Road to Memorial Cup daily: Blades and Winterhawks level series
CHL Three Stars
Diego Buttazzoni‘s first goal of the postseason came at a big-time as it stood as the game-winner for Portland in their Game 2 win against Prince George. Buttazzoni, who also had an assist, had a career high 29 goals and 55 points in the regular season.
Mikael Huchette continues to showcase why he was an important pickup for Drummondville at the QMJHL trade deadline as he had two points (1G, 1A) that included the game-winner in a 5-1 Game 2 victory against Victoriaville. As a member of the Volts, Huchette had 40 points in 36 regular season games and has 11 postseason points. Huchette won a QMJHL and Memorial Cup title last season with Quebec.
Fraser Minten (TOR) had the overtime winner as Saskatoon levelled its series with Moose Jaw after a 3-2 victory. Minten, acquired from Kamloops earlier in the season, has played at a point-per-game pace in the postseason across 11 contests while he had 19 goals and 38 points with the Blades in the regular season.
QMJHL
Western Conference
(1) Drummondville vs. (3) Victoriaville — Voltigeurs lead series 2-0
Game 2: Voltigeurs 5-1 Tigres
- Huchette was credited with the game-winner at 10:40 of the first as Drummondville took a 2-0 series lead
- Noah Reinhart, Huchette and Luke Woodworth built a 3-0 lead before Justin Larose got the Tigres on the board 4:51 into the third
- Peter Repcik and Mikael Diotte (NJ) secured the victory for the Volts with third period goals
- Riley Mercer made 20 saves in the Volts net
- With an assist, Maxime Pellerin became just the second player in Tigres history to record an 11-game point streak in the postseason
- Game 3 is April 30 at 7pm ET
WHL
Eastern Conference
(1) Saskatoon vs. (3) Moose Jaw — Series tied 1-1
Game 2: Blades 3-2 Warriors (OT)
- Minten had the overtime winner at 13:06 as the Blades erased a 2-0 deficit to level the series
- Atley Calvert and Kalem Parker (MIN) had given Moose Jaw a 2-0 lead in the first period
- Second period goals from Tanner Molendyk (NSH) and Brandon Lisowsky (TOR) forced overtime
- Game 3 is April 30 at 9pm ET
Fraser Minten OT winner! 😤
The #LeafsForever prospect levels the series for @BladesHockey against Moose Jaw! #RoadtoMemorialCup
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) April 28, 2024
Western Conference
(1) Prince George vs. (2) Portland — Series tied 1-1
Game 2: Winterhawks 5-3 Cougars
- Buttazzoni, Marcus Nguyen and Jack O’Brien all had a goal and an assist as Portland beat Prince George 5-3 in Game 2
- Kyle Chyzowski and James Stefan (EDM) also had goals for the Winterhawks while Jan Spunar made 29 saves
- Zac Funk (WSH), Borya Valis and Oren Shtrom had goals for the Cougars
- Game 3 is April 29 at 10pm ET
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