WHL Roundup: Bedard nets shootout winner to lead Pats past Hitmen 6-5
By The Canadian Press on February 1, 2023.
CALGARY – Connor Bedard scored the shootout winner, in addition to his league-best 44th goal of the season, to lift the Regina Pats past the Calgary Hitmen 6-5 on Wednesday. At Scotiabank Saddledome, where a Hitmen spokesperson said 16,700 tickets had been sold by mid-afternoon for the game, Bedard came in from the right side, faked left with the puck and came back to the right where he beat Brayden Peters glove side in the shootout period. Braxton Whitehead scored the Pats’ final two goals, including the game-tying marker with 34 seconds left in regulation. Alexander Suzdalev and Tanner Brown provided the rest of the offence for Regina (23-21-2-1). Drew Sim stopped 44 shots between regulation and overtime. London Hoilett, Sean Tschigerl, Carter Yakemchuk, Blake Heward and Tomis Marinkovic replied for Calgary (23-17-5-2), which also got 32 saves from Peters in regulation and overtime. — ICE 5 BLADES 3 WINNIPEG – Zach Benson had two goals and an assist, Connor McClennon added another two goals and the Winnipeg Ice defeated the Saskatoon Blades 5-3. Zack Ostapchuk added the other for league-leading Winnipeg (36-6-1), which won its third straight. Daniel Hauser stopped 26 shots. Lukas Hansen, Egor Sidorov and Jake Chiasson replied for Saskatoon (30-12-3-1). Ethan Chadwick made 43 saves. — BLAZERS 5 WINTERHAWKS 1 KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Dylan Sydor scored two goals, Dylan Ernst made 45 saves and the Kamloops Blazers took a 5-1 victory over the Western Conference-leading Portland Winterhawks. Logan Stankoven, Matthew Seminoff and Olen Zellweger added the others for second-place Kamloops (28-10-4-2). Kyle Chyzowski was the lone scorer for Portland (34-9-2-1), which had its six-game winning streak snapped. Dante Giannuzzi stopped 35 shots. — HURRICANES 4 WARRIORS 1 LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. – Bryan Thomson had a stellar 35-save effort to lead the Lethbridge Hurricanes past the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-1. Blake Swetlikoff, with a goal and an assist, Anton Astashevich, Hayden Smith and Joe Arntsen scored for Lethbridge (27-16-3-2), which won its third in a row. Atley Calvert scored a power-play goal in the second period for Moose Jaw (30-16-0-3). Connor Ungar stopped 29 shots. — AMERICANS 6 BRONCOS 1 KENNEWICK, WA. – Jake Sloan scored two of the Tri-City Americans’ five power-play goals, along with one assist in a 6-1 blowout win over the Swift Current Broncos. Ethan Ernst, with two goals, Adam Mechura and Jordan Gavin added the others for Tri-City (23-16-4-1). Tomas Suchanek made 30 saves. Josh Davies scored for Swift Current (22-20-1-2), which dropped its third in a row. Reid Dyck stopped 28-of-34 shots. — RAIDERS 4 GIANTS 1 LANGLEY, B.C. – Landon Kosior had a goal and an assist as the Prince Albert Raiders downed the Vancouver Giants 4-1 for their fourth straight victory. Niall Crocker, Evan Herman and Keaton Sorensen also scored for Prince Albert (19-25-3), which got 23 saves from Max Hildebrand. Skyler Bruce scored the lone goal for Vancouver (18-22-4-2). Jesper Vikman stopped 39 shots. This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2023. 33-32
