Brandon 2 Kootenay 0
Logan Thompson and the Brandon Wheat Kings (10-6-0-1) had some excuses for dropping a 4-2 game to the Kootenay ICE (8-9-1-0) on Friday night. They were missing four defenseman and saw many penalties put their d-men present away in the penalty box.
Instead of letting this turn into a forgettable weekend, they responded with a stellar defensive performance. They also got a great outing from their starting netminder Logan Thompson, as he turned away all 23 shots he faced, en route to a 2-0 win and his second career shutout. This came one night after he was pulled form the net.
Cole Reinhardt got things going for Brandon as he picked off a clearing pass and skated into the slot. He stickhandled into some room and tried to wire one past Kootenay goalie Bailey Brkin. His first try failed, but he followed up his own look and banked the puck off Brkin and in.
The Wheat Kings then got some third period insurance courtesy of Ryaln Bettens. After Ben McCartney got Kale Clague some room for a shot from the point, Bettens deflected the puck in.
This was Thompson’s first shutout since 10/22/16 against the Spokane Chiefs.
Kootenay now heads home and hosts the Prince Albert Raiders next Friday. The Wheat Kings do not play for an entire week as they next host the Saskatoon Blades next Saturday.
Moose Jaw 3 @Prince Albert 2
You just cannot count the Moose Jaw Warriors (13-4) out. Two nights ago, they trailed 2-1 with 10 minutes, before they came back and scored four straight en route to a 5-2 win over the Prince Albert Raiders (7-6-3-0). Saturday night in P.A. they trailed 1-0 with 10 minutes left and they scored three goals in a row, en route to a 3-2 win ver those same Raiders.
Adam Evanoff was amazing for Moose Jaw, turning away 16 of 18 and allowing his team to stay close.
Noah Gregor had two assists for the Warriors and Brett Howden and Jayden Halbgewachs scored this 10th and 11th goals of the year respectively in the win.
Curtis Miske got the opening goal in the second period on a breakaway.
Moose Jaw tied the game with 9:44 left as a Justin Almeida wraparound failed, but a follow from Brayden Burke did not. Then, on the power play, a Brayden Burke one-timer was stopped, but a scramble in front, led to a goal by Brett Howden.
Halbgewachs then scored off the rush to stake them to a two-goal lead they would need as Jordy Stallard netted his 13th of the year with the goalie pulled. That would give us the 3-2 final.
Ian Scott was stellar for much of the game, but still got his second loss of the season, stopping 25 of 28.
Moose Jaw will head to Regina for a game Friday, while P.A. plays the ICE in Cranbrook.
Medicine Hat 4 Seattle 3 (OT)
It was a costly overtime win for the Medicine Hat Tigers (10-6) as they took the two points with a 4-3 win in the extra session over the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds (9-5-1-1). Mark Rassell netted his second of the night just 11 seconds into overtime, but the Tigers lost starting goalie Michael Bullion to a head injury after a collision with rookie Seattle d-man Cade McNelly.
Cade Mcnelly 2min minor for goalie interference on Michael Bullion: you be the judge#SEAvsMH #WHL pic.twitter.com/udicnCdEhU
— WHL Unfiltered (@WHLunfiltered) November 5, 2017
Seattle scored on the play, but the goal was waved off.
Jordan Hollett came in and got the win, stopping 18 of 20, after Bullion had turned away 15 of 16.
Seattle’s Liam Hughes turned away 23 of 27 in the loss.
Medicine Hat converted on a power play to open the scoring. Hayden Ostir’s back door pass to Gary Haden at the back post was broken up by Seattle goalie Lim Hughes, but Ryan Chyzowski was right there to slam home the rebound.
The Tigers added another marker 1:26 into the second period as Ostir and Mark Rassell connected on a play off a Seattle turnover.
Blake Bargar cut into the lead eight minutes later, bur Rassell re-staked the Tigers out to a two-goal lead 9:45 into the third.
Seattle, who finished their seven-game road trip with a 5-1-1 record, were able to steal a point by tying the game with two markers from Turner Ottenbreit. His last came with the goalie pulled and only 1:42 left.
The Thunderbirds are now done with their road trip. They will head back home to take on the Tri-City Americans next Friday. The Tigers will play an intra-division game against the Calgary Hitmen on the same day.
Victoria 4 Kelowna 2
The high-flying Victoria Royals (13-5-1-0) were stifled by Kelowna Rockets (8-6-2-1) goalie James Porter for much of the night Friday and were handed a tough 4-2 loss on home ice. They rebounded Saturday and took the second of back-to-back games between the two teams with a 4-2 win of their own.
Ryan Peckford led the charge for Victoria with two goals, while Tyler Soy added two assists and Griffen Outhouse stopped 20 of 22 shots.
The Royals, like the night before, built a lead-this time a 4-0 one.
Peckford’s first opened the scoring as a shot form Chaz Reddekopp created a rebound in front that he found. Then, just over a minute later, Dante Hannoun scored on a breakaway.
Peckford added his second goal with 6:58 left in the first as he flew up the wing and sniped a shot past Kelowna netminder Brodan Salmond. Salmond returned to the net for the first time since October 15th.
Dino Kambeitz added another goal for Victoria 5:33 into the third and it was 4-0 Victoria.
The Rockets came back a bit and made things interesting with goals from Nolan Foote and Leif Mattson-both on the power play, but that would not be enough.
The Rockets will next play on Friday against the Vancouver Giants. The Royals will welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Vancouver 5 @Kamloops 4
The other all-B.C. Division match up, would oddly also be a reversal of the score the previous night. Last night in Langley, the Kamloops Blazers (5-12) won 5-4, this time it was the Vancouver Giants (6-8-1-2) getting the 5-4 road win.
Vancouver was led by two goals from Ty Ronning, a three point night from Tyler Benson and a 43 save effort from Todd Scott in the win.
The Blazers got two goals from Jermaine Loewen and two point nights from Nolan Kneen and Luc Smith in the loss.
Max Palaga, starting in his second straight with Dylan Ferguson called away by the Vegas Golden Knights, was pulled after giving up four goals on 10 shots. Dylan Garand, a 15-year-old from Victoria, came in and turned away 12 of 13 in relief. It was Garand’s first WHL action.
The Giants will play in Kelowna on Friday, while the Blazers will host the Red Deer Rebels.
