WHL Roundup: Winterhawks extend winning streak to 12 with victory over Blazers

The Portland Winterhawks keep rolling, regardless of their competition.

Portland extended its longest winning streak in 15 seasons to 12 games on Sunday, beating the Kamloops Blazers 3-1 in a matchup between the top two teams in the Western Hockey League.

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored two power-play goals for Portland (16-3-1), which hasn't won at least 12 in a row since a 15-game streak in the 1997-98 season.

Taylor Leier also scored for the Winterhawks, who led 3-0 after two periods.

Colin Smith had the lone goal in the third period for Kamloops (17-5-1), which has lost four straight and five of six. The Blazers have only scored eight goals in their last six games after starting the season with 16 wins in 17 contests.

Portland goaltender Mac Carruth stopped 24 of 25 shots to earn the win. Carruth leads the WHL with a 0.97 goals-against average and .963 save percentage.

Taran Kozun played well in net for Kamloops, making 33 saves in a losing effort. Kozun denied Portland's Ty Rattie three times from close range to keep the Blazers in the game.

Portland finished 2-for-8 on the power play, while Kamloops went scoreless on four opportunities.

Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Swift Current 3, Brandon 2 and Vancouver 4, Prince George 3 (SO).

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Broncos 3 Wheat Kings 2

At Brandon, Eetu Laurikainen made 26 saves and Josh Derko's second-period goal was the difference as Swift Current (9-9-6) edged the Wheat Kings (9-9-3), who have dropped back-to-back games.

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Giants 4 Cougars 3 (SO)

At Vancouver, Jackson Houck, Brett Kulak and Carter Popoff scored in the shootout and the Giants (6-13-0) snapped a two-game losing skid, edging Prince George (7-10-3).

(With files from the Brandon Sun)