WEDNESDAY’S WHL PLAYOFF ROUND-UP
ICE COMPLETE SWEEP OF BLADES – The Kootenay Ice booked their place in the 2011 Husky WHL Eastern Conference Championship series after completing a sweep of the Saskatoon Blades with a 5-2 victory in Game 4 of their best-of-seven second-round series in WHL playoff action on Wednesday night.
Matt Fraser scored twice and set up two more while Max Reinhart also scored twice for the Ice, who win the best-of-seven series 4-0 and advance to the third round of the WHL playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 season, while Cody Eakin tallied a goal and an assist in the victory.
Josh Nicholls and Darian Dziurzynski scored for the Blades, who are eliminated from the 2011 WHL playoffs after posting the best record in the WHL during the regular season.
Nathan Lieuwen made 33 saves for the Ice to backstop the team to the victory. Lieuwen has now won seven straight post-season starts for the Ice and boasts an 8-2 record in the 2011 playoffs.
Steven Stanford made 38 saves in a losing cause for the Blades, who led 1-0 after the first period but surrendered the next four goals en route to suffering a season-ending defeat.
The Ice will now face either the Medicine Hat Tigers or Red Deer Rebels in the 2011 Husky WHL Eastern Conference Championship series.
Kootenay wins best-of-seven series 4-0
REBELS 1, TIGERS 0
Dawson Guhle turned aside all 19 shots he faced to record his first career WHL playoff win and shutout as the visiting Red Deer Rebels eked out a 1-0 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers in Game 4 of their Husky WHL Eastern Conference semi-final series on Wednesday.
Byron Froese scored the game’s only goal for the Rebels, who keep their season alive with the win and now trail the best-of-seven series 3-1.
Tyler Bunz turned aside 23 of 24 shots he faced in a losing cause for the Tigers, who see a six-game playoff winning streak come to an end.
The Rebels will host the Tigers for Game 5 of the best-of-seven series on Saturday night in Red Deer, AB.
Medicine Hat leads best-of-seven series 3-1
KAL TIRE WHL WESTERN CONFERENCE
WINTERHAWKS 4, ROCKETS 2
Joe Morrow scored the winner and Nino Niederreiter picked up three assists to lead the visiting Portland Winterhawks to a 4-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets in Game 4 of their Kal Tire WHL Western Conference semi-final series on Wednesday.
Ty Rattie, Taylor Peters and Ryan Johansen also scored for the Winterhawks, who win their third straight game in the series and now hold a 3-1 lead to put the Rockets on the verge of elimination. Mac Carruth made 24 saves to claim his seventh win of the post-season.
Shane McColgan and Brett Bulmer scored for the Rockets, who went 1-for-4 on the power play in the Game 4 loss. Adam Brown made 35 saves in a losing cause.
The Winterhawks host the Rockets for Game 5 of the best-of-seven series on Friday night in Portland, OR.
Portland leads best-of-seven series 3-1
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