WHL Tonight: Luypen sends teddies flying, Fix-Wolansky sends Oil Kings to OT win
Western Hockey League Three Stars: Saturday, December 8, 2018
1. Jake Elmer, Lethbridge Hurricanes: Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Jake Elmer recorded the first five-point game of his WHL career Saturday, scoring twice and adding three assists in Saturday 8-7 overtime loss to the Tri-City Americans.
The big night for the Calgary, Alta. product marked the seventh multi-point performance of the season and the 16th of his WHL career.
2. Brandon Hagel, Red Deer Rebels: Chicago Blackhawks prospect Brandon Hagels recorded the 12th four-point game of his WHL career, picking up a pair of goals and a pair of assists Saturday in a 6-2 win against the Swift Current Broncos.
Hagel scored Red Deer’s second and sixth goals of the game, adding assists on their fourth and fifth goals of the contest. The performance gave Hagel 51 points (21G-30A) in 29 games this season, placing him fifth in league scoring. The Morinville, Alta. product now has 228 points (83G-145A) in 222 WHL regular season games.
3. Taylor Ross, Lethbridge Hurricanes: Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Taylor Ross recorded the third four-point game of his WHL carer Saturday as a part of an 8-7 overtime loss against the Tri-City Americans. Ross contributed the Hurricanes’ sixth goal of the game, adding assists on their second, fourth, and seventh goals of the game.
The Kronau, Sask. product now has 34 points (17G-17A) in 30 games. Saturday’s performance also helped the overage forward reach the 100-point (48G-52A) plateau in his WHL career.
Brandon Wheat Kings 2 at Prince Albert Raiders 5
Cole Fonstad (Montreal Canadiens) recorded the fifth multi-goal game of his WHL career, Noah Gregor (San Jose Sharks) recorded a goal and three assists, and Ian Scott (Toronto Maple Leafs) stopped 39 shots as the Prince Albert Raiders swept a home-and-home series against the Brandon Wheat Kings Saturday night with a 5-2 win.
Linden McCorrister opened the scoring 14:18 into the first period at the Art Hauser Centre, but just like Friday’s game at Westoba Place, the Raiders used a strong second period to improve their odds of winning. In the span of 89 seconds during the late stages of the second period, goals from Fonstad, Kody McDonald, and Sean Montgomery featured, giving the Raiders a 3-1 lead.
2019 NHL Draft prospect Luka Burzan would respond with his 18th goal of the season, but third-period goals from Fonstad and Gregor put the game permanently out of reach.
2019 NHL Draft prospect Brett Leason picked up a pair of assists in the contest to extend his point streak to 30 games.
Jiri Patera (Vegas Golden Knights) faced a career-high 47 shots, stopping 42 of them in the loss.
Saskatoon Blades 5 at Moose Jaw Warriors 3
A strong performance by the Saskatoon Blades led them to a 5-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Earning the first point of the game was Riley McKay who scored on a great feed from Tristen Robins. Quickly taking over the game, Moose Jaw’s Tate Popple and Keenan Taphorn scored two goals to take the lead at the end of the first.
An aggressive attack in the second period by the Blades earned Zach Huber, Brandon Schuldhaus, Gary Haden and Josh Paterson each a goal, finishing the period 5-2. Mustering one last effort to catch the Blades, Tristin Langan scored for Moose Jaw in the third, ending the game with a score of 5-3.
Regina Pats 2 at Medicine Hat Tigers 4
Ryan Jevne scored twice while Logan Christiansen supplied the game-winning goal as part of a two-point game as the Medicine Hat Tigers doubled up the Regina Pats by a 4-2 score Saturday at home.
Jadon Joseph opened the scoring in the game, getting the Pats out to a 1-0 lead 1:33 into the second, but a late-period goal from captain James Hamblin kept the two teams tied heading to the third.
After Jevne’s first of the game and Sergei Alkhimov’s seventh of the season featured in the first half of the period, goals from Christiansen and Jevne came in the second half, sending the Tigers to victory.
Dean McNabb stopped a career-high 42 shots for the Pats in the narrow loss. 2019 NHL Draft prospect Mads Sogaard stopped 23 of 25 shots for the win, also adding an assist on Jevne’s first goal. Jevne also picked up an assist for the three-point game.
Kamloops Blazers 2 at Edmonton Oil Kings 3 OT
The Edmonton Oil Kings were able to win their Teddy Bear Toss game at home just seconds into overtime, finishing their game against the Kamloops Blazers 3-2.
With thousands of teddy bears in the hands of Oil Kings fans, a scoreless first produced plenty of tension in the air. But, it was Jalen Luypen who scored a backhand goal on a scramble in front of the net to spark the launch of thousands of teddy bears onto the ice. Minutes later, Orrin Centazzo tied the game with an equalizing goal for Kamloops. Heading into the third period tied, Oil Kings’ Carter Souch scored and 2019 NHL Draft prospect Martin Lang scored for the Blazers to take the game into overtime.
Just 30 seconds into overtime, captain Try Fix-Wolansky (Columbus Blue Jackets) continued his eight-game point streak with a breakaway overtime winner, ending Edmonton’s Teddy Bear Toss with a win.
Swift Current Broncos 2 at Red Deer Rebels 6
Continuing to hold strong in their first place position in the Central Division, the Red Deer Rebels dominated the Swift Current Broncos 6-2.
