Saturday, February 5, 2011

SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, the Raiders built up a 4-1 lead and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . D Jordan Rowley had a goal and two assists for the Raiders, while D James Bettauer had one of each. . . . The Maxwell boys, Mitch and Russell, each had a goal and an assist for Lethbridge. . . . Raiders G Eric Williams stopped 33 shots. . . . Attendance was 2,433. . . . The Raiders were 2-for-5 on the PP. . . . Lethbridge again was without injured F Austin Fyten. . . . The victory lifted the Raiders into a tie with the Swift Current Broncos for eighth place in the 12-team Eastern Conference. . . . The Hurricanes, who have lost five in a row, are 10th, but just two points out of eighth. . . . The Raiders visit the 11th-place Regina Pats tonight, while the Hurricanes meet the conference-leading Blades in Saskatoon. . . .
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In Swift Current, F Linden Vey had two goals and an assist to help the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 6-1 victory over the Broncos. . . . Swift Current has lost eight in a row. . . . Vey, who has 36 goals, leads the WHL with 86 points, three more than Spokane Chiefs F Tyler Johnson. . . . F Tyler Pitlick added two goals for the Tigers. He has 22 goals. . . . The Tigers were 3-for-5 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 2,207. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 27 shots. He gave up the game’s first goal when F Taylor Vause got his 15th on the PP at 1:43 of the first period. . . . The Tigers are fourth in the conference, a point behind the Kootenay Ice and three ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Broncos are at home to Brandon tonight, while the Tigers are at home to Moose Jaw. . . .
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In Brandon, the Wheat Kings went 4-for-6 on the PP and beat the Regina Pats 7-4. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone, F Michael Ferland and F Matt MacKay each had a goal and two assists. . . . Brandon F Shayne Wiebe scored his 30th of the season. . . . Regina F Jordan Weal got his 27th goal and added an assist. . . . Attendance was 3,898. . . . Brandon D Jordan Fransoo took a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct at 17:33 of the third period. . . . The victory has the Wheat Kings in seventh place in the conference, four points behind the Edmonton Oil Kings and a point ahead of Prince Albert and Swift Current. . . . The Wheat Kings are in Swift Current tonight. . . . Regina is at home to Prince Albert tonight. . . .
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In Calgary, F Andrej Stastny scored in the shootout to give the Vancouver Giants a 4-3 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Vancouver forced OT by erasing a 3-1 deficit. F Michael Burns scored at 17:10 of the second period and F Brendan Gallagher, with his 36th, tied it at 16:33 of the third. . . . Gallagher scored twice in regulation. . . . Vancouver F Spencer Bennett and F Brendan Rowinski each had two assists. . . . Vancouver D Darren Bestland took an elbowing major and game misconduct at 7:59 of the third period. . . . F James Henry (knee) returned to the Vancouver lineup for the first time since being injured on Dec. 27. . . . Attendance was 10,463. . . . Vancouver now holds a three-point lead over the Kelowna Rockets atop the B.C. Division. . . . The Giants visit the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook tonight, and the crowd just may top 3,000. . . .
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In Red Deer, F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins struck for three goals and added three assists, leading the Rebels to an 8-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Nugent-Hopkins has 19 goals and a WHL-leading 60 assists. He is third in the points race, seven behind Medicine Hat F Linden Vey. . . . Red Deer F Andrej Kudrna had a goal and five assists, while F Byron Froese had three assists. . . . Red Deer F John Persson scored twice, giving him 26 goals. . . . The Rebels were 5-for-13 on the PP; the Warriors were 0-for--6. . . . Red Deer scored its first four goals on the PP. . . . The Warriors took 92 of the 140 penalty minutes doled out by referees Ryan Thompson and Colin Watt. Included in the penalty totals were 20 roughing minors. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 33 shots. He lost the attempt for his 11th shutout of the season when F Brett Lyon scored his fourth goal at 17:30 of the third period. . . . Attendance was 5,086. . . . The Rebels moved within three points of conference-leading Saskatoon, but the Blades hold three games in hand. . . .
