WHL Tonight: Tigers tame Rebels in Medicine Hat for fourth-straight home victory

 

Western Hockey League Three Stars: Wednesday, October 24, 2018

1. Peyton Krebs, Kootenay ICE: The 17-year-old product of Okotoks, Alta., showed why he is so highly touted heading into the 2019 NHL Draft, as he scored the overtime-winning goal in a 4-3 triumph over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday at Western Financial Place.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Krebs made the most of his fifth goal of the season, sending the ICE to its fourth win of the campaign.

With 16 points (5G-11A) in 12 contests, the former first overall bantam selection (2016) leads the ICE in scoring this season.

2. James Hamblin, Medicine Hat Tigers: Captain Hamblin led the way Wednesday night, collecting a power-play goal and two assists to guide the Tigers to a 4-1 home win over the Red Deer Rebels.

For the 19-year-old Hamblin, Wednesday’s performance extended a four-game point streak in which he has notched three goals and four assists for seven points. Through 14 games this season, the product of Edmonton has tallied 15 points (7G-8A), which is good enough to chart himself atop the Tigers scoring ranks.

3. Dustin Wolf, Everett Silvertips: Wolf, another 2019 NHL Draft-eligible youngster, turned aside 23 shots to backstop the Everett Silvertips to a 3-0 win over the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday. The shutout serves as the first of the campaign for Wolf.

The 5-foot-11, 160-pound product of Tustin, Calif., has been nothing short of stellar in 2018-19, going 8-5-0-0 with a 1.86 goals-against average and .925 save percentage with one shutout for the Silvertips.

Wednesday’s win vaulted the Silvertips into a tie with the Tri-City Americans for first place in the tightly-contested U.S. Division where only two points separate all five teams.

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Prince Albert Raiders 4 at Moose Jaw Warriors 2

Carson Miller scored twice as the Prince Albert Raiders moved to 6-0-0-0 against the East Division this season with a 4-2 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors Wednesday at Mosaic Place.

Miller’s fifth and sixth goals of the season came 2:30 apart midway through the first period to open the game. Keenan Taphorn’s first in a Warriors’ uniform cut the lead in half early in the second, but the first career WHL goal from Kaiden Guhle restored the two-goal advantage.

Tristin Langan’s ninth of the season brought the Warriors within a goal once again early in the third, but Brett Leason would pot his league-leading fourteenth goal of the season into the empty net to secure the victory.

Ian Scott (Toronto Maple Leafs) earned his league-leading twelth victory, stopping 25 of 27 shots. Adam Evanoff stopped 33 of 36 shots in the loss.

Cole Fonstad (Montreal Canadiens) added a pair of assists, Miller added an assist for the three-point game, and Leason picked up a helper for his eighth-straight multi-point performance.

Everett Silvertips 3 at Saskatoon Blades 0

A day after getting shutout 3-0 by an East Division opponent, the Everett Silvertips returned the favour, blanking the Saskatoon Blades by a 3-0 score Wednesday night at the SaskTel Centre.

The first meeting between former coaching partners Dennis Williams and Mitch Love favoured Williams as Dustin Wolf stopped all 23 shots sent his way for the fifth shutout of his WHL career.

Akash Bains scored in the first period while Dawson Butt and an empty-net goal from Riley Sutter (Washington Capitals) closed out the game in the third period. Martin Fasko-Rudas, Sean Richards, Luke Ormsby, Bryce Kindopp, and Reece Vitelli each earned a single assist in the win.

Nolan Maier stopped 28 of 30 shots in the loss. Dawson Davidson led the Blades with six shots.

Red Deer Rebels 1 at Medicine Hat Tigers 4

The Medicine Hat Tigers successfully defended home turf Wednesday, downing the visiting Red Deer Rebels by a 4-1 score.

Mads Sogaard stopped 30 of 31 shots for his fourth victory of the season, stopping four shots in the first, 12 in the second, and 14 more in the third.

Cole Clayton and Tyler Preziuso scored for the Tigers in the first, while Tigers captain James Hamblin and Rebels forward Jeff de Wit traded goals in the second. A power-play goal from Bryan Lockner was the only goal to feature in the third.

Hamblin added a pair of assists for the three-point game while Ryan Jevne added a pair of helpers. Byron Fancy stopped 23 shots for the Rebels in the loss.

Brandon Wheat Kings 3 at Kootenay ICE 4 — OT 

2019 NHL Draft prospect Peyton Krebs converted on a breakaway in overtime to help the Kootenay ICE pick up a 4-3 victory against the Brandon Wheat Kings Wednesday.

Jaegar White scored twice in the opening period, but it was matched by goals from Chase Hartje and Marcus Sekundiak to keep the score level at 2-2 after 20 minutes. That’s how things would stay until the third period, when Zack Wytinck’s first of the season put the Wheat Kings up for the first time in the game.

Jonathan Smart’s first of the season would serve as an immediate response though, coming 32 seconds after Wytinck’s goal to put the teams back in a dead heat and send the game to overtime. After a wild two minutes of action, with chances at both ends, Krebs broke free and notched the game-winning goal.

Krebs assisted on both of White’s first period goals for the three-point night while White had the only assist on Krebs’ game-winner to earn the three-point game as well. Brad Ginnell had two assists in the victory.

Connor McClennon and Cole Muir also earned helpers in the victory while Duncan McGovern stopped 27 of 30 shots to earn his 20th career WHL victory. Jiri Patera (Vegas Golden Knights) stopped 30 of 34 shots in the loss.

Tri-City Americans 4 at Prince George Cougars 3 — SO

The Tri-City Americans earned a sweep of their two-game mid-week series against the Prince George Cougars with a 4-3 shootout victory Wednesday at the CN Centre. 

Isaac Johnson had a pair of assists in regulation, then added the shootout-winning goal to secure the victory. 

Cole Moberg and Josh Maser had the Cougars up 2-0 after one period. Americans captain Nolan Yaremko and Rhett Rhinehart traded goals in the second period to keep the Americans in a two-goal hole heading to the third. 

In the final frame, Parker AuCoin’s eighth of the season came 82 seconds into the period and Krystof Hrabik tied up the game before the midway mark of the period. 

Beck Warm held the game together with 30 saves in the first 65 minutes of the game before turning aside both shootout attempts from the Cougars. Yaremko also scored for the Americans in the shootout. 

Rookie Samuel Stewart picked up a pair of assists for the first multi-point game of his WHL career. 2019 NHL Draft prospect Sasha Mutala added an assist in the victory. 

Moberg added an assist for the multi-point game. Cougars Captain Josh Curtis, Brendan Boyle, Ethan Browne, and Ilijah Colina also each earned a single helper.