THE CANADIAN PRESS
Trevor Cheek wasn’t going to let his team’s performance from Game 1 carry on any further into the series.
The 19-year-old scored three times as the Calgary Hitmen shutout the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 4-0 on Friday in Western Hockey league playoff action.
The victory ties the series at one game apiece after Calgary dropped the first game at home 6-2 on Thursday.
"I think the guys were a little anxious (in Game 1)," Cheek said. "We had a lot of guys playing their first playoff game. We knew tonight was a big game and everyone was more relaxed and ready to go, I think."
Alex Roach had a goal and an assist for the Hitmen while Jimmy Bubnick and Collin Bowman each chipped in with two assists.
Brandon Glover stopped all 20 shots he faced for his first career post-season shutout.
"They did a great job," said Glover when talking about the defensive help he got in front of his net. "When we were killing penalties the guys were blocking shots and clearing rebounds. Hats off to them for a good game."
Wheat Kings’ goaltender Corbin Boes stopped 37-of-41 shots in a losing effort.
"We were our own worst enemy tonight," Brandon head coach Cory Clouston said. "We got ourselves in trouble early in the first period. I thought we played pretty solid from there to part-way through the second. Credit to (Calgary). They wanted it more than we did."
Calgary went 1 for 4 on the power play while Brandon failed to score on either of their opportunities with the man advantage.
With the series tied, Game 3 will be played this Sunday in Winnipeg. The Wheat Kings are playing their first-round home games in Winnipeg until their arena in Brandon, the Keystone Centre, becomes available. It is currently in use for the Royal Winter Fair.
Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Regina 3, Moose Jaw 2; Edmonton 3, Kootenay 0; Medicine Hat 5, Saskatoon 2; Portland 6, Kelowna 3; Kamloops 4, Victoria 1; Tri-City 7, Everett 2 and Vancouver 7, Spokane 5.
At Calgary, Roach opened the scoring 1:25 into the first period to give the Hitmen a 1-0 lead.
The game stayed 1-0 until the final minute of the second period when Cheek scored his first goal of the game.
Cheek then added two more in the third period to complete the hat trick and secure a victory for Calgary.
His second goal of the game came at 7:54 and at 19:14 he added his third by way of power play.
REGINA 3, MOOSE JAW 2
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Dyson Stevenson scored twice, including the game winner, as the Regina Pats edged the host Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 on Friday in Western Hockey League playoff action.
Tanner Olstad also scored for the Pats while Jordan Weal chipped in with two assists.
Quinton Howden had a goal and an assist for the Warriors, Sam Fioretti scored once and James Henry had an assist on each of his team’s goals.
Matt Hewitt made 31 saves for the win, and the game’s first star, as Luke Siemens allowed three goals on 15 shots in defeat.
Regina went 2 for 4 on the power play as Moose Jaw scored once on six chances with the man advantage.
The Pats now lead the series 1-0 with Game 2 to be played this Sunday in Moose Jaw.
EDMONTON 3, KOOTENAY 0
EDMONTON — Laurent Brossoit stopped all 29 shots he faced as the top-seeded Edmonton Oil Kings shutout the visiting Kootenay Ice 3-0 on Friday in Western Hockey League playoff action.
Curtis Lazar had a goal and an assist for the Oil Kings while Mitchell Moroz and Michael St. Croix scored a goal apiece.
Ice goaltender Nathan Lieuwen turned away 25 shots in a losing effort.
Edmonton went 0 for 6 on the power play as Kootenay failed to score on four chances with the man advantage.
The Oil Kings lead the series 1-0 with Game 2 to take place this Sunday in Edmonton.
MEDICINE HAT 5, SASAKATOON 2
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Emerson Etem and Matthew Konan each had a goal and an assist as the Medicine Hat Tigers defeated the visiting Saskatoon Blades 5-2 on Friday in Western Hockey League playoff action.
