Road to Memorial Cup daily: Blazers, Knights & Sting punch their ticket to the next round

CHL THREE STARS

We already know that all roads to the 2023 Memorial Cup presented by Kia lead to Kamloops, but at this rate, the WHL’s Ed Chynoweth Cup might soon follow that same path.

In a dominant, series-closing, 10-4 victory over the Portland Winterhawks, Olen Zellweger (ANA) was sublime on Thursday night for the Kamloops Blazers. The Anaheim Ducks prospect tallied a career-high seven points along with his first career playoff hat trick to help Kamloops advance to the WHL’s Western Conference Championship for the second year in a row. His seven points last night also match a WHL playoff record for points in a game by a defenceman. During their four-game sweep of the Winterhawks, Zellweger registered 13 (4G, 9A) of his 21 points this postseason. He now sits tied for first in the WHL with 15 assists in these playoffs and leads the league with eight helpers on the power play. His 21 points also rank as the most of any defenseman in the WHL this postseason.

On that same ice surface in Portland, Kamloops’ Matthew Seminoff (DAL) also found twine on three occasions Thursday to register his first career postseason hat trick in the WHL. His four-point effort in Game 4 provided the 19-year-old with his third multi-point game of the postseason. He also collected seven points (4G, 3A) over the Blazers’ four-game series sweep against the Winterhawks.

And not to be outdone by his teammates, Blazers forward Logan Stankoven (DAL) had himself a game on Thursday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The 2021 Dallas Stars second-round pick potted a goal and two assists in Portland to help advance his Blazers. Stankoven’s 10 goals this postseason place him in a tie for first in the WHL with Regina’s Connor Bedard. The 20-year-old now also has a WHL-best 21 points during these playoffs — likely thanks to the fact that he registered multiple points and a goal in all four games (6G, 6A) of the Blazers’ series against the Winterhawks.

Zellweger, Seminoff, and Stankoven will look to continue their strong play when their Kamloops Blazers face off against the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s Western Conference Championship, which will begin on Saturday, April 29.

OHL

Eastern Conference

(1) Ottawa vs. (4) Peterborough — Peterborough leads series 3-1
Game 4: Petes 3-1 67’s

• Peterborough’s Brennan Othmann (NYR) scored for a third straight time in this series, while Chase Stillman (NJ) potted his first of the postseason and Owen Beck (MTL) added an empty-netter to put the Petes within a game of upsetting the top-seeded 67’s
• Peterborough captain Shawn Spearing led all scorers with three assists in this contest; those points were the first three that he’s registered in these playoffs
• Luca Pinelli was the lone goal scorer for Ottawa, tallying it on the power play
• Despite the loss, Max Donoso put together another stellar effort — making 34 saves, a career-best in the postseason for the 67’s netminder
• Donoso’s .942 SV% is the best among any OHL goalie this postseason, while his 1.86 GAA ranks second in the OHL behind London’s Brett Brochu
• Conversely, Petes goalie Michael Simpson stopped 19-of-20 shots in the victory
• The 67’s were playing their first game since their head coach Dave Cameron was named OHL Coach of the Year
• The 67’s will look to avoid the upset and force a Game 6 when they faceoff against the Petes for Game 5 on Saturday in Ottawa

(2) North Bay vs. (3) Barrie — Series tied 2-2
Game 4: Battalion 4-3 Colts (OT)

• Anthony Romani scored 2:43 into double overtime, which was all part of a run of three unanswered Battalion goals, that helped North Bay even the series at 2-2
• Battalion forward Kyle MacDonald (DAL) potted his OHL-leading 10th goal of the postseason along with an assist
• Liam Arnsby (FLA) and Matvey Petrov (EDM) had the other goals for North Bay, while Beau Akey, Copper Matthews and Tyler Savard scored for Barrie
• Colts defenseman Brandt Clarke (LAK) recorded an assist to extend his point streak to 25 games (19G, 37A over that stretch) — the Los Angeles Kings prospect continues to pace the OHL with 21 points this postseason
• Barrie goalie Anson Thornton (ARI) put together a strong performance in spite of the loss — making a career-high 52 saves
• Battalion netminder Dom DiVincentiis (WPG) stopped 27 shots in victory
• Game 5 is scheduled for Saturday in North Bay

ANTHONY ROMANI TIES THE SERIES IN DOUBLE OT! 👀

The #NHLDraft prospect plays a give-and-go with Wakely and the @OHLBattalion take Game 4 🎥#OHLPlayoffs | #NBvsBAR pic.twitter.com/ha2xMheRox

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 21, 2023

Western Conference

(2) London vs. (8) Kitchener — London wins series 4-1
Game 5: Knights 4-0 Rangers

