A round-up of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
After back-to-back setbacks in Victoria earlier in the week, the Kelowna Rockets’ losing streak continued on Friday night.
At Kamloops, Dylan Garand stopped all 41 shots Kelowna fired at him as the Blazers blanked the Rockets 6-0 at the Sandman Centre.
Logan Stankoven and Daylan Kuefler, with two goals apiece, Logan Bairos and Kaden Hammell scored for Kamloops (44-14-2-0), leading 3-0 and 5-0 at the period breaks en route to their ninth straight victory.
Talyn Boyko and Jari Kykkanen shared netminding duties for Kelowna (34-19-1-5), which lost its seventh straight game. Boyko started and stopped 25 of 30 shots over the first two periods, with Kykkanen stopping six of seven shots in the third.
Not only was Friday’s loss the seventh in a row for Kelowna, it was also the Rockets’ sixth straight setback to the Blazers.
Kelowna opened its season-long series against Kamloops by winning the first seven games and outscoring the Blazers 28-15. Since then, though, Kamloops has reeled off six straight wins in the series, and has outscored the Rockets 27-9 in that stretch.
The last two games have been shutout wins by the Blazers (4-0 on March 19, 6-0 on March 25).
Kelowna’s last win was a 5-4 road decision against Vancouver on March 6.
Notably, Kelowna closes out its season series against Kamloops on Saturday night, 7:05 p.m. at Prospera Place.
After Saturday’s game, the Rockets will have eight regular-season games remaining before the playoffs begin. The remainder of those games will be against Prince George (4), Vancouver (3) and Victoria (1).
Friday’s results
- Everett 7, Spokane 2
- Portland 7, Tri-City 1
- Seattle 5, Vancouver 2
- Victoria 4, Prince George 2
- Brandon 5, Prince Albert 3
- Edmonton 5, Lethbridge 2
- Red Deer 3, Medicine Hat 0
- Saskatoon 3, Regina 1
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Prince Albert at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.
- Saskatoon at Moose Jaw, 6 p.m.
- Swift Current at Red Deer, 6 p.m.
- Brandon at Regina, 6 p.m.
- Calgary at Medicine Hat, 6 p.m.
- Portland at Everett, 6:05 p.m.
- Vancouver at Seattle, 6:05 p.m.
- Spokane at Tri-City, 6:05 p.m.
- Prince George at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
- Kamloops at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Sunday’s games (all times PT)
- Swift Current at Calgary, 1 p.m.
- Lethbridge at Edmonton, 3 p.m.
- Prince Albert at Winnipeg, 3 p.m.
- Prince George at Vancouver, 4 p.m.
- Seattle at Tri-City, 4:05 p.m.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Penticton, Tyler Cristall scored his second goal of the night, at 2:36 of overtime, as the red-hot Warriors knocked off the league-leading Vees.
John Evans and Brennan Nelson also scored for West Kelowna (36-16-1-0-0), which was outshot 38-29 but hung tough with the BCHL’s best team en route to its ninth straight victory.
Adam Eisele, with two goals, and Josh Nadeau replied for Penticton (42-8-1-2-0), which trailed 1-0 after the first period and 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Evans opened the scoring with a power-play goal, a rebound, at 10:49 of the first period, with Eisele levelling the score at 1:33 of the second. But two minutes after that, at 3:32, Cristall scored his 29th goal of the season, a shot from the right circle, to make it 2-1 for West Kelowna.
In the third, Nelson made it 3-1 with his ninth goal of the season at 2:42, with Eisele replying with a backhander at 6:58, then Nadeau making it 3-3 at 14:35 with a deflection, his 39th goal of the campaign.
In overtime, Cristall ended the game with a snipe from the left circle — a high, blocker-side shot during three-on-three action for his team-leading 30th goal of the season.
WENATCHEE vs TRAIL (suspended)
In other BCHL action on Friday night, the game between the Wenatchee Wild and Trail Smoke Eaters was cancelled due to an injury to a Wenatchee player during the first period.
The two teams identified the player as Connor Overson, a 17-year-old and six-foot-three defenceman from Richland, Wash. His injury wasn’t disclosed.
On its Twitter account, the Smoke Eaters said “due to the injury sustained during the first period of tonight’s game, both teams have agreed to cancel the remainder of tonight’s game. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Overson family and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
The Wild issued a statement via social media after the game, saying “our thoughts and prayers are with Connor as he goes for further testing at the local hospital. He was alert and able to move his hands and feet before leaving the arena. We will update as soon as we know.”
That was followed by an update, saying “we are happy to report that after further testing, Connor was discharged tonight (and) is expected to make a full recovery. We would like to thank everyone from the Smoke Eaters who helped Julia and Phil when the injury occurred. Also, head official Grant Tyson, who was also there helping. Thank you to the staff at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital for all their care.”
Friday’s results
- Chilliwack 6, Merritt 0
- Nanaimo 3, Victoria 0
Saturday’s games
- Wenatchee at Cranbrook, 6 p.m.
- Trail at Salmon Arm, 6 p.m.
- Chilliwack at Coquitlam, 6 p.m.
- Merritt at West Kelowna, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s game
- Merritt at Penticton, 4 p.m.
KOOTENAY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
PLAYOFFS: League final
(Revelstoke leads series 1-0)
At Revelstoke, Brandon Weare stopped 50 shots for Revelstoke as the Grizzlies defeated the Nelson Leafs 4-3 in Game 1 of the league championship.
Carter Bettenson, Luke Aston, Will McPhee and Brandon Kasdorf scored for Revelstoke, which was soundly outshot 53-26.
Simon Nemethy, with two goals, and Joe Davidson replied for Nelson, which quickly opened the scoring, just 14 seconds in, but trailed 3-1 after the first period and 4-2 after 40 minutes.
Dylan Marshall made 22 saves for Nelson, which outshot Revelstoke 36-9 over the last two periods.
Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night in Revelstoke, with Games 3 and 4 taking place in Nelson on Monday and Tuesday.
In league semifinal action, Revelstoke swept Osoyoos 4-0 while Nelson bested Kimberley 4-2.