Sunday . . .

SUNDAY:
In Kennewick, Wash., the Saskatoon Blades won the battle of conference leaders, beating the host Tri-City Americans, 6-4, behind three goals by F Gaelan Patterson. . . . The Blades (28-7-1-3) have won five in a row and are 4-0 in their swing through the U.S. Division. . . . Saskatoon now is first overall, with 60 points, one more than the Americans (29-10-0-1), who are 7-1-0-1 in their last nine outings. . . . Patterson and F Kruise Reddick of the Americans exchanged goals, leaving the teams tied 2-2 after one period. . . . The Blades then scored the next three goals, two of them in the second period, to take control. . . . Patterson, who hadn’t scored since Dec. 12, enjoyed his first WHL three-goal game. . . . F Derek Hulak had a goal and two assists for the Blades, who got three assists from F Walker Wintoneak. . . . Patterson also had an assist. . . . Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 20 shots. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin drew three assists for the Americans. . . . Tri-City starter Drew Owsley stopped 11 of 15 shots before leaving at 15:56 of the second period. Alexander Pechurskiy finished up, stopping nine of 10. . . . Saskatoon was 2-for-8 on the PP; the Americans went 3-for-6. . . . Attendance was 3,797.
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In Vancouver, D Kevin Connauton and F Craig Cunningham each scored twice to lead the Giants to a 6-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Connauton, a 19-year-old freshman who left Western Michigan to join the Giants, set a franchise record for goals by a defenceman in one season. He has 19, one more than Jon Blum scored in 2007-08. . . . Cunningham, who has 22 goals, also drew two assists as he moved into a tie for the WHL scoring lead with F Brandon Kozun of the Calgary Hitmen. They each have 63 points. . . . Kozun is with Canada’s national team at the World Junior Championship. . . . The Giants (25-14-1-2) had lost two straight games at home. . . . This was Vancouver’s last game at Pacific Coliseum until March 12. They have to vacate the premises for the Olympic Winter Games. . . . The Giants to have six home games scheduled between now and then, but they will be played at the Langley Events Centre. . . . The Rockets are 19-21-2-0. . . . Freshman F Shane McColgan scored twice for Kelowna. He has 18 goals. He also has 42 points, a single-season franchise record for 16-year-olds. F Marty Flichel set the previous record in 1992-93. . . . Attendance was 9,610. . . . The Giants were 3-for-7 on the PP; the Rockets, with 17 skaters dressed, including three recalls, were 1-for-6. . . . The Rockets are trying to trade D/F Curt Gogol. GM Bruce Hamilton, who is in Saskatoon at the World Junior Championship, told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier: “He was having some issues with the coaching staff on the route we were going. He felt he wasn’t being used in the way he wanted to be, which is disappointing for us because guys like him are hard to find. It’s a loss to our team, but, at the same time, it was starting to be a distraction to our team and that’s not what we wanted. If we get to the point where we can make a deal that works for the Kelowna Rockets, that’s what we’ll be worrying about.” Gogol now has missed three games. “It’s been going on for a while and now it’s been dealt with and we’re trying to move on,” said Hamilton. “Not many guys leave our organization and it’s disappointing.” . . . The Giants lost F Milan Kytnar in the first period after a check by Kelowna D Tyson Barrie. Kytnar, who didn’t return, appeared to suffer a shoulder injury. Kytnar had played five games since missing eight with a shoulder problem. . . . The Giants left immediately after the game for Jasper, Alta., where they will do some team building before opening a four-game swing in Red Deer on Wednesday.
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In Calgary, it wasn’t quite Switzerland over Russia, but . . . the Lethbridge Hurricanes scored four times on 13 shots and beat the Hitmen, 4-2. . . . Lethbridge G Linden Rowat, who had been out since Oct. 30 with an ankle problem, stopped 35 shots for the winners. . . . Lethbridge D Brennan Yadlowski broke a 2-2 tie with his second goal of the season, on the PP, just 43 seconds into the third period. . . . F Graham Hood iced it wiht an empty-netter at 19:07. . . . The Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead into the second period on goals by F Cam Braes and Hood. . . . Calgary tied it in the second on F Joel Broda’s 21st goal of the season, on the PP, and F Riley Burgart’s first goal this season. . . . The Hitmen are 27-11-1-1, while the Hurricanes now are 13-22-3-1. . . . Attendance was 7.236. . . . In fairness to the Hurricanes, they also beat the Hitmen on Nov. 10. That time, in Lethbridge, the score was 3-2.