Spenser Jensen, Curtis Valk and James Bettauer also scored for the Tigers while Riley Sheen and Chad Labelle both had two assists.
Duncan Siemens and Ryan Olsen each scored for the Blades as Josh Nicholls picked up an assist on both goals.
Tyler Bunz earned the win, and the game’s first star, by making 29 saves while Andrey Makarov stopped 25 of 29 shots in defeat.
Medicine Hat went 1 for 5 on the power play as Saskatoon scored once on two chances with the man advantage.
The Tigers now lead the series 1-0 with Game 2 to take place this Saturday in Medicine Hat.
PORTLAND 6, KELOWNA 3
PORTLAND, Ore. — Ty Rattie scored three times as the Portland Winterhawks defeated the visiting Kelowna Rockets 6-3 on Friday in Western Hockey League playoff action.
Joseph Morrow had a goal and an assist for the Winterhawks while Oliver Gabriel and Taylor Leier each scored once.
Marcel Noebels and Sven Bartschi each picked up two assists.
Zach Franko, Cody Chikie and Colton Sissons each scored for the Rockets as Brett Bulmer chipped in with two assists.
Mac Carruth stopped 26 shots for the win while Adam Brown, the much busier of the two netminders, turned away 49 of 55 shots in a losing effort.
Portland went 1 for 5 on the power play as Kelowna scored once on four chances with the man advantage.
The Winterhawks lead the series 1-0 with Game 2 to take place this Saturday in Portland.
KAMLOOPS 4, VICTORIA 1
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Tim Bozon scored twice as the Kamloops Blazers defeated the visiting Victoria Royals 4-1 on Friday in Western Hockey League playoff action.
Chase Schaber had a goal and an assist for the Blazers and Dylan Willick scored once.
Austin Madaisky and JC Lipon both chipped in with two assists.
Robin Soudek scored the lone goal for the Royals.
Cole Cheveldave made 26 saves for the win as Keith Hamilton turned aside 30 shots in a losing effort.
Kamloops failed to score on four chances with the man advantage while Victoria scored once on four of their own power-play opportunities.
The Blazers lead the series 1-0 with Game 2 to take place this Saturday in Kamloops.
TRI-CITY 7, EVERETT 2
KENNEWICK, Wash. — Malte Stromwall scored twice and set up one more as the Tri-City Americans defeated the visiting Everett Silvertips 7-2 on Friday in Western Hockey League playoff action.
Adam Hughesman, Connor Rankin and Jesse Mychan each had a goal and an assist for the Americans while Mason Wilgosh and Brian Williams added single goals.
Regular-season scoring leader, Brendan Shinnimin, chipped in with two assists.
JT Barnett and Ryan Murray both scored for the Silvertips.
Ty Rimmer made 14 saves for the win as Kent Simpson allowed five goals on 23 shots before getting pulled in the second period.
Austin Lotz stopped 17 of 19 shots in relief.
Tri-City went 1 for 7 on the power play while Everett failed to score on four chances with the man advantage.
The Americans lead the series 1-0 with Game 2 to be played on Saturday in Kennewick.
VANCOUVER 7, SPOKANE 5
VANCOUVER — Cain Franson scored three times and added an assist as the Vancouver Giants defeated the visiting Spokane Chiefs 7-5 on Friday in Western Hockey League playoff action.
Jordan Maritnook had two goals and two assists for the Giants while Austin Fyten and Marek Tvrdon each scored once.
Brendan Gallagher chipped in with three assists.
Blake Gal scored once and assisted two others for the Chiefs, Mike Aviani and Domenik Uher each had a goal and an assist while Steven Kuhn and Jason Fram added single goals.
Adam Morrison, playing his first WHL playoff game, made 19 saves for the win as Mac Engel stopped 32 shots in defeat.
Vancouver went 1 for 4 on the power play as Spokane scored once on six chances with the man advantage.
The Giants will attempt to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference quarter-finals series on Saturday night in Vancouver before heading to Spokane for Game 3 and 4.
