ICE, T-BIRDS ADVANCE, TIGERS GAIN UPPER HAND

ICE 5 HITMEN 3

CRANBROOK, B.C. (CP) – Jaedon Descheneau had three goals and an assist and Sam Reinhart tacked on three assists as the Kootenay Ice eliminated the Calgary Hitmen from the Western Hockey League playoffs with a 5-3 win Saturday.

Austin Vetterl and Zach Franko also scored for the sixth-seeded Ice, who upset Calgary in their first-round matchup 4-2, and Jagger Dirk had two assists.

Radel Fazleev, Adam Tambellini and Brady Brassart scored for the third-seeded Hitmen.

Wyatt Hoflin made 36 saves for Kootenay while Calgary’s Chris Driedger turned away 33-of-37 shots for Calgary.

The Ice will face with either the Medicine Hat Tigers or Swift Current Broncos in Round 2.

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TIGERS 4 BRONCOS 1

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Trevor Cox had a pair of goals and Marek Langhamer made 45 saves as the Tigers beat Swift Current to take Game 5 and a 3-2 first-round series lead.

Cole Sanford scored once and set up two more for Medicine Hat while Chad Butcher added a single goal.

Nathan Burns scored the lone goal for the Broncos.

Swift Current’s Eetu Laurikainen kicked out 40-of-43 shots in a losing cause.

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THUNDERBIRDS 5 SILVERTIPS 0

KENT, Wash. – Taran Kozun made 24 saves and Branden Troock scored twice as Seattle blanked Everett to advance to the second round.

Mitch Elliot, Scott Eansor and Alexander Delnov also scored for the Thunderbirds, who move on after taking Round 1 in five games.

Austin Lotz stopped 26-of-31 shots for the Silvertips.

Seattle will meet the top seed from the Western Conference, the Kelowna Rockets, in Round 2.