WHL roundup: Geekie scores double OT winner, Broncos sweep Hurricanes
By The Canadian Press on April 3, 2024.
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Conor Geekie scored the game-winning goal in double overtime, and the Swift Current Broncos edged the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-4 on Wednesday night to complete a first-round sweep in the Western Hockey League playoffs. Josh Filmon, Clark Caswell, Luke Mistelbacher and Grayson Burzynski also scored for Swift Current. Mathew Ward had three assists and Reid Dyck made 37 saves. Trae Wilke, Carter Dereniwsky, Brayden Edwards and Hayden Pakkala replied for Lethbridge. Harrison Meneghin stopped 40 shots. The Hurricanes led 4-1 midway through the second period before the Broncos mounted the comeback with four unanswered goals. Elsewhere in the WHL: REBELS 3 TIGERS 2 (Rebels lead best-of-seven series 3-1) RED DEER, Alta. – Cashe Wutzke made 33 saves as the Red Deer Rebels edged the Medicine Hat Tigers. Jhett Larson, Carson Birnie and Kalan Lind scored to Red Deer. Tyler MacKenzie and Hunter St. Martin replied for Medicine Hat. Ethan McCallum stopped 31 shots. BLADES 4 RAIDERS 1 (Blades lead best-of-seven series 3-1) PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Misha Volotovskii had a goal and an assist as the Saskatoon Blades defeated the Prince Albert Raiders. Easton Armstrong, Tanner Molendyk and Egor Sidorov also scored for Saskatoon. Evan Gardner made 15 saves. Ryder Ritchie replied for Prince Albert. Max Hildebrand stopped 32 shots. WARRIORS 6 WHEAT KINGS 4 (Warriors lead best-of-seven series 3-0) BRANDON, Man. – Matthew Savoie had two goals and an assist as the Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Brandon Wheat Kings. Owen Berge, Brayden Yager, Connor Schmidt and Denton Mateychuk also scored for Moose Jaw. Jackson Unger made 35 saves. Matteo Michels, Roger McQueen, Brett Hyland and Jayden Wiens replied for Brandon. Carson Bjarnason stopped 35 shots. COUGARS 3 CHIEFS 2 (Cougars win best-of-seven series 4-0) SPOKANE, Wash. – Zac Funk scored the game-winning goal as the Prince George Cougars edged the Spokane Chiefs and completed a first-round sweep. Viliam Kmec and Koehn Ziemmer also scored for Prince George. Ty Young made 30 saves. Conner Roulette replied with two goals for Spokane. Dawson Cowan stopped 28 shots. WINTERHAWKS 4 ROYALS 1 (Winterhawks win best-of-seven series 4-0) VICTORIA – Josh Zakreski had two goals and an assist as the Portland Winterhawks swept the Victoria Royals. Josh Davies and Kyle Chyzowski also scored for Portland. Jan Spunar made 20 saves. Cole Reschny produced the lone goal for Victoria. Braden Holt stopped 41 shots. SILVERTIPS 3 GIANTS 1 (Silvertips lead best-of-seven series 2-1) LANGLEY, B.C. – Ben Hemmerling scored the game-winning goal as the Everett Silvertips topped the Vancouver Giants. Parker Berge and Dominik Rymon also scored for Everett. Tyler Palmer made 30 saves. Logen Hammett replied for Vancouver. Brett Mirwald stopped 32 shots. ROCKETS 3 WILD 1 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2) KELOWNA, B.C. – Tij Iginla scored the game-winning goal as the Kelowna Rockets defeated the Wenatchee Wild. Max Graham and Gabriel Szturc also scored for Kelowna. Jari Kykkanen made 34 saves. Kenta Isogai replied to Wenatchee. Daniel Hauser stopped 30 shots. — This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2024. 44-43
