Blazers box

THE SCORE
Kamloops 7, Prince George 1

WHAT HAPPENED
The Blazers got ahead early and never took their foot off the pedal.

THE STANDINGS
The Blazers (15-19-1-4) are sixth in the Western Conference, two points
behind the Everett Silvertips (16-14-5-0) and four ahead of the Seattle
Thunderbirds (14-19-1-2). The four teams behind the Blazers — Seattle,
Prince George, Chilliwack and Portland — all lost on Sunday.

THE COUGARS
Prince George (14-23-0-1) is eighth in the Western Conference. The Cougars
are 8-22-0-1 since getting off to a 6-1-0-0 start. They are 4-5 since firing
head coach Drew Schoneck and promoting assistant coach Wade Klippenstein on
Dec. 1.

THE GOALTENDERS
Justin Leclerc made his 11th straight start Sunday. Jon Groenheyde last
started Nov. 22 when he went the distance in a 6-1 loss to the visiting
Vancouver Giants. He last played Dec. 10 when he came on in relief and
played 31 minutes in an 8-3 loss to the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook.
Groenheyde is expected to start tonight against the host Tri-City Americans.

THE SATURDAY GAME
The Blazers led 2-0 after one period but lost 4-3 in a shootout to the
Rockets in Kelowna. The Rockets, who outshot the Blazers 42-14, including
20-3 in the second period, are 4-0 against the Blazers this season.

THE POWER PLAY
Kamloops RW Tyler Shattock scored a power-play goal 2:18 into Sunday’s game.
The Blazers, who were 0-for-2 on the PP on Saturday, had been 0-for-21 over
their last five games. Over that time, the opposition PP was 9-for-29.

THE DEFENCEMAN
Michal Siska of the Blazers was plus-1 in helping Slovakia to a 7-2 victory
over Latvia on Saturday at the World Junior Championship in Ottawa. He had
two shots on goal in a 3-1 loss to Sweden on Sunday. Slovakia goes against
Russia on Tuesday (11:30 a.m.) and Finland on Wednesday (5:30 p.m.).

THE WINGER
The Cougars have lost LW Dana Tyrell, their captain and leading scorer, for
the rest of this season. He suffered a knee injury while playing for Team
Canada in an exhibition game against Sweden on Dec. 19 in Toronto.

THE DAILY NEWS THREE STARS

1. RW Tyler Shattock, Kamloops. Five points.

2. C Dalibor Bortnak, Kamloops. Three assists.

3. D Brandon Underwood, Kamloops. A goal and some physicality.

NEXT UP
The Blazers meet the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., tonight and
return home to play the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday, 7 p.m.