WHL Roundup: McClennon caps two-goal effort with OT winner as Ice top Wheat Kings 7-6
By The Canadian Press on February 3, 2023.
BRANDON, Man. – Connor McClennon capped a two-goal effort with the game-winning goal 2:01 into overtime and the Winnipeg Ice slipped past the Brandon Wheat Kings 7-6 on Friday. Evan Friesen, Jonas Woo, Conor Geekie, Ty Nash and Matthew Savoie provided the rest of the offence for league-leading Winnipeg (37-6-1), which also got 40 saves from Mason Beaupit. Nolan Ritchie, with two goals, Zakhar Polshakov, Nate Danielson, Dawson Pasternak and Brett Hyland scored for Brandon (19-21-7). Carson Bjarnason stopped 35 shots. After taking a 5-3 lead thanks to a run of three unanswered goals, the Ice met their match late in the second period and into the third when the Wheat Kings answered with the same to regain their lead. But Friesen kept Winnipeg alive, scoring the game-tying marker with 2:55 remaining in regulation. — THUNDERBIRDS 6 SILVERTIPS 5 (OT) SEATTLE, WA. – Brad Lambert capped a two-goal effort with the game-winning goal 54 seconds into overtime and the Seattle Thunderbirds narrowly edged the Everett Silvertips 6-5. Nico Myatovic, Coster Dunn, Kyle Crnkovic and Kevin Korchinski scored the others for Western Conference-leading Seattle (35-8-1-1). Thomas Milic made 23 saves. Jackson Berezowski, with two goals, Roan Woodward, Beau Courtney and Austin Roest responded for Everett (23-22-2). Tyler Palmer stopped 28 shots. — AMERICANS 6 WINTERHAWKS 1 KENNEWICK, WA. – Jake Sloan and Jordan Gavin each had a goal and two assists to lead the Tri-City Americans to a big 6-1 win over the formidable Portland Winterhawks. Ethan Ernst, Andrew Fan, Adam Mechura and Marc Lajoie added the others for Tri-City (25-16-4-1), which got 28 saves from Tomas Suchanek in its ninth victory in 12 games. Marcus Nguyen opened the scoring to provide an early lead for Portland (34-10-2-1), which fell from atop the Western Conference standings. Jan Å punar stopped 25-of-31 shots. — BLAZERS 6 RAIDERS 4 KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Ryan Hofer had a hat trick and one assist to power the Kamloops Blazers past the Prince Albert Raiders 6-4. Daylan Kuefler, Caedan Bankier and Connor Levis also scored for Kamloops (29-10-4-2), which closed the game with three unanswered goals to come back from down 4-3. Eric Johnston, Brayden Dube, Carter Anderson and Landon Kosior replied for Prince Albert (19-26-3). — WARRIORS 4 OIL KINGS 1 EDMONTON – Jackson Unger put forth a stellar 42-save effort to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings. Robert Baco, Josh Hoekstra, Jagger Firkus and Eric Alarie provided the offence for Moose Jaw (31-16-0-3). Rilen Kovacevic scored the lone marker for Edmonton (7-37-3), which got 23 saves from Kolby Hay. — PATS 3 HURRICANES 2 LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. – Zack Stringer scored the game-winning goal at 5:44 of the third period and the Regina Pats edged the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-2. Sam Oremba and Alexander Suzdalev added the others for Regina (24-21-2-1), which got 33 saves from Drew Sim. Tyson Laventure and Logan Wormald answered for Lethbridge (27-17-3-2). Bryan Thomson stopped 22 shots. — ROCKETS 5 GIANTS 4 KELOWNA, B.C. – Jackson DeSouza capped a run of five unanswered goals from Kelowna and the Rockets edged the Vancouver Giants 5-4. Gabriel Szturc, Adam Kydd, Ethan Mittelsteadt and Carson Golder also scored for Kelowna (16-26-3). Jari Kykkanen made 25 saves. Damian Palmieri, Jaden Lipinski, Ethan Semeniuk and Julian Cull replied for Vancouver (18-23-4-2). Jesper Vikman stopped 32 shots. — COUGARS 8 ROYALS 1 PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – Caden Brown scored twice to lead the Prince George Cougars in their 8-1 blowout victory over the Victoria Royals. Riley Heidt, Chase Wheatcroft and Hudson Thornton each had a goal and two assists for Prince George (19-21-4). Tyler Brennan made 24 saves. Marcus Almquist was the lone scorer for Victoria (14-29-4-1). Braden Holt allowed seven goals on 37 shots before Nicholas Cristiano stopped 2-of-3 in relief with 6:19 remaining. — BRONCOS 3 CHIEFS 1 SPOKANE, WA. – Joey Rocha was near perfect in a 24-save effort as the Swift Current Broncos took a 3-1 win over the Spokane Chiefs. Brady Birnie, Connor Hvidston and Ty Coupland scored for Swift Current (23-21-1-2). Tommaso De Luca scored once for Spokane (9-33-2-2). Cooper Michaluk stopped 29 shots. This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2023. 48-47
