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| Goaltender Troy Trombley of the Tri-City Americans posted his first WHL shutout in his second start, beating the visiting Spokane Chiefs 6-0 in Kennewick, Wash., on Saturday night. (Photo by John Allen / AridAcres.com) |
D Bryce Lampman (Kamloops, 2002-03) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Langnau (Switzerland, NL A) after he was released from a tryout contract with the Portland Pirates (AHL). He had no points in eight games with the Pirates during the tryout. Lampman started the season with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), getting three goals and nine assists in 21 games before joining Portland.———
The matchups, if the WHL playoffs opened today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton vs. Lethbridge
Saskatoon vs. Swift Current
Calgary vs. Medicine Hat
Prince Albert vs Red Deer
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland vs. Everett
Kelowna vs. Seattle
Kamloops vs. Victoria
Spokane vs. Tri-City
———
SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Portland, F Brendan Leipsic scored 49 seconds into OT to give the Winterhawks a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . The start of the game, played in Veterans Memorial Coliseum with the curtains open, was delayed about 20 minutes because of sunlight streaming in and reflecting off the ice. . . . Leipsic has 41 goals. He and linemate Nic Petan, who also scored once, lead the WHL in goals. Leipsic, with 103 points, leads the scoring race by two points over Petan. . . . Portland overcame a 2-0 lead and was up 3-2 until Vancouver F Cain Franson scored his 23rd goal at 16:01 of the third. . . . By night’s end, the Winterhawks, who lead the WHL’s overall standings, had clinched the U.S. Division title. . . . They lead the overall standings by 10 points over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . 
In Calgary, F Cody Sylvester scored twice to lead the Hitmen to a 3-1 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Sylvester has 33 goals this season after scoring twice on the PP. . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger stopped 31 shots, losing his shutout bid when F Steven Hodges got his 24th goal, via the PP, at 17:25 of the third. . . . Calgary had played its previous nine games on the road. . . . The Hitmen are second in the Central Division, seven points behind Edmonton. . . . The Royals are tied with the Tri-City Americans for fifth in the Western Conference. . . . Victoria G Coleman Vollrath stopped 22 shots. He got the start after Patrik Polivka apparently was injured during the shootout portion of a 2-1 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer on Friday. The Royals had Michael Herringer, a ninth-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft, backing up Vollrath. Herringer, 16, is from Comox, B.C., and plays for the junior B Victoria Cougars. . . . 
In Medicine Hat, the Saskatoon Blades overcame a 2-0 deficit and beat the Tigers, 4-3. . . . The Blades, the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup, have won 11 in a row and now have sole possession of first place in the East Division, two points ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Tigers had won five straight. . . . Saskatoon trailed 2-0 after one period and 3-2 in the latter half of the third period. . . . The Blades won it with four goals in a span of 6:49. . . . Saskatoon F Brenden Walker broke a 3-3 tie with his 21st goal at 14:09 of the third. . . . The Blades got a goal and two assists from F Shane McColgan. He’s got 15 snipes. . . . F Josh Nicholls scored his 37th goal of the season for the Blades, while F Curtis Valk got his 37th for the Tigers. . . .
In Prince Albert, D Morgan Rielly scored two goals and added an assist as his Moose Jaw Warriors erased a 3-0 deficit and dumped the Raiders, 4-3. . . . The Warriors were 3-for-10 on the PP; the Raiders were 1-for-4. . . . Rielly scored his 10th and 11th goals, both on the PP, the latter tying the score 3-3 at 5:15 of the third. . . . F Sam Fioretti’s 28th goal, on another PP, broke the 3-3 tie at 11:13. . . . F Jayden Hart scored twice, giving him nine, for the Raiders. . . . 
In Brandon, F Jon Martin scored twice, the second one in OT, as the Kootenay Ice got past the Wheat Kings, 4-3. . . . Martin got his ninth goal at 1:17 of OT. . . . Kootenay led this one 3-1 before Brandon got goals from F Nick Buonassisi, his 11th, at 19:13 of the second and, and F Marek Kalus, his fourth, shorthanded, at 2:25 of the third. . . . The Wheat Kings finished a seven-game homestand at 3-3-1. . . . The Ice closed to within a point of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who hold down the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . 
In Lethbridge, the Prince George Cougars erased a 1-0 deficit with five straight goals and beat the Hurricanes, 5-4. . . . F Colin Jacobs had a goal, his 22nd, and three assists for the Cougars, who got two goals from F Klarc Wilson. He’s got eight. . . . Jacobs has seven points over his last two games. . . . The Cougars were 3-for-6 on the PP; the Hurricanes were 1-for-6. . . . F Jaimen Yakubowski scored all four Lethbridge goals, giving him 31. He had a five-goal game earlier in the season. . . . Lethbridge F Russell Maxwell had four assists. . . . The Cougars are three points away from the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., G Troy Trombley posted his first WHL shutout in his second start as the Tri-City Americans beat the Spokane Chiefs, 6-0. . . . Trombley stopped 34 shots as he won for the second night in a row. He earned his first WHL victory on Friday night when he stopped 41 shots for a 6-2 victory in Portland. . . . F Connor Rankin had two goals and an assist for the Americans, who scored four times in the first period. . . . Rankin has 22 goals. . . . The Americans moved into a fifth-place tie with Victoria in the Western Conference, just a point behind Spokane. . . .
In Kelowna, F Brendan Ranford had a goal and an assist to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 3-1 victory over the Rockets. . . . The previous night, Ranford had a goal and two helpers as the Blazers beat the visiting Rockets, 4-2. . . . The Blazers have won seven in a row. . . . Ranford, who has 17 goals, is on a nine-game point streak, with 18 points in that span. He has five straight multi-point games. . . . Kamloops D Joel Edmundson broke a 1-1 tie with his seventh goal, shorthanded, at 5:45 of the second. . . . Kamloops D Marek Hrbas provided insurance with his seventh goal, at 17:12 of the third. He’s got four goals in his last five games. . . . The Rockets had 18 shots on goal, their lowest such total this season. . . . The Blazers are three points behind the B.C. Division-leading Rockets. . . .
In Everett, the Seattle Thunderbirds scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Silvertips, 4-1. . . . Seattle F Roberts Lipsbergs broke a 1-1 tie with his 22nd goal at 19:46 of the first period. . . . The Thunderbirds had lost seven straight. . . . Everett has lost 10 in a row to equal a franchise record set last sesaon. . . . The victory moved Seattle into a tie for seventh with Everett in the Western Conference.———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Anthony Bardaro, Prince Albert
F Brandon Del Grosso, Moose Jaw
D Joe Hicketts, Victoria
F Logan Fisher, Victoria
D Jared Hauf, Seattle
D Mitch Topping, Tri-City
CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Josh Morrissey, Prince Albert
F Chase Clayton, Calgary
D Adam Henry, Lethbridge
———
From Paul Buker (@Pnbuker), a sports reporter with The Oregonian: “Portland wins curtains down Hawks’ game at MC 4-3 in OT. Didn’t use media pass. Sat in stands, spent $1,345.67 on concessions. Good God.”
———
From Edmonton Oil Kings F Michael St. Croix (@stixy18): “Just watching the man himself @cpickard1 at pre game skate with the avs #sosick #yourtheman”
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