WHL Tonight: Smith’s record night guides offensive explosion by Chiefs

 

All 22 Western Hockey League member Clubs were in action Friday night, marking the second last time there will be a full slate of games during the 2019-20 WHL Regular Season. In Saskatchewan, the Medicine Hat Tigers downed the Regina Pats while the Moose Jaw Warriors tripled up the Swift Current Broncos and the Saskatoon Blades doubled up the Prince Albert Raiders. One province over, the Lethbridge Hurricanes rallied in the third before topping the Edmonton Oil Kings in a shootout, hometown product Cole Reinhardt powered the Brandon Wheat Kings over the Calgary Hitmen, and the Red Deer Rebels doubled up the Winnipeg ICE. In British Columbia, the Kamloops Blazers powered their way to a win in Prince George, the Everett Silvertips claimed an overtime win against the Kelowna Rockets, and the Vancouver Giants shutout the Victoria Royals. South of the 49th parallel, the Portland Winterhawks bested the Tri-City Americans and the Spokane Chiefs roared to a strong offensive showing in a win over the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Medicine Hat Tigers at Regina Pats – Scoring & Highlights

Brett Kemp scored four goals and the Medicine Hat Tigers roared to an 8-2 victory against the Regina Pats in the Queen City Friday night.

Kemp scored the first, second, sixth, and seventh goals for the Tigers in the contest. Cole Sillinger, Parker Gavlas, 2020 NHL Draft prospect Lukas Svejkovsky, and Baxter Anderson had the other goals for the Tigers in the win.

Zack Smith and Logan Nijhoff scored for the Pats in the loss.

Mads Søgaard (Ottawa Senators) made 18 saves on 20 shots to earn the victory.

Swift Current Broncos at Moose Jaw Warriors – Scoring & Highlights

Cade Hayes and Tate Popple each scored twice and Martin Lang tallied three assists as part of a four-point night as the Moose Jaw Warriors took down the Swift Current Broncos 6-2.

Kaleb Bulych and Cole Nagy opened the scoring for the visitors in the first, but goals from Lang and Hayes would tie up the game through 20 minutes. In the second, Popple, Ryder Korczak, and Hayes all found the back of the net, with Popple completing his two-goal night in the third.

2020 NHL Draft prospect Brock Gould made 26 saves to earn the victory.

Prince Albert Raiders at Saskatoon Blades- Scoring & Highlights

The Saskatoon Blades continued their success over their geographical rivals with a 4-2 win against the Prince Albert Raiders on home ice.

Zach Huber had the only goal through 20 minutes to give the Blades a 1-0 lead early. 2020 NHL Draft prospect Ozzy Wiesblatt tied up the game in the second with the lone goal of the period.

The Blades forged ahead in the second half of the third as 2020 NHL Draft prospect Tristen Robins scored twice in a 181-second span. Kyle Crnkovic and Nolan Allan traded goals late to keep the difference at a pair of goals.

Nolan Maier made 24 saves for the win.

Edmonton Oil Kings at Lethbridge Hurricanes – Scoring & Highlights

Brett Davis and 2020 NHL Draft prospect Alex Cotton scored in the shootout as the Lethbridge Hurricanes won a pivotal 5-4 contest against the Edmonton Oil Kings in southern Alberta.

Davis’ first of two goals in regulation put the Hurricanes on the board first before Wyatt McLeod tied things up through 20 minutes. In the second, Ethan McIndoe put the visitors ahead before Hurricanes co-captain Dylan Cozens (Buffalo Sabres) tied up the contest.

In the third, 2020 NHL Draft prospect Jake Neighbours and Vladimir Alistrov tallied goals for the Oil Kings in the third while Davis’ second and Zach Stringer’s 11th goal featured for the Hurricanes.

Carl Tetachuk stood tall on both shootout attempts from Edmonton while Davis and Cotton converted. The hometown goaltender made 23 saves through the first 65 minutes of action to keep his team in contention.

Winnipeg ICE at Red Deer Rebels – Scoring & Highlights

2020 NHL Draft prospect Ben King scored with 2:17 left in regulation as the Red Deer Rebels edged the Winnipeg ICE 2-1 Friday in central Alberta.

