Liam Ruck scored his first goal in his first ever Western Hockey League game for the Medicine Hat Tigers in an 8-0 win over the visiting Regina Pats on Wednesday.
The Tigers selected Ruck of Osoyoos, B.C., ninth overall in this year's prospects draft, and made a draft-day trade to also select his twin brother Markus 21st overall.
Oasiz Wiesblatt and Cayden Lindstrom scored twice for the Tigers (15-6-2-0), who have won seven of their last 10 games and moved ahead of the Saskatoon Blades to top the Eastern Conference.
Kadon McCann, Shane Smith and Bogdans Hodass also scored for the Tigers, with goaltender Evan May posting a 23-save shutout.
The Pats (10-12-1-1) have lost three straight. Regina split goaltending duties between Ewan Huet, who stopped 19 of 24 shots and Kelton Pyne with eight saves.
In other WHL games Wednesday, Brandon downed Edmonton 5-3, Lethbridge thumped Kamloops Blazers 7-3, Everett defeated Saskatoon 6-2, Seattle blanked Kelowna 2-0, Portland edged Victoria 4-3 in a shootout and Vancouver shut out Spokane 3-0.
WHEAT KINGS 5 OIL KINGS 3
Nate Danielson and Charlie Elick each scored twice and Nolan Flamand contributed a goal for Brandon (10-9-4-1).
Wheat Kings goalie Carson Bjarnason stopped 27 shots.
Gavin Hodnett, Roan Woodward and Skyler Bruce were goal scorers for Edmonton (6-15-0-1), which has lost three straight.
Oil Kings goalies Kolby Hay stopped 19 of 20 shots and Logan Cunningham four of eight.
HURRICANES 7 BLAZERS 3
Brayden Edwards scored twice for the visiting Hurricanes (13-9-2-0) with Miguel Marques, Leo Braillard, Tyson Zimmer, Kooper Gizowski and Logan Wormald each contributing a goal.
Lethbridge starter Brady Smith stopped 36 of 39 shots.
Fraser Minten scored twice and Logan Bairos once for Kamloops (6-12-2-2).
Jesse Sanche made 12 saves on 15 shots and Dylan Ernst stopped 16 of 20 in the Blazers' net.
SILVERTIPS 6 BLADES 2
Austin Roest scored twice for the host Silvertips (14-9-1-0) with Eric Jamieson, Hayden Smith, Dominik Rymon and Jesse Heslop each contributing a goal.
Everett netminder Tyler Palmer stopped 26 of 28 shots.
Rhett Melnyk and Lukas Hansen each scored for Saskatoon (15-8-0-0), which lost its second straight and was overtaken by Medicine Hat atop the Eastern Conference.
The Blades split goaltending duties between Austin Elliott, who gave up two goals on on three shots, and reliever Evan Gardner, who turned away 26 of 30 shots.
WINTERHAWKS 4 ROYALS 3 (SO)
Gabe Klassen and James Stefan scored in the shootout for Portland (14-5-0-1), which got two goals from goals from Josh Davies and one from Diego Buttazzoni in regulation time.
Winterhawks netminder Luke Brunen stopped 24 shots in regulation and two of four in the shootout.
Cole Reschny, Dawson Pasternak and Casper Evensen Haugen all scored in regulation for Victoria (12-9-0-2) with Robin Sapousek the lone goal scorer in the shootout.
Royals goaltender Braden Holt stopped 30 of 33 shots in the loss.
GIANTS 3 CHIEFS 0
Brett Mirwald posted a 33-save shutout for the visiting Giants (9-12-2-2) with Aaron Obobaifo, Adam Titlbach and Julian Cull each scoring for Vancouver.
Dawson Cowan stopped 29 of 32 shots for Spokane (8-9-2-0).
THUNDERBIRDS 2 ROCKETS 0
Thunderbirds goalie Scott Ratzlaff stopped 19 shots for the shutout. Eric Alarie and Simon Lovsin each scored for Seattle (10-8-1-0).
Goalie Jari Kykkanen stopped 35 shots for Kelowna (9-12-2-0).
This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2023.
The Canadian Press
