Special victory for Rockets in Seattle
Carsen Twarynski and Leif Mattson each scored twice, and Cal Foote added three assists, as the Kelowna Rockets beat the Thunderbirds 6-2 late Friday in Seattle.
It was Kelowna’s third straight win and sweet revenge against the T-Birds, who snapped Kelowna’s 13-game homewinning streak exactly one week ago.
It was all about special teams for Kelowna, who went 4-for-8 with an extra attacker. Seattle was 0-for-5. Jack Cowell and Colum McGauley also scored for the Rockets.
Kelowna (27-12-3) gets no time to rest, however, with a game tonight in Vancouver against the Giants.
The Rockets lead Vancouver by a point for first place in the WHL’s B.C. Division.
Nurse scores twice, Oilers beat Coyotes
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Darnell Nurse scored twice on rising slap shots from the left circle and the Edmonton Oilers overcame an early two-goal deficit to beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 on Friday.
Nurse broke a tie at 3:57 of the third period, beating goalie Antti Raanta above the glove from about the same spot where the 6-foot-4 defenceman started the comeback in the first.
Patrick Maroon and Ryan NugentHopkins also scored, Connor McDavid had two assists and Al Montoya stopped all 19 shots he faced in relief of Cam Talbot to help Edmonton end a threegame losing streak and win for the second time in nine games.
Brad Richardson and Josh Archibald scored in a 1:14 span early in the first for Arizona. The NHL-worst Coyotes were coming off their bye week.
Blackhawks beat Jets behind Kampf’s first
CHICAGO — Rookie centre David Kampf scored his first NHL goal and added an assist on his birthday, Jeff Glass blocked 31 shots and the Chicago Blackhawks held off the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Friday night.
Jan Rutta also scored for the Blackhawks, who ended the Jets’ threegame winning streak and handed Winnipeg its first regulation loss in seven games (6-0-1).
The 32-year-old Glass lost a bid for his first career shutout when Patrik Laine scored with 3:41 left in the third period. Winnipeg, the high-scoring Central Division leaders, came on with a late flurry, but Glass was sharp in his fifth NHL game to improve to 3-1-1.
Flames top Panthers for sixth straight win
SUNRISE, Fla. — Mikael Backlund had an empty-net goal and a pair of assists, helping lift the Calgary Flames to their sixth straight victory with a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday.
Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan also scored for the Flames, and David Rittich stopped 41 shots in his first start in seven games.
Evgenii Dadanov scored both goals for the Panthers, breaking a 19-game goal drought. James Reimer made 25 saves in his 16th consecutive start, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Panthers from their fourth loss in five games.
— Staff/News Services