WHL roundup: Jagger Firkus puts up five points in Warriors’ 6-4 win over Raiders
By The Canadian Press on January 6, 2024.
MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Jagger Firkus produced one goal and four assists as the Moose Jaw Warriors topped the Prince Albert Raiders 6-4 on Friday night in the Western Hockey League. Firkus, a Seattle Kraken prospect, has 28 goals and 36 assists in 33 games this season. Atley Calvert – with a goal and an assist – Brayden Schuurman, Rilen Kovacevic, Pavel McKenzie and Martin Rysavy also scored for Moose Jaw (22-14-2). Kalem Parker pitched in with three assists and Warriors netminder Jackson Unger saved 48 shots. Moose Jaw has won five games in a row. Niall Crocker scored twice while Oli Chenier and Terrell Goldsmith each scored once for Prince Albert (17-18-2). Aiden Oiring and Sloan Stanick had a pair of assists each. Raiders goaltender Max Hildebrand kicked out 23 shots. Prince Albert has lost four straight. Down 4-2, the Raiders fought back to tie the game late in the third period. Rysavy then scored on the power play to put the Warriors ahead with 49 seconds left before Firkus added an empty-netter to seal the win. Elsewhere in the WHL: BRONCOS 8 CHIEFS 4 SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Josh Filmon and Caleb Wyrostok each scored twice as the Swift Current Broncos topped the Spokane Chiefs. Rylan Gould, Clarke Caswell, Tyson Laventure and Dawson Gerwing scored once for Swift Current (19-15-4). Broncos goaltender Matthew Kieper kicked out 12 of 12 shots and Joey Rocha stopped 17 of 21. Berkly Catton, Conner Roulette, Cole Wadsworth and Will McIsaac all scored once for Spokane (14-17-3). Chiefs goaltender Dawson Cowan saved 23 shots. BLADES 6 PATS 4 REGINA – Trevor Wong scored twice as the Saskatoon Blades topped the Regina Pats. Brandon Lisowsky, Vaughn Watterodt, Ben Saunderson and Egor Sidorov – with a slick behind-the-back goal – all scored once for Saskatoon (26-8-3). Blades goaltender Austin Elliott stopped 23 shots. Anthony Wilson, Zach Moore, Zane Rowan and Jaxsin Vaughan all scored once for Regina (13-19-6). Pats netminder Kelton Pyne saved 37 shots. REBELS 5 TIGERS 3 RED DEER, Alta. – Jhett Larson scored a hat trick as the Red Deer Rebels downed the Medicine Hat Tigers. Carson Birnie had the other two goals for Red Deer (19-13-5). Rebels goaltender Rhett Stoesser saved 22 shots. Kadon McCann, Gavin McKenna and Oasiz Wiesblatt scored for Medicine Hat (23-12-2). Tigers goaltender Evan May saved 25 shots. HITMEN 6 BLAZERS 2 KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Sean Tschigerl scored twice as the Calgary Hitmen topped Kamloops Blazers. Carson Wetsch, Ben Kindel, Tyson Galloway and Maxim Muranov also scored for Calgary (14-17-6). Hitmen netminder Ethan Buenaventura kicked out 27 shots. Kai Matthew and Shea Van Olm scored once for Kamloops (9-24-5). Blazers netminder Jesse Sanche saved 36 shots. ROCKETS 4 OIL KINGS 3 KELOWNA, B.C. – Luke Schelter scored twice, including the game-winning goal at 13:04 of the third period, as the Kelowna Rockets edged the Edmonton Oil Kings. Gabriel Szturc and Landon Cowper scored once for Kelowna (18-16-2). Rockets netminder Jari Kykkanen stopped 9 of 12 shots and Jake Pilon stopped 9 of 9. Adam Jecho scored twice while Skyler Bruce scored once for Edmonton (13-21-2). Oil Kings goaltender Kolby Hay stopped 39 shots. WINTERHAWKS 5 SILVERTIPS 4 (SO) PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Everett Silvertips during the shootout. Marcus Nguyen scored twice while Josh Zakreski and Josh Davies scored once for Portland (24-10-2). Winterhawks goaltender Nick Avakyan kicked out 28 shots. Hayden Smith, Will Jamieson, Jesse Heslop and Julius Miettinen all scored once for Everett (22-14-3). Silvertips netminder Tyler Palmer kicked out 50 shots. COUGARS 2 THUNDERBIRDS 1 KENT, Wash. – Ephram McNutt knocked in the game-winning goal at 10:53 of the third period as the Prince George Cougars edged the Seattle Thunderbirds. Chase Pauls also scored once for Prince George (28-10-0). Cougars netminder Ty Young kicked out 38 shots. Nathan Pilling scored once for Seattle (12-19-2). Thunderbirds goaltender Scott Ratzlaff saved 33 shots. AMERICANS 3 HURRICANES 0 LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Parker Bell scored twice as the Tri-City Americans (16-16-3) blanked the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-0 (18-16-3). Kyle Kelsey made 38 saves to earn a shut out. – This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2024. 43-42
