Friday, February 10, 2017

Thunderbirds fly into U.S. lead . . . Pats' streak now at 10 . . . 'Cane train rolls past Raiders


The Prince Albert Raiders revealed on Thursday that F Jordy Stallard, 19, won’t play again this season after undergoing shoulder surgery on Monday. On Friday, the Raiders said that F Carson Miller also has had shoulder surgery and his season is over. As well, F Drew Warkentine is out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury that “will likely keep him out for the remainder of the season.” . . . Warkentine, from Prince Albert, was injured during a 3-2 loss to the host Medicine Hat Tigers on Wednesday. He had two goals and four assists in 32 games and had only recently returned from another injury. . . . Miller, from Yorkton, Sask., turned 17 on Friday. He had seven goals and 12 assists in 46 games as a freshman. He was a first-round selection in the 2015 WHL bantam draft.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:

At Brandon, G Logan Thompson stopped 34 shots, 18 of them in the first period, as the Wheat Kings beat the Everett Silvertips, 2-1. . . . The Wheat Kings took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals from F Rylan
LOGAN THOMPSON
Bettens (4), at 2:06, and F Tyler Coulter (24), on a PP, at 19:24. . . . The Silvertips got to within a goal when F Eetu Tuulola (12) scored at 4:31 of the third period. . . . Everett G Mario Petit stopped 27 shots. . . . Brandon was 1-2 on the PP; Everett was 1-5. . . . This was Game 1 of Everett’s six-game East Division swing. To prepare, they visited Souris, the hometown of general manager Garry Davidson, on Thursday where they curled and walked the famous Swinging Bridge. . . . The Wheat Kings, who issued a news release earlier in the week saying they had been hit by the mumps, dressed 16 skaters, two under the maximum. F Caiden Daley, F Reid Duke and F Cole Reinhardt are ill, while F Tanner Kaspick and F Linden McCorrister have undisclosed injuries. . . . D Noah Juulsen and D Lucas Skrumeda both returned to Everett’s lineup. . . . The Silvertips have seven Manitobans on their roster; five of them were in the lineup. . . . The Wheat Kings (27-20-7) have points in three straight (2-0-1). They hold down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot and are five points behind the third-place Swift Current Broncos in the East Division. . . . The Silvertips (31-12-10) slipped to second in the U.S. Division, a point behind the Seattle Thunderbirds. Everett holds one game in hand. . . . Announced attendance: 4,866.
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At Calgary, F Mark Rassell scored three times to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Rassell, who is from Calgary, has 26 goals, including his first WHL hat trick. . . . The Hitmen
MARK RASSELL
actually led this one 2-0 before the game was three minutes old. . . . D Jaydan Gordon scored his first goal of the season at 1:45. It was his second career goal and came in his 154th game. . . . F Tristen Nielsen added his second goal of the season at 2:51. . . . The Tigers tied it on a pair of PP goals from Rassell, at 6:16 and 13:48, then took the lead when D Jordan Henderson scored his fifth goal at 5:53 of the second period. . . . F Zach Fischer added insurance with No. 28 at 10:19. . . . Rassell completed his hat trick at 6:03 of the third period. . . . F Matt Bradley (26) and D Clayton Kirichenko (9) also scored for the Tigers, who got three assists from F Max Gerlach. . . . F Steve Owre and F Chad Butcher each added two assists for the winners, with Kirichenko and Henderson getting one apiece. . . . The Tigers got 19 saves from G Nick Schneider. . . . Calgary starter Trevor Martin allowed three goals on 16 shots in 25:53. Kyle Dumba finished up, stopping 10 of 14 shots in 34:07. . . . Medicine Hat was 3-5 on the PP; Calgary was 0-1. . . . The Tigers (39-16-1) have won three in a row. They lead the Central Division by six points over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Hitmen (19-26-9) have lost three straight and are three points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 6,560.
