he Memorial Cup continues from Kelowna on Wednesday as the top teams from around the Canadian Hockey League compete for junior hockey’s biggest prize.
The round-robin portion of the tournament wraps up with the host Kelowna Rockets trying to stay alive against the Western Hockey League champion Everett Silvertips.
If Everett defeats Kelowna in any fashion, the Rockets will be eliminated, and the Silvertips will move on to the semifinal to take on the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League title holder Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
A win for Kelowna will force a tiebreaker set for Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT (on TSN). The teams playing in that game would depend on the margin of victory by the Rockets.
If the Rockets defeat Everett by a goal, then Everett will still move on to the semifinal and await a winner between Kelowna and Chicoutimi in the tiebreaker game.
If Kelowna wins by two or more goals, then the Rockets will advance to the semifinal and await the winner between Everett and Chicoutimi in the tiebreaker.
The Ontario Hockey League champion Kitchener Rangers have already secured their spot in the final after running the table in the round-robin.
The Rockets enter Wednesday’s action after a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime loss to the Saguenéens on Sunday.
Kelowna rallied to come back from two one-goal deficits, including a game-tying goal from forward Mazden Leslie with 4:10 remaining in the third period, to force overtime against Chicoutimi.
Liam Lefebvre was the hero for the Saguenéens, scoring 5:28 into the 3-on-3 extra session to secure Chicoutimi’s only win in the tournament.
Utah Mammoth prospect Tij Iginla also scored for the Rockets in the game as he continues to be the club’s leader offensively. He recorded 41 goals and 90 points in the regular season and seven goals and 12 points in the playoffs.
The Rockets turned to netminder Josh Banini against Chicoutimi after Harrison Boettiger allowed five goals on 39 shots in the tournament opener against Kitchener.
Banini gave his team every opportunity to win against the Saguenéens, allowing three goals on 29 shots.
The Rockets are going up an Everett team that eliminated them from the WHL playoffs in five games during the second round. Everett outscored Kelowna 17-8 in the series with Kelowna’s lone win being a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 3.
Everett is coming off a tough 6-2 loss to the Rangers on Monday that saw Kitchener’s timely offence and strong goaltending take over.
Kitchener jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Silvertips managed to tie the game by the halfway point of the second thanks to goals by rookie Matias Vanhanen and forward Rylan Gould.
The Rangers then scored four unanswered goals the rest of the way, despite Everett outshooting Kitchener 42-22.
Anders Miller took the loss for the Silvertips, allowing six goals on 28 shots. The six goals were the most he’s allowed since he was acquired by Everett in October.
WHL playoff MVP Julius Miettinen was held pointless for only the fifth time since the playoffs began. The Seattle Kraken prospect led WHL playoff scoring with 14 goals and 27 points in 18 games.
Phenom defenceman Landon DuPont was limited to an assist and a minus-2 rating in the loss.
If necessary, the tiebreaker will take place on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT across the TSN Network, TSN.ca, and the TSN App.
