WHL Roundup: Royals trounce Ams, Silvertips roll on
A relatively quiet night on the Western Hockey League’s Friday night schedule, with many clubs observing Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the United States.
The Victoria Royals scored a triumph adorned in commemorative Remembrance Day uniforms, while Cody Porter continued to factor into the success of the Calgary Hitmen.
The Brandon Wheat Kings got to Riley Lamb early en route to a big win on home ice and the Kamloops Blazers knocked off the Prince Albert Raiders to round things out.
Time to expand…
Red Deer Rebels (2) at Brandon Wheat Kings (5)
Red Deer (9-8-1-1) // Brandon (8-7-3-0)
The Brandon Wheat Kings struck three times during the first period of play, including twice before the seven-minute mark, en route to a 5-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels Friday afternoon.
Ty Lewis scored his 10th of the season on a power play at the 10:40 mark of the first period, a goal that eventually went on to stand up as the game-winner. By the end of the day, Stelio Mattheos (1G-2A), Lewis (2G-1A), Tanner Kaspick (2A) and Reid Duke (3A) all had multipoint efforts to their credit.
Between the pipes, it was Jordan Papirny turning aside 32 pucks for his sixth win of the season.
Riley Lamb was chased from the Red Deer crease after surrendering goals on the only two shots he faced during the first period. Lassse Petersen came on in relief and made 21 saves in the loss.
Prince Albert Raiders (2) at Kamloops Blazers (5)
Prince Albert (5-12-1-0) // Kamloops (11-9-1-0)
The Kamloops Blazers registered four consecutive goals, including three in the first period to fuel a 5-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders Friday night.
Garrett Pilon’s third of the season came with 3:41 to play in the first period, giving the Blazers a 3-1 lead and stood as the eventual winner. Shaun Dosanjh collected his first goal as a member of the Blazers, giving some added insurance only 4:48 into the second period.
Connor Ingram kicked out 21 pucks to collect his ninth win of the campaign and help Kamloops keep pace with the Victoria Royals (11-7-2-0, 24 points) in the BC Division race.
Everett Silvertips (2) at Portland Winterhawks (1)
Everett (14-2-2-0) // Portland (8-12-0-0)
The good times keep rolling for the Everett Silvertips.
With a 2-1 win over the Portland Winterhawks Friday night, the ‘Tips collected a sixth consecutive victory, while the Winterhawks suffered a ninth straight defeat.
Patrick Bajkov opened the scoring late in the first period before factoring into the game-winner by Dominic Zwerger only 5:07 into the second period, wrapping up a two-point evening. Captain Noah Juulsen had himself two assists upon his return from the 2016 CIBC Canada Russia Series.
In net, it was Juulsen’s Team WHL teammate Carter Hart making 23 saves for his 10th win of the season.
Keegan Iverson produced the lone response for Portland, which served as his ninth goal of the campaign.
Calgary Hitmen (3) at Seattle Thunderbirds (1)
Calgary (7-5-2-0) // Seattle (7-8-0-1)
Cody Porter turned in another sterling performance, making 27 saves to backstop the Calgary Hitmen to a 3-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds Friday night.
Beck Malenstyn scored with nine seconds remaining in the second period, breaking a 0-0 tie heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation. From there, Jakob Stukel added another tally only 2:48 into the third period to give the Hitmen an extra insurance marker.
Ethan Bear registered his fourth of the season with three minutes to play, getting the Thunderbirds on the board, but an empty-net effort from Matteo Gennaro sealed the victory for the visiting Hitmen.
Porter’s night earned him first-star recognition and his fifth victory of the season.
Tri-City Americans (2) at Victoria Royals (4)
Tri-City (12-7-1-0) // Victoria (11-7-2-0)
The Victoria Royals laid claim to a third consecutive victory with a 4-2 win over the Tri-City Americans, bringing an end to a four-game run for the Ams Friday night.
Ryan Peckford continued his career season, scoring once and adding two assists, boosting his season totals to 18 points (6G-12A) in 20 games. The product of Stony Plain, Alta., clicked for 11 points (8G-3A) in 62 games as a rookie last season.
Matthew Phillips put forth a two-goal effort as well and Jack Walker rounded out the scoring for Victoria.
The Royals scored four unanswered before the game was even 22 minutes old, taking a commanding 4-0 lead only 1:27 into the second period. Dylan Coghlan and Vladislav Lukin responded in the third period for Tri-City, but it was too little, too late.
Griffen Outhouse made 32 saves for his 11th win of the season, drawing him even with Nick Schneider of the Medicine hat Tigers for the league lead.
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