WHL Roundup: Thornton's winner allows Cougars to narrowly escape with win

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Hudson Thornton netted the game-winning goal at 18:20 of the third period as the Prince George Cougars edged the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 on Thursday in Western Hockey League action.

Zac Funk and Keaton Dowhaniuk added the others for Western Conference-leading Prince George (25-10-0). Ty Young made 35 saves.

Ethan Moore and Sean Tschigerl replied for Calgary (13-16-3-1). Ethan Buenaventura stopped 20-of-23 shots.

The Cougars entered the second period with a 2-0 edge before Moore scored at 11:21, and Tschigerl knotted the contest at 7:36 of the third period.

---

WILD 3 ROYALS 2

WENATCHEE, Wa. — Briley Wood knocked in the game-winning goal at 9:08 of the third period to lift the Wenatchee Wild past the Victoria Royals 3-2.

Luka Shcherbyna and Miles Cooper also chipped in goals for Wenatchee (22-12-3), which got 28 saves from Daniel Hauser.

Alex Edwards scored twice for Victoria (21-13-0-2), with Jayden Kraus stopping 32-of-35 shots.

---

WINTERHAWKS 8 THUNDERBIRDS 5

PORTLAND, Ore. — Marcus Nguyen, Kyle Chyzowski and Luca Cagnoni each scored twice in leading the Portland Winterhawks to an 8-5 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Diego Buttazzoni and Ryan Miller added the others for Portland (22-10-1-1), which used a run of five unanswered goals in a span of 13 minutes and 42 seconds between the first two periods to build what proved to be an insurmountable lead.

Braeden Cootes, with two goals, Eric Alarie, Simon Lovsin and Colton Gerrior replied for Seattle (12-16-2), which lost its fourth in a row.

This roundup was generated automatically with a CP-developed application.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2023.