WHL HEADLINES

WHL FRIDAY NIGHT RECAP – Riley Merkley scored the winner as the Calgary Hitmen got by the visiting Prince George Cougars 3-2 in one of nine Western Hockey League contests on Friday night.
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rBrodie Dupont and Shaun Landolt also tallied for the Hitmen while Justin Pogge, facing his former team, stopped 32 shots for the win. The victory improves the Hitmen to 26-17-6-2 and keeps them two points ahead of Red Deer for third in the Central division.
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rNicholas Drazenovic scored once and added an assist for the Cougars while Colin Patterson also tallied in a losing effort. The loss drops the Cougars to 20-26-3-1 but they remain two points up on Kamloops for fourth in the B.C. division.
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rElsewhere last night, Gordon Baldwin scored the game-winner to lift the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers to a 2-1 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
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rClarke MacArthur also tallied for the Tigers while Kevin Nastiuk made 30 saves for the victory. The win improves the Tigers to 29-14-3-2 and moves them into a tie with the ‘Canes for top spot in the Central division.
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rKris Versteeg scored the lone goal for the Hurricanes while Aaron Sorochan stopped 38 shots in the defeat. The loss drops the ‘Canes to 26-13-10-1 and leaves them deadlocked with the Tigers for first in the Central division.
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rDevin Setoguchi scored twice to lead the Saskatoon Blades to a 3-1 win over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night.
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rWacey Rabbit also tallied for the Blades while netminder Russel Monette stopped 24 shots for his first WHL victory. The win improves the Blades to 28-15-5-4 and keeps them comfortably in first in the East division.
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rRiley Holzapfel scored the lone goal for the Warriors in the defeat. The loss leaves the Warriors at 7-35-7-1 and they remain fifth in the East division.
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rIn Everett, Brandon Dubinsky scored the winner and chipped in an assist to lead the visiting Portland Winter Hawks to a 4-2 win over the Silvertips last night.
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rMichael Funk also tallied a goal and an assist for the Hawks while Blake Grenier made 23 saves for the victory. The win improves the Hawks to 21-22-4-4 and moves them into a tie with Everett for second in the U.S. division.
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rCurtis Billsten and Tyler Dietrich scored for the Silvertips, who drop their fourth straight contest. The loss leaves the ‘Tips at 21-20-6-2 and leaves them tied with Portland for second in the U.S. division.
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rLadislav Scurko netted the game-winner as the Seattle Thunderbirds got by the visiting Kamloops Blazers 4-2 last night.
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rClayton Barthel, Derek Couture and Tyler Metcalfe also scored for the T-Birds while Bryan Bridges made 22 saves for the victory. The win improves the Thunderbirds to 33-14-0-1 and keeps them well on top of the U.S. division.
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rKris Hogg and Kalvin Sagert scored for the Blazers in the defeat while Devan Dubnyk stopped 27 of 30 shots he faced. The loss leaves the Blazers at 18-26-4-2 and keeps them fifth in the B.C. division.
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rIn Prince Albert, Chris Schlenker scored twice, including the winner, as the Raiders beat the visiting Regina Pats 4-2 last night.
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rBrad Erickson scored once and added two assists for the Raiders while Alex Archibald made 13 saves in the victory. The win improves the Raiders to 20-24-4-2 and keeps them third in the East division.
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rIan Duval and Kyle Deck scored for the Pats who, with the loss, extend their winless skid to nine games. The loss leaves the Pats at 11-32-3-4 and fourth in the East division.
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rColin Fraser netted a hat trick and an assist to lead the Red Deer Rebels to a 5-1 win over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings last night.
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rRoman Wick tallied a goal and two assists for the Rebels while Ty Morris chipped in four assists. The victory improves the Rebels to 25-17-4-4 and keeps them only two points behind Calgary for third in the Central division.
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rEric Fehr scored the lone goal for the Wheat Kings, who drop their third straight contest on their Central division road trip. The loss leaves Brandon at 24-18-5-1 and second in the East division.
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rNigel Dawes scored the game-winner on the power play as the visiting Kootenay Ice got by the Swift Current Broncos 4-2 on Friday night.
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rRyan Russell tallied a goal and two assists while Martin Sagat scored twice and added two helpers in the win. The victory – Kootenay’s 10th straight – improves them to 32-13-4-0 and leaves them only one point behind Kelowna for first in the B.C. division.
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rJerrid Sauer and Luke Hunter scored for the Broncos in a losing effort. The defeat sees the Broncos slip to 16-26-6-1 and they remain fifth in the Central division.
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rIn other action Friday night, Gilbert Brule scored a goal and added an assist as the Vancouver Giants beat the visiting Tri-City Americans 3-1.
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rMitch Bartley and Andrej Meszaros also scored for the Giants while Marek Schwarz made 15 saves in the win. The victory improves the Giants to 26-20-2-2 and keeps them third in the B.C. division.
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rLogan Stephenson tallied the lone goal for the Americans in the loss while Carey Price stopped 26 shots. The defeat leaves the Ams at 17-22-5-2 and keeps them tied with Spokane for fourth in the U.S. division.
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