . The winner was King’s second goal of the game. . . . F Andrew Bailey scored twice for the Ice. . . . Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday in Cranbrook. . . . F Mitch Fadden gave the home team a 4-0 lead at 6:28 of the third. . . . Bailey (7:38), Steve Da Silva (10:54), Ben Maxwell (17:32) and Bailey (19:45, with G Kris Lazaruk on the bench) scored in short order to tie the game. . . . Attendance was 4,242. . . . D Mitch Versteeg was back in Lethbridge’s lineup after serving a one-game WHL suspension, a little something left over from the first-round series with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Fadden ended up with eight stitches after hitting his head on the ice in a fight with Ice F Michael Stickland. . . . Fadden and linemate Colton Sceviour were involved in scraps 29 seconds part midway through the third period and you can bet the Lethbridge coaching staff will be asking them what they were thinking about. . . .
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In Kennewick, Wash., the top-seeded Tri-City Americans got 22 saves from G Chet Pickard as they dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds to even that series at 1-1. . . . They’ll play Game 3 in Seattle on Tuesday. . . . The Americans scored all their goals on the power play, with three of them coming from LW Colton Yellow Horn, who led the WHL with 48 goals in the regular season. He has five goals and seven assists in six playoff games. . . . F Shaun Vey, who had two assists, had the other goal, opening the scoring at 3:54 of the first period. . . . Tri-City outshot the visitors, 36-22, including 11-4 in the third period. . . . Seattle was 0-for-7 on the PP; the Americans were 4-for-7. . . . Attendance was 4,069. . . . Seattle F Greg Scott was tossed with a kneeing major for a hit on Yellow Horn just 29 seconds into the game. . . . Yellow Horn told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald that he didn’t think there was any intent in the hit. “It was a collision and I got the worst of it,” Yellow Horn said. “At first I thought it was worse than it was. It was a quick pain right off the bat, but I was able to walk it off. I was grateful I was able to come back.” . . . Seattle head coach Rob Sumner told Fowler: “They had a five-minute power play right out front and we lost one of our top guys. Yellow Horn sells it that he’s injured, but he came back and played the back three minutes of the power play, then scores three goals.” . . . The Thunderbirds, who whipped the Americans 7-1 in the opener, were without D Thomas Hickey, who took a knee to the head in the second period of Game 1 and missed the rest of that game. The Thunderbirds say Hickey was cleared to play in Game 2 but that they chose to hold him out as a precautionary measure. This being the playoffs, I might take that with a grain of salt. . . .
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One series didn’t resume Saturday. The Vancouver Giants, up 1-0, and the Chiefs meet in Spokane on Sunday. And, yes, things are heating up. It seems that Vancouver agitator Garet Hunt and David Rutherford, who stirs the pot on behalf of the Chiefs, are doing their best to create some interest. “Some people would say it was kind of embarassing, to see him whooping and hollering out there,” Rutherford, who at one time was teammates with Hunt in Vancouver, told Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province. “If that’s his game, that’s what it takes to get him going, so be it. I don’t know...I don’t think Sean Avery goes to that point. We’re not worried about it. He was yelling in the warm-up. We know what stuff he’s going to pull. We’re used to it.” . . . According to Ewen: “For his part, Hunt declined comment.” . . .
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And, finally, for your Sunday reading pleasure, check out this gem from Terry Frei of espn.com.
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