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At Edmonton, G Jordan Hollett stopped 23 shots as the Regina Pats skated to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . With the victory, the Pats became the first WHL team this season to clinch a
JORDAN HOLLETT
playoff spot. . . . Hollett, who made his 12th start of the season, usually backs up Tyler Brown. Hollett improved his record to 11-0-1. . . . F Nicholas Bowman (7) gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 6:07 of the first period. . . . The Pats then scored the next three goals. . . . F Wyatt Sloboshan (8) tied it at 12:43, with F Filip Ahl getting his 23rd at 14:29. D Dawson Davidson made it 3-1 at 6:29 of the second period. . . . Edmonton D Conner McDonald’s fifth goal got Edmonton back to within a goal at 17:55. . . . Davidson and McDonald both started this season with the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Regina F Nick Henry ran his goal streak to five games with No. 26 at 7:19. . . . D Connor Hobbs completed the scoring with his 24th goal — he leads WHL defencemen in goals — at 17:00. . . . Hobbs also had an assist. . . . Regina F Sam Steel, the WHL’s scoring leader, picked up one assist, giving him 97 points. Regina F Adam Brooks, who is second to Steel with 91 points, also had an assist. . . . Edmonton G Patrick Dea stopped 34 shots. . . . Regina was 1-2 on the PP; Edmonton was 0-4. . . . Edmonton D Will Warm didn’t play after being hit with a three-game suspension after he took a charging major and game misconduct against the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday. Swift Current F Lane Pederson, who was on the receiving end of that hit, was scratched by the Broncos last night in Red Deer. . . . F Jeff de Wit was back in Regina’s lineup after serving a two-game suspension. . . . Prior to the game, the Oil Kings added a pair of defencemen to their roster — Matthew Robertson and Jayden Platz. . . . Robertson, a first-round selection in the 2016 WHL bantam draft, is the younger brother of Oil Kings F Tyler Robertson. Matthew had five goals and 11 assists in 26 games with the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings. . . . Platz had seven assists in seven games with the Northern Alberta X-Treme prep team. He was a second-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Robertson played against Regina, while Platz didn’t. . . . Regina swept the season series, 4-0-0. . . . The Pats (39-6-7) have won 10 straight games. They lead the overall standings by six points over the Medicine Hat Tigers. Regina also has four games in hand. . . . The Oil Kings (18-32-4) have lost 16 in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 11,833.
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At Kelowna, F Nolan Foote scored three times and G Brodan Salmon recorded the shutout as the Rockets dumped the Vancouver Giants, 6-0. . . . Foote, whose father, Adam, is a former NHL
NOLAN FOOTE
defenceman, has 14 goals in his freshman season. His brother, Cal, a defenceman, is a teammate in Kelowna. . . . Nolan, who won’t turn 17 until Nov. 29, won’t be eligible for the NHL draft until 2019. . . . F Erik Gardiner opened the scoring with his third goal, on a PP, at 5:23 of the first period. His brother, Reid, drew the secondary assist on the goal. . . . Foote scored the next two goals, both on the PP, at 7:21 of the first and 4:17 of the second. . . . F Leif Mattson scored twice for Kelowna, giving him five goals, with Foote completing the hat trick at 2:36 of the third. . . . The Rockets got two assists form F Kole Lind. . . . Salmond stopped 22 shots in record his second shutout this season and the second of his career. . . . Vancouver G Ryan Kubic stopped 50 shots. . . . The Rockets were 3-7 on the PP; the Giants were 0-6. . . . The Rockets have won 22 straight from the Giants in Kelowna, dating to March 19, 2011. . . . F Bartek Bison made his debut with the Giants after being acquired from the Prince George Cougars a month ago. An 18-year-old from Amsterdam, Netherlands, he had been sidelined with a brain injury since Dec. 3. . . . Kelowna (31-20-4) is tied with the Victoria Royals for third in the B.C. Division, six points behind the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Giants (18-33-5) are 1-7-2 in their past 10 games. . . . Announced attendance: 5,163.
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At Lethbridge, F Alec Baer scored twice as the Hurricanes got past the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-2. . . .
ALEC BAER
Baer, a 19-year-old from St. Louis Park, Minn., has 11 goals in 52 games this season. He has eight goals in 13 games with Lethbridge after being acquired from the Vancouver Giants. . . . Baer opened the scoring at 14:30 of the first period. . . . Prince Albert tied it when F Tim Vanstone (9) scored, shorthanded, at 5:30 of the second period. . . . F Matt Alfaro gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with his 15th goal, at 4:50 of the third period, and F Zak Zborosky, who also had an assist, made it 3-1 with No. 34, on a PP, at 14:42. . . . The Raiders cut the deficit to one when F Curtis Miske scored his 12th goal, at 18:36. . . . Baer put it away with an empty-netter at 19:18. . . . G Stuart Skinner earned the victory with 37 stops. . . . At the other end, Ian Scott turned aside 30 shots. . . . Lethbridge was 1-3 on the PP; Prince Albert was 0-5. . . . F Tyler Wong, the Hurricanes’ captain, picked up one assist in his 300th regular-season game. . . . The Hurricanes were without G Ryan Gilchrist (flu), so had Adam Swan from the midget AAA Interlake Lightning backing up Skinner. From Ashern, Man., Swan was an 11th-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . The Hurricanes (33-15-7) have won nine in a row and have points in 15 straight games (13-0-2). They are second in the Central Division, six points behind the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Raiders (13-38-5) have lost three in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 4,177.
