Thursday, April 2, 2015

Wheaties take out defending champs . . . Pats, Rockets complete sweeps . . . Big night in P.G.



WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:

In Edmonton, F John Quenneville scored at 8:58 of the second OT to give the Brandon Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Brandon won the series, 4-1. . . . The Oil Kings are the defending Memorial Cup champions. They also had won three straight Eastern Conference playoff titles. . . . The Wheat Kings will meet the Regina Pats in the second round. That series will begin April 10 and 11 in Brandon. . . . Quenneville, who is from Edmonton, won it with his third goal of the series. . . . Brandon F Tim McGauley opened the scoring at 14:10 of the first period, on a PP. . . . The Oil Kings tied it on a goal from F Ben Carroll, at 10:05 of the second, and took the lead when F Brett Pollock scored at 12:55, on a PP. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy scored at 5:01 of the third period and that’s the goal that forced OT. . . . Wheat Kings G Jordan Papirny was terrific in making 42 saves, 18 more than Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry. . . . Brandon was 1-for-1 on the PP; Edmonton was 1-for-6. . . . When the Oil Kings look back at this game, this will point a finger at a PP unit that failed to scored during 3:12 of 5-on-3 play. . . . McGauley’s goal was Brandon’s sixth PP score in the five games. . . . The Wheat Kings were without F Morgan Klimchuk for a second straight game. . . . Klimchuk and D Ryan Pilon, whose ice-time was limited in Game 4 and the first half of Game 5, can use the time off. . . . F Mads Eller returned to Edmonton’s lineup after a one-game absence, and D Blake Orban, who left in the third period of Game 4 after taking a puck to the face, also played. Orban needed eight stitches to repair the damage. . . . Attendance was 4,253. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun has a game story right here.

In Swift Current, G Daniel Wapple stopped 24 shots and F Adam Brooks had two goals as the Regina Pats beat the Broncos, 4-0. . . . The Pats won the series 4-0 and will play the Brandon Wheat Kings in the second round. . . . This will be Regina’s first trip to the second round since the spring of 2007. . . . The last time Regina swept a playoff series? In 1998, the Pats swept the Moose Jaw Warriors from a first-round series. . . . The shutout was Wapple’s first this season and his first career playoff shutout. . . . Brooks scored the game’s first goal, shorthanded, at 11:53 of the second period. . . . He also had a shorthanded score in Game 3. . . . Brooks added his second goal at 15:16 of the second for a 2-0 lead. . . . F Patrick D’Amico had a goal and an assist for the Pats. . . . Broncos G Landon Bow stopped 37 shots. . . . Regina was 1-for-4 on the PP; Swift Current was 0-for-3. . . . Swift Current D Dillon Heatherington was back in action. He took the warmup for Game 3 on Tuesday but illness prevented him from playing, even though he stayed on the bench. . . . The Broncos were without F Jake DeBrusk, who likely has a concussion after taking a hit from Regina D James Hilsendager in Game 3. Hilsendager, who wasn’t penalized, was hit with a TBD suspension yesterday, so didn’t play in Game 4. . . . Attendance was 2,523.

In Cranbrook, F Connor Rankin scored three times before the second period was 13 minutes old and the Calgary Hitmen went on to a 7-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Hitmen lead the series 3-1 and get their first opportunity to end it at home on Friday. The game will be televised by Shaw. . . . Rankin opened the scoring 1:12 into the first period with his second goal of the series. His second goal, at 3:49 of the second, gave Calgary a 3-1 lead. He completed the hat trick with a PP goal at 12:56 of the second, as Calgary took a 5-1 lead. . . . F Adam Tambellini, who scored three times, including in OT, in Game 3, had an assist on each of Rankin’s goals. Tambellini also scored his fifth goal of the series, this one an empty-netter. In the four games to date, he has nine points. . . . Calgary F Jake Virtanen had two assists, while D Travis Sanheim had a goal and an assist. . . . Calgary G Brendan Burke stopped 28 shots in going the distance. In each of Calgary’s first two victories, head coach Mark French had changed goaltenders in mid-stream. . . . Ice G Wyatt Hoflin turned aside 34 shots. . . . Calgary was 1-for-6 on the PP; the Ice was 0-for-5. . . . F Jon Martin and F Zak Zborosky were among the Ice’s scratches. . . . D Jake Bean remains out of Calgary’s lineup. . . . Attendance was 2,147, an increase of 21 from Game 3.

In Red Deer, G Rylan Toth stopped 34 shots to lead the Rebels to a 2-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Medicine Hat holds a 2-1 lead in the series. They’ll play Game 4 tonight in Red Deer. . . . Game 5 is scheduled for Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . . The teams have combined for seven goals in three games. . . . Last night, the Rebels scored the game’s first two goals. . . . F Scott Feser opened the scoring at 12:10 of the first period. . . . F Wyatt Johnson upped the lead to 2-0 at 8:34 of the third. . . . The Tigers got a goal from F Cole Sanford at 11:53, but weren’t able to pull even. . . . Tigers G Marek Langhamer stopped 29 shots. . . . Medicine Hat was 0-for-4 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-for-2. . . . Bob Ridley, the long-time radio voice of the Tigers, called his 401st playoff game last night. That includes 20 Memorial Cup games. . . . Attendance was 5,371.

