JUST NOTES:
The Vancouver Giants will be busy today getting the injuries of at least three players re-evaluated. G Adam Morrison, F Brendan Gallagher and F Dalton Sward all were injured on Friday, either prior to or during an 11-4 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans. Those three, along with D David Musil (wrist), sat out Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the visiting Kelowna Rockets.
I’m told that Morrison actually was injured before Friday’s game, when he was struck on the chin by a soccer ball that players kick around as part of their pregame warming-up process. Morrison was yanked in the second period after giving up five goals in 10:04 and then wasn’t on the bench for the third period. . . . He is believed to have a concussion. . . . The Giants had Alexander Ahnert, 18, from the junior B Delta Ice Hawks backing up Jackson Whistle, 16, on Saturday. The Giants are expected to bring in G Payton Lee, 15, from Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna today. Lee was a second-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft. . . .
Gallagher, meanwhile, is believed to have suffered a separated shoulder when he slid hard into the end boards during Friday’s first period. He had one arm in a sling while he watched Saturday’s game. He is expected to be out for up to six weeks. . . . Sward also is believed to have a separated shoulder. He, too, was sporting a sling and is looking at being out for up to six weeks. . . .
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F Brett Connolly played 7:08 as the Tampa Bay Lightning dropped a 6-3 decision to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon. . . . Connolly played 10 shifts — three in each of the first two periods (2:43 and 1:54), four in the third (2:31). . . . All of his playing time was at even strength. . . . It was the Lightning’s seventh straight loss, the first time that has happened since 2008-09. . . . Hello, Steve, this is Bob Tory calling . . .
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Calgary, F Cody Sylvester broke a 3-3 tie at 11:27 of the third period to give the Hitmen a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Hitmen have won seven in a row. . . . It was Calgary’s first victory over Edmonton in four tries this season. . . . Sylvester has 17 goals. . . . F Jimmy Bubnick scored twice for Calgary, giving him 19. . . . Oil Kings F Henrik Saumuelsson, playing in his third game, was ejected with a charging major at 2:51 of the second period. . . . The Hitmen struck for one PP goal on the Samuelsson goal, but weren’t able to score on a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:24. . . . Edmonton F Curtis Lazar later scored his 12th goal on a 5-on-3 PP early in the third period to forge a 3-3 tie. . . .
In Regina, the Saskatoon Blades scored the game’s first five goals and went onto a 7-4 victory over the Pats. . . . The Blades scored four times on 10 first-period shots. . . . Saskatoon, which has won five in a row, won for the third time in as many nights. . . . F Nick Zajac scored his first WHL goal, in his 38th game, in the opening period, with F Lukas Sutter getting his 20th of the season. . . . F Matej Stransky scored Saskatoon’s last two goals, giving him 25. . . . Saskatoon G Alex Moodie, who would have been returned to the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild had starter Andrey Makarov not ended up concussed on Jan. 7, made his fourth straight start for the Blades and stopped 34 shots. He has started eight of their last 10 games and is 7-2-0. Yes, he started Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. . . . Les Lazaruk, the radio voice of the Blades, reports that Makarov is expected to be out at least another, and also that F Josh Nicholls, who has missed 15 games with a knee injury, may return this weekend. . . .
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored five times in the third period and beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 8-2. . . . The Warriors took a 3-2 lead into the third period. . . . F Justin Kirsch had two goals and an assist for Moose Jaw, which got a goal and two assists from F James Henry and a goal and two assists from F Cam Braes. The latter two were acquired earlier in the week prior to the trade deadline. . . . F Quinton Howden chipped in three assists for the Warriors. . . . Brandon has lost four in a row and seven of its last eight. . . . Moose Jaw was 3-for-4 on the PP, ending an 0-for-20 stretch. . . . This was Moose Jaw’s first home gme since Dec. 28. . . . Brandon D Ryley Miller left in the first period with an apparent leg injury. . . .
In Everett, F Zach Franko scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Kelowna Rockets a 3-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . It was the third game in three nights for both teams. . . . Everett F Reid Petryk forced OT with his eighth goal of the season at 6:18 of the third period. . . . F Brett Bulmer had two assists for Kelowna. . . . Kelowna G Jordon Cooke stopped 39 shots.
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SUNDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Ryan Olsen, Saskatoon.
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