Brendan Ranford and Colin Smith of the Kamloops Blazers were playing in their hometown on Wednesday night and you know they enjoyed the game's ending.
Ranford and Smith both scored in a shootout as the Blazers ran their winning streak to eight games with a 5-4 WHL victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
The victory allowed the Blazers to improve to a CHL-best 10-0-1. Earlier in the day, Kamloops found itself No. 1 in the CHL rankings when they were released. In fact, Kamloops is the only team in the 60-team CHL not to have lost in regulation time.
The Blazers are atop the Western Conference, five points ahead of the Tri-City Americans (7-3-2).
The Oil Kings, the WHL's defending champions, are 5-3-3. This was their fourth loss on home ice; last season, they lost seven of 36 home games.
Edmonton scored three power-play goals on nine chances, the third one, from Henrik Samuellson at 18:01 of the third period, giving it a 4-3 lead, the first time the home side led in the game.
Fifteen seconds after that goal, Kamloops defenceman Tyler Bell was penalized for checking from behind. However, right-winger JC Lipon, the WHL's leading scorer, found himself alone in front to take a centring pass from Smith and beat goaltender Laurent Brossoit.
Lipon finished with two goals, giving him 11, and an assist. Lipon, who has had seven straight multi-point games, leads the WHL in goals (11) and points (27). He and Smith are tied for the lead in assists, each with 16. Smith, who had two assists to run his point streak to 11 games, is second in the scoring race, four points behind Lipon.
Ranford, with his fifth goal of the season, and Rob Trzonkowski, with his second, also scored for the Blazers, who continue their five-game Central Division swing on Friday when they meet the Hurricanes in Lethbridge. Kamloops will end the road swing in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice on Saturday.
T.J. Foster, Dylan Wruck and Mitch Moroz had Edmonton's other goals.
Kamloops goaltender Cole Cheveldave stopped 34 shots, while Edmonton Laurent Brossoit turned aside 16.
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 4,424. . . . The Oil Kings will play in Kamloops on Nov. 6. . . . The Blazers scratched F Jordan DePape (shoulder), D Landon Cross (undisclosed), D Josh Connolly, F Mitch Friesen and F Brayden Gelsinger. . . . The Oil Kings are without Slovakian D Martin Gernat, who had shoulder surgery last month. He had 55 points in 60 games last season. . . . The Blazers moved up from No. 3 in the CHL rankings. Two other WHL teams are ranked - the Prince Albert Raiders are seventh and the Portland Winterhawks are eighth. . . . Three Blazers prospects will play in the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup in Calgary, Nov. 1-4. F Nick Chyzowski of Kamloops, F Jayden Halbgewachs of Emerald Park, Sask., and D Cameron Reagan of Sherwood Park, Alta., will play for their respective provinces. D Kevin Davis of Kamloops also will play for B.C. Davis, whose WHL rights belong to the Everett Silvertips, and Chyzowski are teammates with the major midget Thompson Blazers.
