Music: {allcanada} WHL: OIL KINGS BEAT KOOTENAY FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT WIN

Thursday, January 31, 2013

{allcanada} WHL: OIL KINGS BEAT KOOTENAY FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT WIN

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Already among the Western Hockey League elite, the Edmonton Oil Kings are now closing in on the league's best record.

T.J. Foster, Cody Corbett and Curtis Lazar scored second-period goals as Edmonton won its sixth straight game, 4-2 over the Kootenay Ice on Wednesday.

Luke Bertolucci had the other goal for Edmonton (36-11-5), which leads the Eastern Conference. The Oil Kings, with 77 points, trail Kelowna by one point, while Portland is atop the WHL with 85 points.

Joey Leach and Sam Reinhart replied for Kootenay (23-26-2), which came in having earned 13 of a possible 14 points in its last seven games.

Elsewhere in the WHL it was: Saskatoon 5, Brandon 1; Moose Jaw 3, Regina 2 (SO); Swift Current 5, Calgary 4; Portland 5, Kamloops 2; Vancouver 5, Prince Albert 1; and Tri-City 5, Prince George 2.

At Edmonton, Bertolucci opened the scoring at 7:44 of the first, firing a shot past Kootenay netminder Wyatt Hoflin.

Foster, Corbett and Lazar scored 1:25 apart early in the second to put Edmonton ahead 4-0.

Foster finished a nice passing play with Michael St. Croix at 2:06 before Corbett scored on a wrist shot just seven seconds later. Lazar made it 4-0 at 3:31 as Henrik Samuelsson drew an assist to extend his points streak to six games (four goals, eight assists).

Leach scored Kootenay's first goal of the game at 14:18, beating Oil Kings goalie Laurent Brossoit. Reinhart made it 4-2 on a two-man power play with 2:54 remaining in regulation, extending his points streak to 14 games (13 goals, 10 assists).

That tied Reinhart with Portland's Ty Rattie for the longest active streak in the WHL. Rattie has accumulated 26 points during his run.

Hoflin finished with 39 saves for the Ice while Brossoit stopped 31 shots.

Blades 5, Wheat Kings 1

At Brandon, Man., Andrey Makarov made 38 saves for the Blades (25-21-3), who cruised by the lowly Wheat Kings (18-30-4).

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Warriors 3, Pats 2

At Regina, Jordan Messier scored the lone goal of the shootout to lift Moose Jaw (17-26-9) past the Pats (18-27-6), who lost for the eighth straight game.

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Broncos 5, Hitmen 4

At Swift Current, Sask., Ryon Moser scored with 0.8 seconds left in regulation to lead the Broncos (25-21-5) to a win against Calgary (33-14-4).

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Winterhawks 5, Blazers 2

At Portland, Ore., the league-leading Winterhawks (41-7-3) scored five unanswered goals to rally past Kamloops (33-15-5).

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Giants 5, Raiders 1

At Vancouver, the league-worst Giants (13-38-0) ended a six-game losing skid by surprising Prince Albert (29-18-4).

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Americans 5, Cougars 2

At Kennewick, Wash., Luke Lee-Knight made 42 saves for Tri-City (30-19-3), which beat Prince George (15-30-6) to move within a point of fourth-place Spokane.