WHL HEADLINES – Friday Night Recap

REEKIE AND PATS BLANK WARRIORS – David Reekie (pictured) stopped all 30 shots he faced for his first career WHL shutout as the Regina Pats managed a 5-0 win over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors in one of nine Western hockey League contests on Friday, December 16th.
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rKyle Ross and Ian Duval each tallied a goal and an assist for the Pats, who win their third straight game and fourth in their last five, while Logan Pyett, Justin Bernhardt and Matt Robinson also scored in the victory. The win improves the Pats to 19-13-0-1 and they remain third in the East Division.
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rJosh Lepp stopped 23 of 28 shots he faced for the Warriors in a losing effort. The loss leaves Moose Jaw at 20-11-2-2 and they remain second in the East Division – five points ahead of Regina.
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rElsewhere on Friday night, Mark Kress‘ first-period shorthanded marker turned out to be the winner as the visiting Everett Silvertips got by the Spokane Chiefs 4-1.
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rEric Doyle, John Lammers and Peter Mueller also scored for the Silvertips, who win their second straight, while Leland Irving stopped 27 of 28 shots to pick up the victory. The win improves Everett to 19-14-1-0 and they remain first in the U.S. Division.
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rChris Bruton scored the lone goal for the Chiefs while Jim Watt and Thomas Stehr combined for 29 saves in a losing cause. The defeat drops the Chiefs to 15-16-1-0 and they remain fourth in the U.S. Division.
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rIn Lethbridge, David Schlemko tallied the decisive goal in a shoot-out to lift the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers to a 6-5 win over the Hurricanes on Friday night.
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rDaine Todd scored twice and set up another in regulation and also tallied in the shoot-out for the Tigers while Chris Stevens, Derek Dorsett and Darren Helm also scored. Matt Keetley stopped 43 of 48 shots through 65 minutes of regulation play, and denied both Hurricanes shooters in the shoot-out to pick up the win. The victory improves Medicine Hat to 23-8-0-6 and keeps them first in the Central Division.
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rColton Yellow Horn tallied a goal and two assists for the ‘Canes while Zach Boychuk, Jacob Dietrich, Michael Kaye, and Ben Wright also scored. Roman Wick chipped in four assists. Justin Leclerc turned aside 33 of 38 shots in regulation for the ‘Canes, but was beaten twice in the shoot-out to take the loss. The shoot-out defeat leaves Lethbridge at 15-12-2-4 and third in the Central Division.
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rIn Kelowna, Justin Keller continued his red-hot play notching two goals to lead the Rockets to a 5-2 win over the visiting Portland Winter Hawks on Friday.
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rTroy Bodie tallied two goals and an assist for the Rockets, who win for the eighth time in their last 10 games, while Mike Card scored once and added three assists in the win. Derek Yeomans stopped 21 shots to pick up the victory. The win improves Kelowna to 22-8-1-1 but they remain third in the B.C. Division.
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rGarth Collins and Max Gordichuk scored for the Winter Hawks, who suffer their fourth straight defeat, while Dustin Butler and Luke Shier combined for 27 saves in a losing effort. The defeat leaves Portland at 15-13-1-2 and they remain second in the U.S. Division.
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rIn Seattle, Ian McDonald scored twice to lead the visiting Tri-City Americans to a 3-1 victory over the Thunderbirds on Friday.
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rRookie Joel Broda scored his first WHL goal – the game-winner – for the Ams in the win while Chet Pickard stopped 23 of 24 shots to claim the victory. The win improves the Americans to 12-14-3-1 and leaves them just three points back of the Chiefs for fourth in the U.S. Division.
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rClayton Barthel scored the lone goal for the T-Birds, who drop their fourth straight decision, while Gavin McHale made 22 saves in the defeat. The loss leaves Seattle at 14-15-1-3 and they remain third in the U.S. Division.
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rIn Vancouver, Cody Franson scored 25 seconds into overtime to lift the Giants to a 4-3 win over the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Friday.
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rSpencer Machacek scored twice for the Giants, who erased a 3-0 deficit in the third period, while Mitch Bartley also counted in the win. Dustin Slade stopped 16 shots to pick up his 16th victory of the season. The win improves Vancouver to 22-8-0-4 and leaves them just two points back of Kootenay for the B.C. Division lead.
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rNed Lukacevic scored twice for the Broncos, who were out-shot 51-19, while Josh Aspenlind tallied for the fifth time in his last six games. Kyle Moir turned in a solid 47-save performance in a losing cause. The defeat – their ninth straight – leaves the Broncos at 9-18-1-8 and they remain fourth in the Central Division.
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rIn Prince George, Colin Patterson scored twice to lead the Cougars to a 3-0 victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers on Friday night.
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rKirk Meaver also counted for the Cats, who win their third straight contest, while Real Cyr made 20 saves for his second shutout of the season. The victory improves Prince George to 18-14-0-3 and leaves them three points up on Kamloops for fourth in the B.C. Division.
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rMichael Maniago made 29 saves for the Blazers in a losing cause. The defeat drops the Blazers to 18-18-0-0 and they remain fifth in the B.C. Division.
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rIn Prince Albert, Dustin Kohn scored the winner and added an assist to lead the visiting Calgary Hitmen to a 3-2 win over the Raiders on Friday.
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rKeegan Dansereau and Steve Covington also counted for the visitors while Daniel Spence made 21 saves to earn the victory. The win – Calgary’s seventh straight – improves them to 25-8-0-0 but they remain second in the Central Division.
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rJarrid Dowhay and Brad Erickson scored for the Raiders, who drop their fifth straight contest, while Alex Archibald made 30 saves in the loss. The defeat drops the Raiders to 9-19-0-7 and leaves them tied with Brandon for fourth in the East Division.
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rIn other Friday action, Kurt Jory stopped all 23 shots he faced for his first career WHL shutout as the Brandon Wheat Kings blanked the visiting Red Deer Rebels 2-0.
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rCodey Burki scored a goal and added an assist for the Wheat Kings while Sami Sandell also counted in the win. The victory improves the Wheat Kings to 10-19-4-1 and moves them into a tie with Prince Albert for fourth in the East Division.
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rJames Reimer turned in a 33-save effort for the Rebels in the defeat. The loss drops Red Deer to 10-21-1-3 and they remain fifth in the Central Division.
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