HITMEN BLANK TIGERS – Martin Jones turned in a 33-save performance to record his fifth shutout of the season as the Calgary Hitmen topped the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 2-0 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday.
Joel Broda notched his 28th goal of the season while Del Cowan added an empty-net goal for the Hitmen (36-16-1-1), who earn their second straight win over the Tigers and their fourth straight, overall, to move into sole possession of top spot in the Central Division.
Tyler Bunz made 23 saves in a losing cause for the Tigers (32-18-3-5), who suffer their third straight loss, including their 4-1 defeat to the Hitmen in Medicine Hat on Thursday. The loss drops the Tigers to third in the Central Division and fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Mitch Spooner scored 2:15 into overtime to lift the Regina Pats to a 4-3 win over the visiting Kootenay Ice on Saturday.
Jordan Eberle scored once and set up two more, Carter Ashton added a goal and an assist and Cody Carlson and Andrew Rieder also scored for the Pats (24-25-3-4), who had lost their previous three games in shootouts. Damien Ketlo made 27 saves to record his 17th win of the season.
Jesse Ismond scored three goals and Dustin Sylvester tallied a shorthanded marker for the Ice (34-17-3-2), who drop their second game in as many nights. Todd Mathews made 22 saves in the loss.
Gaelan Patterson scored 2:01 into overtime to lift the Saskatoon Blades to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday.
Darian Dziuzynski, Walker Wintoneak and Stefan Elliott – with his 20th goal of the season – also scored for the Blades (36-12-3-3), who rallied from a 3-0 deficit to post their second straight win while moving back into a tie with the Wheaties for top spot in the Eastern Conference. Steven Stanford made 19 saves in the win.
Toni Rajala, Shayne Wiebe and Matt Calvert – with his 36th of the season – scored for the Wheat Kings (37-16-1-3), who see their seven-game winning streak come to an end. Jacob DeSerres made 36 saves in a losing cause.
Morgan Clark made 37 saves to record his first shutout of the season as the Swift Current Broncos blanked the visiting Red Deer Rebels 6-0 on Saturday.
Justin Dowling scored three goals and added an assist while Michael Stickland, Cody Eakin and Dillon Wagner all notched a goal and an assist for the Broncos (28-25-0-3), who earn their second win in a row and move one point behind Moose Jaw for the eighth playoff spot in the East Division.
Darcy Kuemper and Kraymer Barnstable combined for 23 saves in a losing effort for the Rebels (30-21-0-4), who have dropped two of their last three games but remain in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Adam Brown made 26 saves to notch his fourth shutout of the season as the Kelowna Rockets edged the visiting Chilliwack Bruins 1-0 on Saturday.
Lucas Bloodoff’s 11th goal of the season on the power play early in the third period was the game’s only goal for the Rockets (28-25-2-2), who win their ninth consecutive game and now sit six points back of Spokane for fifth place in the Western Conference.
Lucas Gore made 33 saves in a losing cause for the Bruins (24-26-1-5), who were blanked on six power play chances in the contest.
Ryan Funk scored the go-ahead goal 13:41 into the third period as the Kamloops Blazers managed a 2-1 triumph over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday.
Bronson Maschmeyer also scored for the Blazers (26-25-2-4), who trailed 1-0 after two periods but scored twice in the third frame to record the win. Jon Groenheyde made 22 saves to claim his eighth victory of the season.
Carter Bancks scored the only goal for the Hurricanes (16-34-3-2), who see their losing skid hit eight games and have won just one of their last 12 games.
Garry Nunn, T.J. Foster and Sebastian Svendsen each tallied a goal and an assist as the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings skated to a 5-2 win over the Prince George Cougars on Saturday.
Cameron Maclise and Robin Soudek also scored for the Oil Kings (12-33-4-8), who scored four times in the second period en route to their first road victory since November 14th. Torrie Jung made 19 saves in the victory.
Nick Buonassisi and Parker Stanfield scored for the Cougars (10-41-1-2), who were outshot 40-21 by the visitors in the defeat. Hudson Stremmel made 35 saves in the loss.
Patrick Holland scored the winner in a shootout to lift the visiting Tri-City Americans to a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C., on Saturday.
Neil Prokop notched a goal and three assists, Holland and Justin Feser each tallied a goal and two assists and Brock Sutherland also scored in regulation for the Americans (38-13-0-2), who rallied from a 3-0 deficit with four straight goals only to surrender the game-tying goal with 12 seconds left in the third period. Drew Owsley made 30 saves through53 minutes of regulation and overtime, and wasn’t beaten in the shootout to earn the win after replacing starter Alexander Pechurskiy, who allowed three goals on eight shots in the opening 10 minutes of the game.
Lance Bouma, Brett Breitkreuz, James Wright and Milan Kytnar scored for the Giants (33-20-1-3), who see a two-game win streak come to an end and fall to 3-1-0-1 at the Langley Events Centre. Mark Segal made 31 saves through three periods and overtime, but was beaten once in the shootout for the loss.
Byron Froese scored twice and set up two more for a four-point effort as the Everett Silvertips defeated the visiting Spokane Chiefs 5-1 on Saturday.
Kellan Tochkin and Tyler Maxwell each notched a goal and two assists and Alex Theriau also counted for the Silvertips (34-18-2-1), who snap a two-game losing skid with their 15th win in their last 17 games. Kent Simpson made 18 saves in the win.
Kyle Beach – with his 36th of the season – scored the only goal for the Chiefs (31-20-3-1), who were outshot 43-19 by the hosts as they fall five points behind the ‘Tips and Winterhawks for a share of third place in the Western Conference. James Reid and Michael Tadjdeh combined for 38 saves in the loss.
Oliver Gabriel scored his eighth goal of the season as the visiting Portland Winterhawks got scoring from six different players en route to a 6-3 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday.
Troy Rutkowski, Luke Walker, Stefan Schneider, Nino Niederreiter and Taylor Peters also scored for the Winterhawks (34-20-2-1), who trailed 2-1 after the opening period but scored four straight goals in the second period as they sweep their home-and-home series versus the T-Birds. Mac Carruth made 24 saves in the win.
Brendon Dillon, Charles Wells and Luke Lockhart scored for the Thunderbirds (14-31-5-4), who suffer their 13th straight setback. Calvin Pickard and Michael Salmon combined for4 29 saves in the loss.
