Friday, May 4, 2012

5/3 Recap: Pysyk stars, Shipley solid as teams take openers

Mark Pysyk was named the game's #1 star Thursday as Edmonton opened the 2012 WHL Championship series with a 3-2 win over Portland. The 6'2 captain saw his seeing-eye wrister get through traffic before getting tipped on its way into the Winterhawks cage at 1:25 of the opening period to quickly get the Oil Kings moving in the right direction after a six-day layoff. Pysyk, who along with partner Keegan Lowe (CAR), were set to match-up with the Winterhawks' potent top-line featuring Ty Rattie (STL) and Sven Bartschi (CAL), but the former was wiped out along the boards early on and did not return. The teams will regroup on Friday at Rexall for game #2 with the Oil Kings holding a 1-0 lead.



In the OHL, Steven Shipley played even as Niagara got a goal from Dougie Hamilton (BOS) at 9:03 of the second overtime to secure a 3-2 win over London in game #1 of the OHL Championship. The IceDogs' third line of Shipley at center along with Brett Ritchie (DAL) and Mitchell Theoret (NYI) produced the game's first goal at 4:01 of the opening frame. The 6'3 center, who has emerged as one of the better faceoff men in the entire OHL, was on the ice for several key draws late in regulation and OT. After taking a 1-0 series advantage on the road, the IceDogs will welcome the Knights to their barn in St. Catharines for Saturday's game #2.