• Denver Barkey put together his second consecutive multi-point effort by scoring twice, while Max McCue (SJ) and Logan Mailloux (MTL) potted the other goals for the Knights as London knocked out rivals Kitchener in four games
• London’s Ryan Winterton (SEA) registered a pair of assists for this third multi-point game of the postseason
• After giving up four goals on 24 shots in Game 3, Brett Bochu has been perfect through the last two games — he posted a second straight shutout on Thursday to close out this series by making 16 saves
• Having set the Knights franchise record in his last game for shutouts in a single postseason, Brochu now leads all OHL goalies with four shutouts in these playoffs (he’s also tied with Gatineau’s Francesco Lapenna for the CHL lead)
• London will play in its first OHL Western Conference Championship since 2016, where they will face off against Sarnia for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy

MCCUE GOES BARDOWN AND THE BUD IS BUZZING ⚡️🔌@SanJoseSharks prospect @MaxMcCue1 opens the scoring for the @LondonKnights 🎥#OHLPlayoffs | #LDNvsKIT pic.twitter.com/v6hRkS72hc

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 21, 2023

(3) Sarnia vs. (4) Saginaw — Sarnia wins series 4-0
Game 4: Sting 4-0 Spirit

• Sarnia netminder Benjamin Gaudreau (SJ) ended this series the same way he began it — the San Jose Sharks prospect made 25 saves to register his second shutout of the series, and a Sting’s franchise-record third of the postseason
• In this four-game series against Saginaw, Gaudreau posted a 0.966 SV%, 0.97 GAA and two shutouts in what was arguably the best-ever playoff performance by a Sting goaltender
• Luca Del Bel Belluz (CBJ) tallied his team-leading sixth of the playoffs, while Easton Wainwright potted a pair and Marcus Limpar-Lantz had a two-point night (1G, 1A) to help Sarnia make history
• Specifically, having swept Saginaw, the Sarnia Sting are off to the OHL’s Western Conference Finals for the first time in the franchise’s 29-year history
• Next up, the Sting will seek to continue their historic run when they face the London Knights in the next round

QMJHL

Eastern Conference

(2) Halifax vs. (3) Moncton — Halifax leads series 3-1
Game 4: Mooseheads 3-0 Wildcats

• Mathieu Cataford had a goal and an assist, while Alexandre Doucet (DET) and Zachary L’Heureux (NSH) rounded out the scoring for the Mooseheads
• By grabbing a goal again on Thursday night, L’Heureux has now scored in three straight games during this series and holds five goals over that stretch
• Mathis Rousseau stopped all 25 shots he faced in Game 4 to earn his first career playoff shutout in the QMJHL
• Jordan Dumais (CBJ), who scored a QMJHL-high 140 points during the regular season, registered an assist on Thursday for just his third point of the series
• The Mooseheads will look to close out the series in Halifax on Sunday when they face the Wildcats for Game 5
• Should Halifax win Game 5, they would advance to play the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the QMJHL’s final four, which would also set up a matchup between the Quebec Remparts and Gatineau Olympiques in the league’s other semi-final

Zach L'Heureux, so hot right now. #RoadtoMemorialCup | @HFXMooseheads pic.twitter.com/pFLbHiH8MP

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) April 21, 2023

WHL

(2) Kamloops vs. (3) Portland — Kamloops wins series 4-0
Game 4: Blazers 10-4 Winterhawks

• Blazers defenseman Olen Zellweger (ANA) led all scorers with a career-high seven points, which included his first career playoff hat trick, in Kamloops’ series-closing victory over the Winterhawks
• Zellweger’s hat trick was also the second one of his WHL career
• In addition to Zellweger’s trio, the Blazers also got a hat trick from Matthew Seminoff (DAL) who, in addition to registering his first career postseason hat trick, nabbed an assist in Game 4
• Fellow Dallas Stars prospect Logan Stankoven (DAL) also had himself a night — the Blazers forward recorded a goal and two assists to give him a WHL-best 10 goals and 21 points this postseason
• Stankoven registered multiple points and a goal in all four games of this series (6G, 6A)
• Kamloops’ Caedan Bankier (MIN) also registered his fifth multi-point game of these playoffs by scoring once and grabbing two assists
• Portland’s Diego Buttazzoni potted two of his team’s four goals
• For the second straight season, the Blazers will battle against the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s Western Conference Championship beginning on Saturday, April 29

It's Olen Zellweger's turn for a 🎩🎩🎩 to go along with his 🍎🍎🍎‼️ 🤯#RoadtoMemorialCup | @AnaheimDucks pic.twitter.com/CYktWzzTjN

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) April 21, 2023

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