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At Portland, F Joachim Blichfeld erased a 4-2 third-period deficit and then scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Winterhawks a 5-4 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Portland erased 3-1 and 4-2
JOACHIM BLICHFELD
deficits to get it to OT. . . . The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead on F Hudson Elynuik’s 19th goal, at 5:12 of the first period. . . . F Cody Glass (25) tied it, shorthanded, at 15:06. . . . Spokane went ahead 3-1 as F Taylor Ross got his fifth goal at 15:50 of the first and F Keanu Yamamoto (20) counted on the PP at 3:34 of the second. . . . The Winterhawks cut the deficit to one on D Henri Jokiharju’s seventh goal, at 5:04. . . . But the Chiefs got that one back when F Jared Anderson-Dolan ran his goal-scoring streak to six games with No. 30, at 12:02. . . . Blichfeld, who now has 21 goals, scored at 7:51 and 15:31 of the third period to force OT. . . . Jokiharju assisted on both of those goals. . . . Blichfeld was the first to go in the shootout and scored the only goal. He has four game-winners in Portland’s past seven games. . . . Portland F Alex Overhardt also had two assists. . . . The Chiefs got two assists from F Kailer Yamamoto and one each from Keanu Yamamoto and Elynuik. . . . G Cole Kehler earned the victory, coming on in relief to stop all 17 shots he faced in 32:58. Starter Shane Farkas was beaten four times on 17 shots in 32:02. . . . The Chiefs got 46 saves from Dawson Weatherill. . . . Spokane was 1-4 on the PP; Portland was 0-2. . . . The Winterhawks (30-22-3) hold down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, 10 points ahead of Spokane. . . . Portland also is two points behind the Tri-City Americans, who are third in the U.S. Division. . . . The Chiefs (22-23-9) have points in two straight (1-0-1). . . . Announced attendance: 8,388.
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At Red Deer, F Tyler Steenbergen scored three goals to take over the WHL goal-scoring lead as the Swift
TYLER STEENBERGEN
Current Broncos beat the Rebels, 4-1. . . . Steenbergen, from Sylvan Lake, Alta., which is next door to Red Deer, has 43 goals, one more than F Jayden Halbgewachs of the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Broncos took a 2-0 lead on goals from Steenbergen, at 1:17 of the first period, and F Glenn Gawdin (19), at 11:14 of the second. . . . The Rebels got to within one as F Lane Zablocki (18) scored, on a PP, at 9:26 of the third period. . . . Steenbergen got that one back 27 seconds later and completed his hat trick into an empty net at 19:34. . . . F Riley Stotts has two assists for the Broncos. . . . G Taz Burman earned the victory with 26 saves. . . . The Rebels got 28 stops from G Lasse Petersen. . . . Red Deer was 1-3 on the PP; Swift Current was 0-6. . . . The Rebels were without F Adam Musil, who was serving a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of Wednesday’s 7-3 loss to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Rebels also were fined $500 for Musil’s indiscretion. . . . The Broncos (29-17-8) have won four straight. They are third in the East Division, six points behind the Moose Jw Warriors with two games in hand. . . . The Rebels (23-24-8) have lost three in a row and are third in the Central Division. . . . Announced attendance: 4,665.
