WHL Morning Skate: Saturday, March 30
NEED TO KNOW
-Briley Wood sealed a comeback win for Wenatchee with a four-goal, two-assist night, coming within one goal of tying the WHL record
-Nashville Predators prospect Kalan Lind ended Red Deer’s opening match against Red Deer with a double-overtime snipe
-Boston Bruins prospect Reid Dyck posts a 33-save shutout in WHL playoff debut
RESULTS
Prince Albert 1- Saskatoon 4
Series tied 1-1
The Saskatoon powerplay went 3/4, with Anaheim Ducks prospect Egor Sidorov, Easton Armstrong and Tyler Parr burying on the man advantage. Evan Gardner shined in his playoff debut with a 31-save performance.
THREE STARS
1- Evan Gardner, SAS
-31/32 saves
-.968 save percentage
2- Easton Armstrong, SAS
-1G, 1A, +2
3- Egor Sidorov, SAS
-1G, 1A
Spokane 1- Prince George 6
PG leads 1-0
Spokane struck first, but the Cougars scored six unanswered goals, including a hat trick by super rookie Terik Parscak, to seal a playoff-opening win in front of a fervent crowd of nearly 6,000 people at the CN Centre.
THREE STARS
1- Terik Parascak, PG
-3G, +1
2- Ondrej Becher, PG
– 1G, 2A, +1
3- Joshua Ravensbergen, PG
– 24/25 saves
-.960 save percentage
Lethbridge 0- Swift Current 3
SC leads 1-0
Swift Current’s first playoff game since winning it all in 2018 couldn’t have gone any better, with sensational Boston Bruins prospect Reid Dyck posting a 33-save shutout. Alternate captain Caleb Wyrostok’s first postseason goal would stand as the game-winner.
THREE STARS
1- Reid Dyck, SC
– 33/33 saves, shutout
2- Caleb Wyrostok, SC
– 1G, +1
3- Clarke Caswell, SC
– 1G, 1A, +1
Victoria 3- Portland 4
POR leads 1-0
Victoria rallied to take a 2-1 lead in the second period, but the high-flying Hawks battled back for a narrow win, capped off by two goals from San Jose Sharks defensive prospect Luca Cagnoni.
THREE STARS
1- Luca Cagnoni, POR
– 2G
2- Carter Sotheran, POR
– 1G, 1A, +2
3- Gabe Klassen, POR
– 1G, +1
Brandon 4, Moose Jaw 7
MJ leads 1-0
Moose Jaw scored three goals in the first seven minutes of the game to throw Brandon off its rhythm. The Wheat Kings would find the back of the net plenty, but the damage was already done.
THREE STARS
1- Martin Rysavy, MJ
– 2G, 1A, +2
2- Brett Hyland, BDN
– 4A, +1
3- Lucas Brenton, MJ
– 2A, +2
Vancouver 6– Everett 4
VAN leads 1-0
Giants breakout rookie Cameron Schmidt opened the scoring just 17 seconds in and added a second, while Everett co-captain Ben Hemmerling added a pair of his own. Giants netminder Brett Mirwald also put on a show by saving 38 of 42 shots.
THREE STARS
1- Cameron Schmidt, VAN
– 2G
2- Ben Hemmerling, EVT
– 2G
3- Mazden Leslie, VAN
– 2A
Red Deer 5– Medicine Hat 4 (2OT)
RD leads 1-0
Double overtime alert! Nashville Predators prospect Kalan Lind spoiled the party for Medicine Hat in the extra-extra frame, with Red Deer overcoming a 4-0 deficit. Top 2024 NHL Draft prospect Cayden Lindstrom also wowed in his first game since December after battling an upper-body injury with an assist on Andrew Basha’s goal.
THREE STARS
1- Kalan Lind, RD
– 1G, 2A, +3
2- Kai Uchacz, RD
– 1G, 1A, -1
3- Andrew Basha, MH
– 1G, -1
Kelowna 6- Wenatchee 8
WEN lead 1-0
Top 2024 NHL prospect Tij Iginla scored his first playoff goal, then completed the hat trick, but Briley Wood’s six-point night was too much to overcome as the Wild completed another crazy comeback on night two of the 2024 WHL Playoffs.
THREE STARS
1- Briley Wood, WEN
– 4G, 2A, +2
2- Kenta Isogai, WEN
– 1G, 3A, +2
3- Karter Prosofsky, WEN
– 1G, 2A, +2
WHL PLAYOFFS TOP PERFORMER- MARCH 28
Wenatchee forward Briley Wood broke out for a four-goal night- including the game-tying and game-winning goal- and added two assists in an 8-6 Wild (in both senses of the word) victory in Game 1.
The WHL record for goals by a player in a single game is five, which was most recently achieved by Max Reinhart with the Kootenay ICE (a former iteration of the Wild) on April 27, 2011.
Hat-trick + 1 for Briley Wood!@WHLwild_ | #WHLHatTricks | #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/kWMXKEoKXW
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 30, 2024
ON TAP
Spokane Chiefs vs. Prince George Cougars- Game 2- 6:00 p.m. PST
Victoria Royals vs. Portland Winterhawks- Game 2- 6:00 p.m. PST
Vancouver Giants vs. Everett Silvertips- Game 2- 6:05 p.m. PST
Lethbridge Hurricanes vs. Swift Current Broncos- Game 2- 7:00 p.m. ST
Brandon Wheat Kings vs. Moose Jaw Warriors- Game 2- 7:00 p.m. ST
Red Deer Rebels vs. Medicine Hat Tigers- Game 2- 7:00 p.m. MST
Kelowna Rockets vs. Wenatchee Wild- Game 2- 6:00 p.m. PST