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In Edmonton, G Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots to help the Red Deer Rebels to a 3-0 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . The shutout was the second of the season for Kuemper and the fifth of his career. . . . It was the fifth time this season that Edmonton has been blanked. . . . D Simon Witt’s second goal of the season, at 16:05 of the first period, stood up as the winner. . . . Red Deer later added PP goals from D Alex Petrovic, his fourth, and F Jordie Deagle, his third. . . . The Rebels, who beat the Oil Kings 2-1 in a shootout in Red Deer on Saturday, have won five of six and now are 22-15-0-3. . . . The Oil Kings (10-21-4-6) have lost five straight. . . . Edmonton G Cam Lanigan stopped 28 shots. . . . Attendance was 3,985. . . . Edmonton F Michael Burns received an elbowing major and game misconduct after a first-period altercation with Red Deer F Landon Ferraro.
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In Moose Jaw, F Brandon Rowinski scored three times to spark the Warriors to a 6-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . It was the third time in a week that the Warriors (20-15-1-2) had beaten the Raiders (20-20-1-2), who now have lost five in a row. . . . The victory allowed Moose Jaw to move into a tie with Prince Albert for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Warriors hold five games in hand. . . . Rowinski, who scored two PP goals in the first period and added an even-strength score in the third, has 23 goals. . . . Attendance was 2,078. . . . The Warriors were 3-for-9 on the PP; the Raiders went 1-for-3. . . . Moose Jaw G Jeff Bosch stopped 35 shots, five fewer than Prince Albert’s Dalyn Flette. . . . The Warriors will be watching for news out of Saskatoon after D Travis Hamonic went down with what appeared to be a shoulder/collarbone injury in Team Canada’s 6-1 semifinal victory over Switzerland on Sunday. Hamonic was injured in the game’s last minute when he was hit from behind by Swiss forward Jeffrey Fuglister. . . . TSN has reported that Hamonic has a separated shoulder, which could mean anywhere from six weeks to longer.
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In Portland, F Byron Froese scored at 18:44 of the third period to give the Everett Silvertips a 2-1 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . Everett (21-16-2-1) took a 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the first period when F Clayton Cumiskey, acquired last week from the Edmonton Oil Kings, scored his second goal of the season. . . . The Winterhawks (25-16-1-1) pulled even on F Brad Ross’s 22nd of the season at 12:56 of the second. . . . Ross now has goals in five straight games. . . . Everett G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 32 shots, while Portland’s Mac Carruth blocked 30. . . . Attendance at Memorial Coliseum was 1,669.
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In Prince George, the Kamloops Blazers shrugged off an early 2-0 deficit and beat the Cougars, 5-2. . . . D Zac Stebner, pressed into duty as a forward, and C C.J. Stretch each scored twice for Kamloops. . . . F Alex Rodgers, 20 seconds into the first period, and D Dallas Jackson, at 2:43 on the PP, gave the Cougars an early 2-0 lead. . . . Stebner tied it with two second-period goals. . . . The Blazers (17-19-2-3) have lost 6-4 to the Cougars on Saturday. . . . The Cougars (9-29-1-1) were trying to win three in a row for the first time this season. . . . Attendance was 1,968. . . . Kamloops G Kurtis Mucha, who didn’t make it out of the first period Saturday, stopped 28 shots. . . . Prince George G Alex Wright made 35 saves. . . . Cougars G Hudson Stremmel was unavailable after taking a shot to the head during Saturday’s pregame warmup. The Cougars had Marcus Beesley, who plays for the major midget Cariboo Cougars, on the bench backing up Wright.
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In Kent, Wash., the Spokane Chiefs erased a 2-0 deficit beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds, 3-2. . . . Seattle (13-22-2-4) led 2-0 in the first period on goals by F Sena Acolatse and F Charles Wells. . . . The Thunderbirds have lost five in a row. . . . .The Chiefs (23-13-3-0) won it with three second-period goals, with F Kenton Miller breaking a 2-2 tie with his seven goal of hte season at 18:48. . . . Spokane F Mitch Wahl had one assist and now has 12 points over his last eight games. . . . The Chiefs have won five of six meetings with the Thunderbirds this season. . . . Spokane G Michael Tadjdeh stopped 37 shots. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 25 shots. . . . Attendance was 3,115.