Welcome to the daily WHL playoff recap focusing on the Eastern Conference. Here is a look back at the day that was:
Lethbridge Hurricanes (4) vs Edmonton Oil Kings (6)
The Edmonton Oil Kings are the first team in the Eastern Conference to advance to the second round of the WHL Playoffs after defeating the Hurricanes in Game 4. For the first time this series, not only did the Hurricanes open the scoring, they scored in the first period. Alex Thacker struck at 1:03. Unfortunately, Dylan Guenther was able to tie the game at 5:27 of the first. Joe Arntsen gave the Hurricanes their first lead after a period with a late goal to make it 2-1.
The Oil Kings took the lead midway through the second period. Carter Souch scored his third of the series at 5:16 to tie it at 2-2 followed by Dawson Seitz giving the Oil Kings the 3-2 lead at 11:19 of the period. The Hurricanes tied it up at 13:20 when Tyson Laventure scored. The 2nd period ended with tied at 3-3.
Tyler Hortsmann gave the Oil Kings the 4-3 lead at 3:58 but once again Lethbridge fought back thanks to Justin Hall who scored at 15:17. Ty Nash then took a boarding penalty at 15:34 while allowed the Oil Kings to strike on the powerplay. Josh Williams scored to give the Oil Kings 5-4 lead while Jake Demek added an empty netter to seal the win and the series.
A theme in this series was shots on goal. In Game Four, the Oil Kings outshot the Hurricanes 47-17. This gave a four game series total of 176-94. Sebastian Cossa made the 13 saves for the win for the Oil Kings. Bryan Thompson was strong in goal for the Hurricanes with 41 saves.
Offensively, The Oil Kings were led by Dylan Guenther and Jake Neighbours Guenther added an assist with his goal. Neighbours chipped in with two assists. Yegor Klavdiev and Jett Jones had two assists each for the Hurricanes. During the series the Guenther, Demek, Williams and Kaiden Guhle led the way for the Oil Kings with five points. The Hurricanes were led by Klavdiev and Joe Arntsen with three points each.
The Oil Kings will wait for the results of the other Eastern Conference series before they know their next opponent. The winners of the series will be reseated to determine matchups.