Sunday . . .

SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Spokane, the Kelowna Rockets made it three victories in three nights as they beat the Chiefs, 2-1. . . . The Rockets are 7-0-1-1 in their last nine games. . . . The Chiefs had won 12 of their last 13. . . . Spokane rang one of a post in the game’s final minute. . . . Moments before that, Kelowna F Mikael Backlund hit a post with the Spokane goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . C Colin Long scored both of Kelowna’s goals. He has 27 on the season. . . . The Rockets are fourth in the Western Conference but now are just two points behind the Chiefs.
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In Kent, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds edged Vancouver 4-3, ending the Giants’ 10-game winning streak. . . . D Nick Ross gave the Giants a 3-2 lead with a PP goal late in the first period. . . . Seattle F Greg Scott got that one back on a second-period PP. . . . Seattle D Thomas Hickey got what turned out to be the winner at 13:31 of the second period with Vancouver about to be called on a delayed penalty. He finished with two goals and an assist. . . . The Giants are 46-5-0-3 overall and 23-4-0-1 on the road. . . . One of Seattle’s goals came from F Chris Cloud, who started the season with the Giants but lost out in the 20-year-old numbers game. . . . The Thunderbirds now are 9-3-0-1 in the ShoWare Center in Kent.
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In Kennewick, Wash., G Chet Pickard, who had left early the night before, stopped 26 shots to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 5-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Pickard was shaken up in a collision Saturday night and didn’t finish a 7-1 victory over visiting Seattle. . . . The Americans now have an eight-point lead over Spokane as the Western Conference’s second seed. The Chiefs hold three gamesin hand. . . . The Hurricanes went 2-2 on a U.S. swing. . . . “(Referee) Matt Kirk gave them every opportunity to get off to a good start,” Lethbridge head coach Michael Dyck told the Tri-City Herald’s Annie Fowler. “When you are shorthanded 10 of 20 minutes to start the game, you lose momentum.” . . . Among Lethbridge’s early penalties was a major and game misconduct to F Dwight King for a hit from behind on Tri-City F Kruise Reddick. That happened at 2:25 of the first period, but the Americans didn’t score on the ensuing PP. . . . Tri-City got two assists from F Mitch Fadden, who was acquired from Lethbridge early in the season. . . . D Eric Mestery, who went the other way in that deal, has beenn out for almost a month with a concussion. . . . Pickard earned his 99th regular-season victory. . . . Tri-City was without D Mitch McColm (head), while Lethbridge was without D Ben Wright (charleyhorse).
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In Saskatoon, the Swift Current Broncos scored a 2-1 victory over the Blades. . . . Saskatoon had an apparent goal disallowed in the game’s final three minutes. F Adam Chorneyko put the puck in the net but referee Brett Montsion ruled that Saskatoon F Charles Inglis had interfered with Broncos G Travis Yonkman. . . . “I disagree with it,” Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken told Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “Everything happened quickly. The explanation was simply that Inglis remained on top of (Yonkman), the puck came loose and we got it int he open net. When a player is pushed in . . . (Inglis) was going hard to the net that’s part of the game.” . . . Inglis wasn’t penalized for goaltender interference. . . . The Blades got the game’s first goal, from the red-hot Walker Wintoneak, but the Broncos got goals from F Matt Tassone and Taylor Vause, on the PP. . . . It was Saskatoon second loss in 15 games.
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In Calgary, D Paul Postma scored his 20th goal of the season to help the Hitmen to a 4-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Postma holds the franchise record for goals in a season by a Calgary defenceman. He has goals in five straight games, which also is a franchise record. . . . Postma is on a 13-game point streak, too. . . . Calgary F Brett Sonne scored twice, the third straight game in which he has done that. . . . The Hitmen broke a 2-2 third-period tie with goals 29 seconds part from Sonne and Postma. . . . Calgary G Martin Jones stopped 18 shots. He has a WHL-high 35 victories. . . . Attendance was 10,466.
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In Chilliwack, G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 30 shots to help the Everett Silvertips to a 3-1 victory over the Bruins. . . . The Silvertips closed to within two points of the fifth-place Kamloops Blazers in the Western Conference. . . . Everett led 2-0 on second-period goals by Kellan Tochkin and Shane Harper, his 26th, before the Bruins got a PP goal from D Brandon Manning at 4:30 of the third. . . . Everett D Graham Potuer put it away with an empty-netter at 18:29. . . . The Bruins have lost six in a row and are 10 points out of a playoff spot with 16 games to play.