WHL roundup: Blazers’ offence comes up big in blanking Giants 6-0
By The Canadian Press on March 11, 2023.
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Connor Levis scored twice, Fraser Minten and Jakub Demek each had a goal and assist and netminder Matthew Kieper stopped 25 shots as the Kamloops Blazers beat the visiting Vancouver Giants 6-0 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday. The Blazers, who will host the 2023 Memorial Cup (May 26-June 4) and play in it as the host team, also got goals from Emmitt Finnie and Olen Zellweger. The Blazers (44-11-4-2) led 1-0 after the first period and 4-0 heading into the third. Netminder Jesper Vikman stopped 38 of 44 shots for the Giants (24-29-5-3). Elsewhere in the WHL: — REBELS 9 HITMEN 0 CALGARY, Alta. – Jhett Larson scored three goals and Kyle Kelsey made 25 saves to register the shutout as the visiting Red Deer Rebels blitzed the Calgary Hitmen 9-0. Craig Armstrong, Mats Lindgren, Kai Uchacz, Jayden Grubbe, Carson Birnie and Hunter Mayo also scored for the Rebels (41-17-3-3). The Hitmen (26-27-5-3) trailed 4-0 after the first period and 9-0 heading into the third. The Rebels outshot the hosts 57-25. — WHEAT KINGS 10 OIL KINGS 2 BRANDON, Man. – Rylen Roersma and Dawson Pasternak each scored twice as the Brandon Wheat Kings blitzed the Edmonton Oil Kings 10-2. Zakhar Polshakov, Nolan Ritchie, Caleb Hadland, Joby Baumuller, Evan Groening and Nolan Flamand also scored for the Wheat Kings (26-28-8-0). Loick Daigle and Noah Boyko scored for the Oil Kings (9-49-4-0). — COUGARS 6 ROYALS 3 VICTORIA, B.C. – Koehn Ziemmer and Carlin Dezainde each scored twice as the visiting Prince George Cougars defeated the Victoria Royals 6-3. Chase Wheatcroft and Zac Funk also scored for the Cougars (33-24-5-0). Riley Gannon, Alex Thacker and Brayden Schuurman scored for the Royals (15-41-6-1). — THUNDERBIRDS 5 SILVERTIPS 1 SEATTLE, Wash. – Jeremy Hanzel scored twice as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the visiting Everett Silvertips 5-1. Nico Myatovic, Dylan Guenther and Brad Lambert also scored for the Western Conference-leading Thunderbirds (50-9-1-2). Jackson Berezowski scored for the Silvertips (30-29-2-1). — TIGERS 7 PATS 0 MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Andrew Basha scored four goals and Beckett Langkow stopped 17 shots for the shutout as the Medicine Hat Trigers trounced the visiting Regina Pats 7-0. Gavin McKenna, Rhett Parsons and Tomas Mrsic also scored for the Tigers (27-26-8-1). Goaltender Drew Sim kicked out 33 of 40 shots for the Pats (31-27-3-1). — AMERICANS 3 WINTERHAWKS 2 (OT) KENNEWICK, Wash. – Reese Belton’s second goal of the game, at 1:08 of overtime, lifted the Tri-City Americans to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks. Adam Mechura also scored for the Americans (29-26-5-2). Lukas Dragicevic chipped in with two assists. Marcus Nguyen and Luke Schelter scored for the Winterhawks (38-17-4-3). — ROCKETS 5 CHIEFS 4 (OT) SPOKANE, Wash. – Gabriel Szturc’s second goal of the game, at 2:24 of overtime, gave the visiting Kelowna Rockets a 5-4 win over the Spokane Chiefs. Elias Carmichael, Marcus Pacheco, Dylan Wightman also scored for the Rockets (25-34-3-0), who built a 4-0 lead and the had to battle to win in overtime. Szturc also added two assists. Cade Hayes, Carter Streek, Jaren Brinson and Berkly Catton scored for the Chiefs (14-39-4-4), who outshot the Rockets 41-25. * This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2023. 43-42
