The Winnipeg Ice found their offence again Friday night and as a result, they’re on their way to the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.
After being held to one goal in Game 4, the Ice found the back of the net eight times in Game 5 in an 8-2 win over the Prince Albert Raiders at Wayne Fleming Arena in Winnipeg.
Connor McClennon and Zach Benson both scored twice for the Ice while Jack Finley picked up a goal and two assists.
Winnipeg put their stamp on this game early, scoring four times in the first period and rolled from there.
Ice head coach James Patrick said his team looked tight in the first half of the opening frame, but when Finley opened the scoring at the 9:58 mark of the first, the Ice were off and running.
“I thought the first goal was everything for us. Once we got the first goal, we got our legs going and everyone was flying,” said Patrick.
READ MORE: Ice unable to sweep Prince Albert, drop Game 4
Finley says the 3-1 loss in Prince Albert on Wednesday gave them a little extra motivation heading into Friday.
“A nine-hour bus ride will do that to you. We didn’t play as great as we wanted to do in Game 4 and it frustrated us a bit,” Finley said.
Mikey Milne, Jonas Woo, and Matthew Savoie also scored for Winnipeg.
Daniel Hauser had to make just 11 saves for the Ice between the pipes.
The Ice don’t know their next opponent, but they know when they will open their second-round series. Games 1 and 2 will go next Friday and Saturday at Wayne Fleming Arena.
In other WHL action Friday, the Brandon Wheat Kings lost 3-1 to Red Deer in Game 5 of their series. Red Deer now has a 3-2 lead in the series and can wrap it up in Brandon Sunday night.
If the Rebels get it done, the Ice would play the Moose Jaw Warriors in Round 2. The Warriors defeated Saskatoon 6-3 Friday to win that series in five games. If Brandon were to win the next two games, it would be an all-Manitoba showdown between the Wheaties and the Ice.
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