Scoring almost identical goals on Swift Current, Josh Tarzwell and Brandon Hagel (Chicago Blackhawks) notched two goals for the Rebels and Alec Zawatsky scored one goal for the Broncos before the end of the first. Putting on an impressive performance in the second, Cameron Hausinger scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season to put the Rebels up 4-1. In the third, Brett Davis (Dallas Stars) and Hagel added two more goals to Red Deer’s tally and Matthew Culling scored for Swift Current to finalize the score 6-2.
Reeling in his 16th win of the season, 2019 NHL Draft prospect Ethan Anders stopped 21 of 23 shots.
Prince George Cougars 0 at Portland Winterhawks 3
Shane Farkas stopped 22 shots to record the fifth shutout of his WHL career Saturday in a 3-0 win for the Portland Winterhawks against the Prince George Cougars.
Aided by a first-period goal from Jake Gricius and goals in the second period from Ryan Hughes and Jaydon Dureau, the Winterhawks cruised to their fourth-straight victory. Farkas stopped three shots in the first, 11 in the second, and 8 more in the third for the win.
Jared Freadrich recorded a pair of assists while captain Cody Glass (Vegas Golden Knights) picked up a single helper to extend his point streak to 16 games. Joachim Blichfeld (San Jose Sharks) picked up a single helper.
Seth Jarvis and Cross Hanas also picked up a single helper in the game. 2019 NHL Draft prospect Taylor Gauthier stopped 36 shots in the loss.
Everett Silvertips 2 at Seattle Thunderbirds 1
It was a heated game between the Everett Silvertips and the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday with a close score of 2-1 in Everett’s favour.
A scramble in front of the net that tangled up the Thunderbirds goaltender gave Sean Richards the opportunity to slip the puck past the goal line and put the Silvertips up 1-0. In the second period, Nolan Volcan earned his seventh goal of the season with a five-hole shot on 2019 NHL Draft prospect Dustin Wolf to tie the game, 1-1. Capitalizing on a breakaway, Max Patterson’s slick hands weaved around Liam Huges to retake the lead for Everett and finish the game 2-1 against Seattle.
Wolf put on a strong game for the Silvertips stopping 43 of 44 shots, earning his 21st win of the season.
Kootenay ICE 3 at Spokane Chiefs 4 OT
The Spokane Chiefs were able to battle their way to 4-3 win against the Kootenay ICE.
ICE captain and 2019 NHL Draft prospect Peyton Krebs was first on the board, scoring the lone goal of the first period. Kicking off the second period with a bang, Bobby Russell scored a bomb from the blue line, triggering the release of 7,655 teddy bears onto the ice, which also set a new Teddy Bear Toss record for the Chiefs. However, Jaeger White also scored for the ICE in the second period, taking the lead back into Kootenay’s hands. In a wild third period, Luc Smith and Cordel Larson scored to give the Chiefs the lead, but White scored his second goal of the night for Kootenay with eight seconds left in the third to take the game into overtime.
After a few back-and-forths between each team in overtime, Eli Zummack capitalized on a breakaway with a patient play to score the overtime winner.
Lethbridge Hurricanes 7 at Tri-City Americans 8 (OT)
Isaac Johnson scored 70 seconds into overtime Saturday, lifting the Tri-City Americans to a wild 8-7 victory against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Goals from Jake Elmer and 2019 NHL Draft prospect Dylan Cozens featured in the first 20 minutes, but the Americans responded in the second with five of their own, sending a record 4,168 teddy bears onto the ice at the Toyota Centre as Kyle Olson (Anaheim Ducks) struck 99 seconds into the middle period. A pair of goals from captain Nolan Yaremko followed as well as strikes from Aaron Hyman and Riley Sawchuk. Hurricanes captain Jordy Bellerive scored his 12th of the campaign in the middle of all those goals to keep the Hurricanes within a pair after 40 minutes.
Jake Leschyshyn brought the Hurricanes within a goal in the early moments of the third, but goals from 2019 NHL Draft prospect Sasha Mutala and teammate Parker AuCoin restored a three-goal advantage for the home side.
Not one to be out of a game ever, the Hurricanes reeled off the three goals they needed in a 3:27 span, forcing the game off to overtime, where Johnson sent his team’s fans home happy.
Elmer finished with five points in the contest while Krystof Hrabik added four assists to his credit. Olson, Hyman, AuCoin, and Yaremko finished with three-point games, though Yaremko had the lone multi-goal game for the Americans. Johnson and Sawchuk added two-point games in the win.
Victoria Royals 1 at Vancouver Giants 2 (OT)
Fans had to wait until the dying stages of the third period to throw their teddy bears Saturday at the Pacific Coliseum, but their patience would be rewarded by the Vancouver Giants in a 2-1 overtime victory against the Victoria Royals.
With no goals through 40 minutes, Tarun Fizer’s fourth of the season sent some misdirected teddy bears onto the ice as the Royals took a 1-0 lead with 6:31 to go in regulation. Down to 1:19 left in the game, 2019 NHL Draft prospect Bowen Byram finally solved Griffen Outhouse, as the defenceman sent the teddy bears flying for a second-straight year.
Forcing the game into overtime, Jared Dmytriw burned his old club, getting sprung on a breakaway and burying the goal to send the Giants to another victory against the geographical rival.
Outhouse put forth a strong 36-save performance in the narrow loss while David Tendeck (Arizona Coyotes) had 25 saves in the victory. Dmytriw assisted on Byram’s goal for the multi-point effort while Davis Koch and Kaleb Bulych also added a single helper in the contest.
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