HAWKS BLANK ‘TIPS – Mac Carruth turned aside all 26 shots he faced to post his first WHL shutout as the Portland Winterhawks skated to a 3-0 win over the visiting Everett Silvertips in Western Hockey League action on Tuesday night.
Spencer Bennett scored once and chipped in two assists while Ty Rattie – with a goal and an assist – and Luca Sbisa also scored for the Winterhawks (42-25-2-1), who earn their second straight win but remain four points back of Spokane for fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
Thomas Heemskerk made 37 saves in a losing cause for the Silvertips (44-20-3-2), who suffer their first regulation defeat since February 12th, but remain tied with Tri-Cities for first place in the Western Conference.
Gaelan Patterson notched a goal and an assist and Steven Stanford turned aside 28 of 30 shots he faced as the Saskatoon Blades doubled up the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors 4-2 on Tuesday.
Walker Wintoneak, Darian Dziurzynski and Marek Viedensky also scored for the Blades (45-17-3-4), who close to within one point of the Brandon Wheat Kings for top spot in the East Division. Rookie defenseman Duncan Siemens chipped in two assists.
Jason Bast scored his 30th goal of the season and Dylan Hood also scored for the Warriors (33-26-5-5), who have lost three of their last four games but remain in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Brandon Glover made 23 saves in the defeat.
Blake Gal and Kenton Miller each tallied a goal and an assist and Kyle Beach scored his 52nd goal of the season as the Spokane Chiefs downed the visiting Kelowna Rockets 5-2 on Tuesday.
Levko Koper and Stefan Ulmer also scored for the Chiefs (43-21-3-2), who have won three straight games and now sit just two points back of Tri-Cities and Everett for a share of first place in the Western Conference. James Reid made 30 saves to record his 36th victory of the season.
Shane McColgan notched his 25th goal of the season while Brandon McMillan tallied his 20th of the campaign for the Rockets (33-31-2-4), who see a three-game winning streak come to an end. Mark Guggenberger and Adam Brown combined for 26 saves in a losing cause.
Cam Braes scored twice and set up another while Austin Fyten tallied a goal and two assists to lead the Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday.
Carter Bancks – with a goal and an assist – and Jacob Berglund also scored for the Hurricanes (20-42-5-3), who snap a three-game losing skid and a three-game home-ice losing skid. Brandon Anderson made 29 saves in the win.
Landon Ferraro and Andrej Kudrna each notched a goal and an assist for the Rebels (39-25-0-5), who have dropped their last two games and remain in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Kraymer Barnstable and Darcy Kuemper combined for 23 saves in the loss.
Ryan Howse scored three goals and chipped in an assist to lead the visiting Chilliwack Bruins to a 7-4 win over the Prince George Cougars on Tuesday.
Jeff Einhorn, Brandon Manning, Kevin Sundher and Dylen McKinlay – with his 20th of the season – also scored for the Bruins (31-32-1-5), who now trail Kamloops by two points for seventh place and the Rockets by four points for sixth spot in the Western Conference. Lucas Gore made 22 stops to record his 20th victory of the season.
15-year-old rookie Troy Bourke scored the first two goals of his WHL career, Wilson Dumais notched his first WHL goal and added an assist and James Dobrowolski also tallied a goal and an assist for the Cougars (11-55-1-2), who see their losing skid hit 14 games. Brett Connolly picked up an assist in his return to the lineup while Hudson Stremmel made 27 saves in the loss.
