WHL: Armstrong’s OT winner, hat trick leads Blades past Raiders 4-3 for series lead
By The Canadian Press on April 3, 2024.
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Easton Armstrong completed his hat trick with the game-winning goal 23 seconds into overtime, lifting the Saskatoon Blades past the Prince Albert Raiders 4-3 on Tuesday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Trevor Wong added the other for Saskatoon, which earned its second straight victory to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series. Evan Gardner made 18 saves. Ryder Ritchie, Aiden Oiring and Krzysztof Macias replied for Prince Albert, which got 31 saves from Max Hildebrand. Wong put the Blades ahead 3-2 with 2:47 remaining in the second period. But Oiring pulled the Raiders even with the game-tying goal with 5:38 remaining in the third period, sending the game to overtime. — REBELS 4 TIGERS 3 (OT) (Rebels lead best-of-seven series 2-1) RED DEER, Alta. – Samuel Drancak knocked in the game-winning goal 6:31 into overtime, and the Red Deer Rebels edged the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-3. Carson Latimer, with two goals, and Hunter Mayo provided the rest of the offence for Red Deer, which got 35 saves from Chase Wutzke. Hayden Harsanyi, Andrew Basha and Oasiz Wiesblatt replied for Medicine Hat, while Zach Zahara stopped 32 shots. — WINTERHAWKS 6 ROYALS 5 (Winterhawks lead best-of-seven series 3-0) VICTORIA – Gabe Klassen scored the eventual winner, James Stefan had a hat trick and one assist and the Portland Winterhawks narrowly edged the Victoria Royals 6-5. Josh Mori and Josh Davies chipped in the other two goals for Portland, which can sweep the series in Game 4 on Wednesday. Tyson Laventure, Teydon Trembecky, Justin Kipkie, Casper Evensen Haugen and Tanner Scott scored for Victoria. — COUGARS 4 CHIEFS 2 (Cougars lead best-of-seven series 3-0) SPOKANE, Wash. – Zac Funk had two goals and two assists in leading the Prince George Cougars to a 4-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. Hudson Thornton and Borya Valis also scored for Prince George, which has outscored the Chiefs 17-7 in the series, now needing just one more win to advance. Ty Cheveldayoff and Hayden Paupanekis replied for Spokane. — BRONCOS 5 HURRICANES 3 (Broncos lead best-of-seven series 3-0) LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Luke Mistelbacher scored a hat trick to lift the Swift Current Broncos to a 5-3 win and 3-0 series lead over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Josh Filmon and Conor Geekie also netted goals for Swift Current, which scored three unanswered goals to break a 2-2 tie early in the second period. Sean Tschigerl, Dylan Sydor and Brayden Edwards replied for Lethbridge. — ROCKETS 5 WILD 1 (Rockets lead best-of-seven series 2-1) KELOWNA, B.C. – Tij Iginla scored twice, Jari Kykkanen made 31 saves and the Kelowna Rockets cruised past the Wenatchee Wild 5-1. Marek Rocak, Caden Price and Luke Schelter contributed a goal apiece for Kelowna, which won its second straight game to take the series lead. Briley Wood scored the game’s opening goal 5:55 into the first period for Wenatchee. Daniel Hauser turned away 19-of-23 shots. — This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2024. 38-37