In Spokane, F Jake Mykitiuk scored in the second OT to give the Everett Silvertips a 2-1 victory over the Chiefs. . . . The Silvertips now lead the series, 2-1. They’ll play Friday in Spokane and Saturday in Everett. . . . Mykitiuk, who scored four goals in 40 regular-season games, finished off a 3-on-2 break to win it at 2:07 of the second OT. . . . The Chiefs drew first blood when F Adam Helewka scored his third goal of the series at 14:19 of the first period. . . . Everett F Brayden Low forced OT with a goal 52 seconds into the third period. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 45 shots, nine more than Spokane’s Garret Hughson. . . . Each team was 0-for-4 on the PP. . . . The Silvertips were without D Ben Betker, who suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 2. But they did get back D Tristen Pfeifer, who hadn’t played since Feb. 27 because of an undisclosed injury. . . . Attendance was 3,624. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has a game story right here.

In Kennewick, Wash., F Gage Quinney scored on Kelowna’s 71st shot to give the Rockets a 5-4 victory in OT over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Rockets won the series, 4-0, and now await the winner of a series between the Victoria Royals and Prince George Cougars. . . . Tri-City G Eric Comrie stopped 66 shots. . . . “We expect nothing less (from Comrie),” Kelowna D Madison Bowey told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. “He stood on his head for most of the series and he always gives his team
a chance to win, and he did just that. Kudos to him for hanging in there
and playing every 60 minutes to the fullest and to his best ability. He’s
a great goalie, for sure.” . . . Quinney’s first goal of the series came at 18:32 of the first OT period. . . . The Americans led 2-0 and 4-1 in this one. . . . The Rockets tied it on two goals by Bowey, at 18:13 of the second period, on a PP, and 37 seconds into the third period, and one from F Rourke Chartier, at 18:49 of the second. . . . That was Chartier’s second goal of the game and fourth of the series. . . . Bowey’s second goal tied the game 4-4. . . . Kelowna was 1-for-7 on the PP; Tri-City was 0-for-5. . . . The Rockets held a 15-0 edge in shots halfway through the first period. . . . D Dylan Coghlan scored the game’s first goal on Tri-City’s first shot, at 11:28 of the first period. . . . D Riley Stadel and F Nick Merkley each had two assists for Kelowna. . . . Coghlan and F Tyler Sandhu each had a goal and two assists for the Americans, with F Brian Williams adding two assists. . . . Kelowna G Jackson Whistle was gone after surrendering four goals on 19 shots. He left at 17:57 of the second after F Beau McCue’s shorthanded goal gave the home side a 4-1 lead. . . . Michael Herringer relieved Whistle and stopped all 11 shots he faced. . . . Comrie, 19, is likely to be assigned by the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets to the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps. . . . Kelowna F Chance Braid and Tri-City F Max James were tossed for fighting just four seconds into the first period. Chances are there will be suspensions from that situation. . . . The Americans scratched F Justin Gutierrez. He may be concussed after taking a hit to the head from Kelowna F Tyson Baillie during the first period of Game 3 on Tuesday. The hit went unpenalized. . . . Attendance was 2,819.

In Prince George, the Cougars scored the game’s first three goals and went on to a 4-2 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Victoria leads the series, 2-1. . . . They’ll play Game 4 in Prince George tonight. Game 5 is scheduled for Victoria on Saturday night. . . . This was the first playoff game in Prince George since the spring of 2011. It was the Cougars’ first playoff victory since 2007 when they got to the Western Conference final. . . . F Chase Witala opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 13:23 of the first period. . . . F Jari Erricson, on the PP, and D Sam Ruopp added goals in the first half of the second. . . . The Royals got to within one before the period ended on a PP goal by F Tyler Soy, at 13:22, and F Logan Fisher’s goal at 14:06. . . . Prince George F Brad Morrison provided insurance with a goal at 6:06 of the third. . . . Ruopp and Erricson each had an assist. . . . Each team was 1-for-4 on the PP. . . . Cougars G Ty Edmonds stopped 22 shots, 16 fewer than Victoria G Coleman Vollrath. . . .  Attendance was 4,202.
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A scoring change means that Kootenay F Tim Bozon didn’t tie an Ice single-game playoff record on Tuesday night. Originally, Bozon was credited with six points, including two goals, in the Ice’s 8-7 OT loss to the visiting Calgary Hitmen. That would have tied F Jaedon Descheneau’s franchise record set a year ago. However, a scoring change on the Ice’s seventh goal resulted in Bozon losing an assist. Ironically, the assist was given to Descheneau.
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