WHL Morning Skate: April 24

NEED TO KNOW

– Top 2027 NHL Draft prospect Landon DuPont netted two points to lift Everett to a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Championship

– Dupont, the WHL’s first exceptional-status defender, leads all active skaters in the 2026 WHL Playoffs with 15 points (4G-11A)

– Tips goaltender Anders Miller has allowed one or fewer goals in eight of his 10 playoff outings

– Prince Albert and Medicine Hat kick off the Eastern Conference Championship in Hockeytown North tonight

TOP PERFORMER

All Miller, no filler. Anchorage, Alaska’s Anders Miller turned in another stellar performance with 23 saves on 24 shots in Game 1. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound netminder is 9-0-1 in the 2026 WHL Playoffs with a 1.49 goals-against average, a .949 save percentage and one shutout. Miller leads all active playoff goaltenders in GAA and save percentage (his second-round opponent, Kelowna’s Josh Banini, is first overall in both categories). In eight of his 10 postseason appearances, Miller has allowed just one goal or served up a shutout.

RESULTS

Penticton 1, Everett 4
EVT leads 1-0

Talk about picking up where you left off. Fresh off of scoring Everett’s series-clinching goal in overtime in Round Two, Landon DuPont was the first on the board in Game 1 of the Conference Championship. After having two hard shots blocked, the 16-year-old retrieved the puck, wheeled low into the Vees’ defensive zone, and cut to the net to loft a backhand shot high into the twine. In the second period, the Defenceman of the Year finalist wired a stretch pass to Lukas Kaplan, who split the defence to tee up Jaxsin Vaughan for his fourth goal of the playoffs and the eventual game-winner. Penticton cut the deficit to one early in the final frame as Seattle Kraken prospect Ryden Evers peeled off the back wall to slip a backhand shot past Anders Miller. Hunter Rudolph added some insurance for the home team as he corralled a bouncing puck over the goal line, and Kayd Ruedig sealed the match with an empty netter. Both goaltenders turned in ironclad performances, with Miller allowing just one goal on 24 shots, and Andrew Reyelts denying 27 of 30.

ON TAP