Josh Tarzwell and Jakin Smallwood traded goals in a 5:24 span of game play during the first period. Both goaltenders then took over the turn aside each shot until King’s late strike.

Ethan Anders made 37 saves for the victory.

Brandon Wheat Kings at Calgary Hitmen – Scoring & Highlights

Calgary product Cole Reinhardt scored twice in his hometown Friday as the Brandon Wheat Kings topped the Calgary Hitmen by a 3-2 score.

Ridly Greig’s 23rd of the season opened the scoring before Reinhardt added his 29th and 30th goals of the year 13 seconds apart in the second. Hitmen captain Mark Kastelic (Ottawa Senators) scored a short-handed goal in the second period and Riley Stotts (Toronto Maple Leafs) scored the lone goal of the third period to bring the home side within a goal.

Jiri Patera (Vegas Golden Knights) finished with 35 saves to pick up the win.

Kamloops Blazers at Prince George Cougars – Scoring & Highlights

Orrin Centazzo scored the 40th and 41st goals of the season Friday as the Kamloops Blazers topped the Prince George Cougars by a 6-1 score.

Goals from Logan Stankoven and Matthew Seminoff featured in the first period. 2020 NHL Draft prospect Connor Zary and a goal from Montana Onyebuchi counted in the second, bookending a goal by Cougars’ captain Josh Maser. Centazzo scored twice in the third to complete the win.

Rayce Ramsay stopped 20 of 21 shots in the victory.

Zary added three assists for a four-point night.

Everett Silvertips at Kelowna Rockets – Scoring & Highlights

Captain Bryce Kindopp scored 49 seconds into overtime Friday as the Everett Silvertips topped the Kelowna Rockets 4-3.

2020 NHL Draft prospect Gage Goncalves opened the scoring with the only goal of the first. Elias Carmichael and Justyn Gurney traded goals in the second to keep the difference at one heading to the third.

In the final period, 2020 NHL Draft prospect Michal Gut extended the lead to two before Mark Liwiski and a last-minute goal by Conner McDonald tied up the game. However, the Silvertips would have the last laugh, with Kindopp winning it for his side.

Dustin Wolf (Calgary Flames) made 27 saves on 30 shots for the victory.

Victoria Royals at Vancouver Giants – Scoring & Highlights

Trent Miner (Colorado Avalanche) posted an 18-save shutout as the Vancouver Giants blanked the Victoria Royals 3-0 Friday in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.

Trevor Longo scored in the first while Bowen Byram (Colorado Avalanche) and Milos Roman (Calgary Flames) struck in the third. Byram had the lone multi-point game of any skater on the ice, picking up a goal and an assist.

Miner made six saves in the first, four in the second, and eight in the third.

Seattle Thunderbirds at Spokane Chiefs – Scoring & Highlights

Led by a record-setting eight-point night by captain Ty Smith (New Jersey Devils), the Spokane Chiefs cruised to a 9-2 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on home ice.

Smith factored into all but his team’s seventh goal, posting a hat trick and five assists as well as a plus-six rating. Smith scored the second, third, and sixth goals of the contest for Spokane, picking up helpers on their first, fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth goals.

The performance by Smith broke the previous franchise record for points in a single game by a defenceman, which was set by Smith in February 2018, and served as just the fifth hat trick by a defenceman in franchise history.

Scoring four times in the first, twice in the second and three times in the third, the Chiefs also received a pair of goals from Luke Toporowski as well as singles by Eli Zummack, Leif Mattson, Owen MacNeil, and Noah King. Lukáš Pařík (Los Angeles Kings) made 23 saves for the victory.

Andrej Kukuca and Payton Mount scored for the Thunderbirds.

Mattson added three helpers four a four-point night while King, Zummack, and Toporowski each contributed three points.

Portland Winterhawks at Tri-City Americans – Scoring & Highlights

2020 NHL Draft prospect Seth Jarvis and Jaydon Dureau each registered a goal and an assist as the Portland Winterhawks topped the Tri-City Americans 3-1.

Mason Mannek had the other goal for the Winterhawks while Edge Lambert scored for the Americans.

Dante Giannuzzi made 23 saves on 24 shots to earn the win.