WHL Cup – Day 1: British Columbia & Alberta claim wins to open tournament

 

Game 1: Saskatchewan 4 at British Columbia 6 – STATISTICS 

British Columbia forward Brayden Schuurman scored twice and added an assist as British Columbia overcame a shaky start to earn a 6-4 win against Saskatchewan at the 2019 WHL Cup in Calgary, Alta.

Goals from Vaughn Watterodt and Logan McCutcheon had the visiting side from the Land of Living Skies rolling early, but British Columbia got on the board via Schuurman’s first of the game late in the first period to cut their deficit in half.

In the first half of the second period, Schuurman’s second goal as well as strikes from Niall Crocker and Brandon Lisowsky quickly put British Columbia in the lead by a 4-2 margin.

Kyren Gronick got Saskatchewan within one goal early in the third, but goals from Connor Levis and Carter Streek padded out B.C.’s lead. Jakin Lawrence scored Saskatchewan’s fourth goal of the game.

Grayden Siepmann had a pair of assists for British Columbia while Carter Dereniwsky had a pair of helpers for Saskatchewan.

British Columbia’s Kolby Hay stopped 24 of 28 shots to earn the victory.

Game 2: Alberta 7 at Manitoba 3 – STATISTICS 

Alberta entered the game as the visitors, but rode support of the home crowd to a 7-3 win against Manitoba.

Billal Noori scored twice for Alberta while Kaiden Ellertson and Josh Davies, and Tyler Mackenzie each had a goal and an assist.

A four-goal first period powered Alberta to victory early on. Ellertson, Noori, Jaren Brinson, and captain Jordan Gustafson all scored in an 11:08 span during the opening period to put them ahead for good. Alberta’s bid for a shutout came to an end late in the opening period as Denton Mateychuk scored his first of two in the game.

After their lead was cut to three, Mackenzie found the back of the net 116 seconds into the second period to quickly restore the four-goal advantage. Noori recorded his second of the game midway through the period to extend the lead to five, but Mateychuk’s scored his second of the game kept the deficit at four heading to the final 20 minutes of play.

In the third period, Josh Davies and Bryce Warkentine traded goals to round out the scoring in the 10-goal game. Carson Brisson had a pair of assists for Alberta in the win. Overall, 12 Albertan skaters recorded at least a point in the victory.

Goaltender Justen Maric stopped 16 of 19 shots for the victory.

Day 2 Preview: 
Action resumes at the 2019 WHL Cup on Thursday with another pair of exciting games.

In the matinee matchup, the eastern-most and western-most provinces will face each other as Manitoba and British Columbia begin play at 3:00 p.m. MT.

Thursday’s evening matchup features bordering provinces facing each other for the first time in the tournament as Alberta and Saskatchewan meet at 6:00 p.m. MT.