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In Kamloops, F Jordan DePape broke a 1-1 tie at 8:10 of the third period to give the Blazers a 2-1 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . DePape scored nine seconds after Chilliwack D Brandon Manning was hit with a boarding major for a check on Kamloops D Austin Madaisky. . . . Kamloops D Brandon Underwood (knee) left in the first and didn’t return. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Chilliwack. It will be the third game between these teams in a week. Kamloops won the first two games. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore stopped 33 shots in a tremendous performance. . . . Attendance was 4,287. . . . The Blazers were 2-for-10 on the PP; the Bruins were 0-for-6. . . . The Blazers are eighth in the 10-team Western Conference, two points ahead of Seattle. The Bruins slipped into the basement, a point behind Seattle and three in arrears of Kamloops. Chillliwack holds two games in hand on Seattle and four on Kamloops, but has lost its last seven games. . . .
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In Prince George, the Cougars opened up a 4-0 lead and went on to a 4-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Kelowna had a seven-game winning streak snapped. . . . F Troy Bourke had a goal, his 13th, and an assist for the Cougars, who got 25 saves from G Ty Rimmer. . . . D Martin Marincin got his 13th goal for the Cougars. . . . Attendance was 1,916. . . . The Rockets were without F Mitchell Callahan (head), who was injured in Wednesday’s 6-4 victory over visiting Chilliwack. . . . The teams meet in Prince George again tonight. . . . The Cougars are sixth, a point ahead of Everett. . . . The Rockets slipped two points back of the B.C. Division-leading Vancouver Giants. . . .
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In Portland, the Winterhawks scored one goal on a penalty shot and added two empty-netters in beating the Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-2. . . . Portland F Nino Niederreiter scored twice, giving him 24. His second goal, at 15:44 of the first period, came via a penalty shot and gave the Winterhawks a 3-0 lead. . . . F Dylan Wruck got his 31st goal for the Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton G Jon Groenheyde stopped 34 shots, four more than Portland’s Mac Carruth. . . . Attendance was 5,023. . . . Edmonton, which plays at Everett tonight, remains sixth in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of Brandon. . . . The Winterhawks lead the Western Conference and are four points up on the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Americans are in Portland tonight. . . .
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In Everett, the Seattle Thunderbirds snapped a nine-game losing skid by scoring the game’s last three goals to beat the Silvertips, 3-2, in overtime. . . . Everett had won four in a row. . . . F Tyler Maxwell gave Everett a 2-0 lead with his 36th goal, on the PP, at 8:31 of the second. . . . F Burke Gallimore scored his 19th, just 44 seconds into the third period to get Seattle within one. . . . Seattle F Marcel Noebels forced OT at 11:31 of the third and won it with his 20th of the season at 1:42 of extra time. . . . Noebels also had an assist as he finished plus-3. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 32 shots. . . . Seattle had veteran D Ryan Button and D Travis Bobbee back in the lineup. Both had been out with shoulder injuries. . . . The victory lifted Seattle out of the conference basement, one point ahead of Chilliwack. . . . The Thunderbirds are at home to Spokane tonight, while Edmonton is in Everett. The Silvertips are seventh in the converence, a point behind Prince George. . . .
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In Kennewick, Wash., F Brendan Shinnimin scored twice to help the Tri-City Americans to a 5-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Shinnimin, who is riding a 21-game point streak, has 24 goals. He scored twice in the second period to give the Americans a 4-1 lead. . . . F Adam Hughesman added his 35th goal and also had an assist for the Americans, who got two assists from C Carter Ashton. . . . The game was 1-1 early in the second period when D Paul Sohor, with his third, and Shinnimin scored 20 seconds apart to give the home side a 3-1 edge. . . . Tri-City G Drew Owsley stopped 28 shots. . . . Spokane remains without injured G James Reid. . . . In his absence, G Mac Engel stopped 26 shots. . . . The Americans are 4-1-1 against the Chiefs this season. . . . Attendance wsa 5,807. . . . The victory allowed the Americans to move past the Chiefs and into second in the U.S. Division. The Americans, who have won four in a row and eight of 10, are four points behind Portland and hold four games in hand. . . . As luck would have it, Tri-City visits Portland tonight. . . . The Chiefs, having lost two in a row, will visit the Thunderbirds.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Three minors:
Prince Albert D Antoine Corbin
Edmonton F Klarc Wilson
Seattle D Travis Bobbee
One major:
Brandon D Jordan Fransoo

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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