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At Saskatoon, F Kirby Dach scored his first two WHL goals to help the Blades to a 4-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Dach, who turns 16 on Jan. 21, was the second-overall selection in the 2016
KIRBY DACH
WHL bantam draft. He is from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., and was added to the Blades’ roster earlier in the week. This was his fifth game this season with Saskatoon. . . . F Josh Paterson (12) gave Saskatoon a 1-0 lead with a PP goal at 12:13 of the first period. . . . Dach made it 2-0 at 14:29 of the second period. . . . The Warriors tied it on goals from F Thomas Foster (15), shorthanded, at 15:33 of the second and D Josh Brook (2) just 32 seconds into the third. . . . Dach snapped the tie at 6:18, with F Mason McCarty adding insurance with the empty-netter, at 19:39. . . . Saskatoon G Logan Flodell stopped 22 shots on his 20th birthday. . . . The Warriors got 29 saves from G Brody Willms. . . . Saskatoon was 1-6 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-4. . . . McCarty was back in Saskatoon’s lineup after missing 27 games with a knee injury. . . . Saskatoon scratched six players with “upper-body” injuries, while the Warriors scratched four with “lower-body” injuries. . . . Saskatoon was without D Jake Kustra and F Braylon Shmyr, both out with brain injuries, along with F Cam Hebig, F Markson Bechtold, F Lukus Mackenzie and F Caleb Fantillo. Fantillo was injured in practice on Thursday. . . . Moose Jaw was missing D Colin Paradis, F Jaxan Kaluski, F Brayden Burke and F Noah Gregor. . . . The Blades (22-26-6) have won two in a row. They hold down the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, three points ahead of the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Warriors (32-16-8) had been 1-0-1 in their previous two games. They are second in the East Division, 13 points behind the Regina Pats. . . . Announced attendance: 3,182.
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At Kent, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds moved into first place in the U.S. Division with a 6-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Seattle (34-15-5) won its 10th straight game — it is 10-0-1 in its past 11
KEEGAN KOLESAR
games — and now leads the Everett Silvertips by one point. Everett opened a six-game East Division trip with a 2-1 loss in Brandon. . . . F Jordan Topping (16) gave the Americans a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 9:55 of the first period. . . . Seattle responded with the next four goals. . . . F Donovan Neuls (11) tied it, on a PP, at 12:38 and F Keegan Kolesar (15) gave the Thunderbirds the lead at 15:13, also on a PP. . . . There were 15 PPs in this one. . . . Seattle D Ethan Bear’s 20th goal, on a PP, made it 3-1 at 12:15 of the second period and F Sami Moilanen added his 17th just nine seconds later. . . . Parker Wotherspoon scored his ninth goal, on a PP, at 16:24, and set the Americans’ franchise record for career points by a defenceman. Wotherspoon has played in 263 games (2012-17). He had shared the record with Tyler Schmidt, who put up 165 points in 320 games (2006-11). . . . The Thunderbirds got third-period insurance from F Ryan Gropp (20), at 3:23, and F Alexander True (17), at 15:44. . . . Gropp has goals in five straight game and points in 11 in a row. . . . The Thunderbirds got three assists from each of Kolesar and F Mathew Barzal, while Bear and Gropp added one apiece. . . . The Thunderbirds got 18 saves from G Rylan Toth. . . . Tri-City starter Evan Sarthou was beaten six times on 40 shots in 55:44. Rylan Parenteau finished up with three saves in 4:16. . . . Seattle was 3-8 on the PP; Tri-City was 2-7. . . . D Jarret Tyszka was back in Seattle’s lineup, but the Thunderbirds had two players — D Turner Ottenbreit and Moilanen — not finish the game, both apparently the victims of high hits. . . . Tri-City was without injured F Michael Rasmussen, a 32-goal man. . . . The Americans (31-22-3) have lost two in a row. They are third in the U.S. Division, seven points behind the Everett Silvertips. . . . Announced attendance: 5,308.
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At Victoria, F Jack Walker and F Tyler Soy scored shootout goals to give the Royals a 2-1 victory over the
GRIFFEN OUTHOUSE
Kamloops Blazers. . . . This one featured two of the WHL’s top goaltenders. . . . Griffen Outhouse turned aside 41 shots for the Royals, earning his WHL-leading 30th victory this season. He is in his second season and has a combined 48-21-7 record. . . . The Blazers got 20 saves from Connor Ingram. . . . F Matt Phillips gave the Royals a 1-0 lead with his 39th goal, at 7:21 of the first period. . . . The Blazers tied it when D Ondrej Vala struck for his ninth goal, on a PP, at 11:09. . . . Vala has goals in three straight games. . . . Kamloops was 1-3 on the PP; Victoria was 0-5. . . . The Royals (31-21-4) had lost their previous two games. They are tied with the Kelowna Rockets for third in the B.C. Division, six points behind Kamloops. . . . The Blazers (33-18-6) have points in their past four games (2-0-2). . . . The same two teams will meet again tonight in Victoria. . . . Announced attendance: 4,466.

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SATURDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Swift Current at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, 7 p.m.
Lethbridge at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Everett at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Regina at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Portland vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Tri-City at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Kelowna vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7 p.m.
Kamloops at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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