SUNDAY’S WHL ROUND-UP
ROCKETS SHOOT DOWN AMS – Zach Franko scored two goals to help the visiting Kelowna Rockets edge the Tri-City Americans 4-3 in Western Hockey League action on Sunday.
Jessey Astles and MacKenzie Johnston – with his first WHL tally – also scored for the Rockets (27-20-0-0), who win their fourth straight contest while defeating two of the top Western Conference teams – Spokane and Tri-Cities – on back-to-back nights on the road. Jordon Cooke stopped 30 of 33 shots fired his way to record his fifth win of the season.
Carter Ashton scored twice and Justin Feser also counted for the Americans (29-13-2-1), who suffer just their fourth loss on home ice all season. Drew Owsley made 11 saves on 15 shots in a losing cause for the Americans.
GIANTS 7, BRUINS 3
Brendan Gallagher scored three goals to lead the Vancouver Giants to a 7-3 win over the visiting Chilliwack Bruins on Sunday.
Andrej Stastny scored twice and set up another, giving him five goals and seven points over his last two games, while Jordan Martinook and Michael Burns also scored for the Giants (25-19-1-4), who pick up their fourth straight win to remain one point up on Kelowna for first place in the B.C. Division. Mark Segal made 11 saves through 49:12 of action to earn the win while Brendan Jensen made two stops in 10 minutes of relief work.
Steven Hodges, Roman Horak and Robin Soudek scored for the Bruins (21-21-2-2), who allowed the game’s first seven goals before getting on the board early in the third period. Lucas Gore made 29 saves in the defeat.
WINTERHAWKS 6, CHIEFS 5 O/T
Nino Niederreiter scored his second goal of the game and 20th of the season 4:24 into overtime to lift the Portland Winterhawks to a 6-5 win over the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Sunday.
Ryan Johansen scored twice and added an assist while Sven Baertschi and Riley Boychuk also scored for the Winterhawks (32-14-0-3), who stretch their win streak to five games and move three points ahead of the Chiefs for first place in the U.S. Division. Mac Carruth made 42 saves in the win.
Brenden Kichton and Levko Koper each scored twice, Jared Cowen added a single and Tyler Johnson chipped in three assists for the Chiefs (29-12-4-2), who suffer back-to-back losses for the first time since the end of November. James Reid and Mac Engel combined for 31 saves in the loss.
REBELS 6, ICE 4
John Persson scored three goals and Andrej Kudrna tallied two goals and three assists to pace the visiting Red Deer Rebels to a 6-4 win over the Kootenay Ice on Sunday.
Brett Ferguson added an empty-net marker and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins chipped in four assists for the Rebels (32-12-1-4), who push their winning streak to eight games and now sit just one point back of Saskatoon for first place in the overall WHL standings. Darcy Kuemper made 36 saves to claim his 31st win of the season and 80th of his WHL career.
Brayden McNabb and Cody Eakin each tallied a goal and an assist while Jagger Dirk and Kevin King also scored for the Ice (30-15-1-2), who suffer their second loss in a row and fall six points back of Red Deer for first place in the Central Division standings. Nathan Lieuwen made 26 stops in the defeat.
————————————————————–
Loading ...