A round-up of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
After a rough ending to March, the Kelowna Rockets started April on a winning note.
At Prospera Place, Pavel Novak and Scott Cousins both had three-point outings, each with a goal and two assists, as the Rockets bashed the Prince George Cougars 9-2 Friday night.
Andrew Cristall, Adam Kydd, Tyson Feist, Jake Leek, Dylan Wightman and Elias Carmichael also scored for Kelowna (36-19-1-5), which stumbled during the last two weeks of March, going 1-5 while being outscored 24-12.
Jonas Brondberg and Carter MacAdams replied for Prince George (22-37-4-1), which trailed 4-1 and 8-2 at the period breaks. It was the second straight night in which the Cougars suffered a stinging loss, having been crushed 8-2 in Kamloops on Wednesday night.
Brondberg opened the scoring just 91 seconds in with a lucky shoot-in from centre ice that ricocheted off a stanchion and into an open net. Kelowna’s goalie had left the crease to play the shot, which was expected to go behind the net but didn’t.
But following that goal – which left the Prospera Place faithful temporarily bewildered – it was all Kelowna, as the Rockets roared back with four goals in the period, then a fifth early in the second for an insurmountable 5-1 lead.
Talyn Boyko stopped 22 of 24 shots for the Rockets, including just six in the first period. In fact, after Brondberg’s lucky goal at 1:31, Prince George’s second shot on goal didn’t happen until the 13-minute mark. At that point, the shots were 11-2.
For Prince George, Tyler Brennan stopped 20 of 28 shots before being pulled late in the second period. Ty Young stopped 10 of 11 shots in relief.
The Rockets were 3-for-4 on the power play while the Cougars were 0-for-2.
The Rockets are back in action on Saturday, as they host the Victoria Royals (22-35-5-1).
Friday’s results
- Portland 5, Everett 4
- Spokane 6, Kamloops 5
- Seattle 6, Tri-City 4
- Lethbridge 6, Medicine Hat 3
- Winnipeg 7, Regina 0
- Brandon 4, Prince Albert 2
- Saskatoon 4, Moose Jaw 1
- Calgary 5, Swift Current 2
Saturday’s games
- Winnipeg at Moose Jaw, 6 p.m.
- Regina at Prince Albert, 6 p.m.
- Edmonton at Red Deer, 6 p.m.
- Brandon at Saskatoon, 6 p.m.
- Lethbridge at Medicine Hat, 6 p.m.
- Seattle at Portland, 6 p.m.
- Everett at Tri-City, 6:05 p.m.
- Spokane at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
- Victoria at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- Swift Current at Calgary, 1 p.m.
- Kamloops at Prince George, 2 p.m.
- Red Deer at Edmonton, 3 p.m.
- Spokane at Vancouver, 4 p.m.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
PLAYOFFS
Stunned in the opening game of their first-round playoff series against Trail on Thursday, the Penticton Vees bounced back with a solid win on Friday night.
Aydar Suniev, with two goals, Spencer Smith, Brett Moravec and Grayson Arnott scored for Penticton, which evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1. One night earlier, the Vees outshot Trail 42-21 but lost 5-3.
In that Thursday game, the Smoke Eaters scored twice in the first five minutes en route to beating Penticton. But on Friday night, the Vees struck early, with Smith opening the scoring just 30 seconds in.
Moravec made it 2-0 at 14:54, with Suniev making it 3-0 at 9:05 of the second. Arnott made it 4-1 at 18:16, with Suniev closing out the scoring at 18:05 of the third.
Teddy Lagerback replied for Trail. Five of the game’s six goals were scored on the power play, with Smith’s goal being the exception.
Kaeden Lane stopped 26 of 27 shots for the Vees, with Cole Tisdale turning aside 27 of 32 shots for the Smoke Eaters
Penticton was 4-for-8 on the power play, while Trail was 1-for-6.
Games 3 and 4 will take place Monday and Tuesday in Trail. Game 5 is scheduled for Thursday, April 7, in Penticton.
Cameron MacDonald opened and closed the scoring for Vernon on Friday night, as the Vipers took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven series against the Warriors.
Ayden Third, Zack Tonelli and Reagan Milburn also scored for Vernon, which led 2-1 after the first period and a scoreless second. Tonelli made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 10:11 in the third, with Milburn making it 4-0 at 12:58. MacDonald, who opened the scoring at 3:09, closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:51.
Charles-Alexis Legault, with a power-play goal at 5:16 of the first period to make it 1-1, and Chase Dafoe, at 13:55 of the third to make it 4-1, replied for West Kelowna.
Roan Clarke stopped 24 of 26 shots for the Vipers, with Johnny Derrick turning aside 29 of 33 shots for the Warriors.
Vernon was 1-for-2 on the power play while West Kelowna was 1-for-3.
The two teams meet for Game 2 on Saturday night in West Kelowna.
Friday’s results
- Alberni Valley 5, Cowichan Valley 3
- (Alberni Valley leads series 1-0)
- Chilliwack 6, Coquitlam 3
- (Chilliwack leads series 1-0)
- Nanaimo 3, Surrey 2
- (Nanaimo leads series 1-0)
- Prince George 4, Cranbrook 1
- (Prince George leads series 1-0)
- Langley 3, Victoria 2
- (Langley leads series 1-0)
Saturday’s games
- Cowichan Valley at Alberni Valley, 7 p.m.
- Coquitlam at Chilliwack, 7 p.m.
- Surrey at Nanaimo, 7 p.m.
- Cranbrook at Prince George, 7 p.m.
- Wenatchee at Salmon Arm, 7 p.m.
- Vernon at West Kelowna, 7 p.m.
- Victoria at Langley, 7:15 p.m.
Sunday’s game
- Wenatchee at Salmon Arm, 5 p.m.
KOOTENAY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
PLAYOFFS
Thursday result
- Revelstoke 6, Nelson 4
- (Revelstoke wins league championship series 4-1)
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