EDMONTON - Brendan Ranford scored in regulation and added another in the shootout Wednesday as the Kamloops Blazers defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-4 in the Western Hockey League.
Ranford skated in slowly as the first Kamloops shooter and ripped a shot blocker side on Laurent Brossoit. Colin Smith had the other shootout goal for Kamloops, while Blazers goalie Cole Cheveldave stopped both Edmonton attempts.
With the win, the league-leading Blazers (10-0-1) are still the only team in the WHL without a regulation loss. Kamloops extended its winning streak to eight games, having outscored opponents 37-12 over that span.
JC Lipon had a pair of goals in regulation, while Rob Trzonkowski also scored for Kamloops. Cheveldave finished with 34 saves.
T.J. Foster, Dylan Wruck, Mitchell Moroz and Henrik Samuelsson replied for Edmonton (5-3-3), which is 0-3-2 against Kamloops since beating the Blazers back on Dec. 2, 2009. Brossoit stopped 16 shots in defeat.
Lipon opened up scoring 6:03 into the first, shovelling a shot home from just outside the Edmonton crease.
Foster replied on a man advantage for the Oil Kings with just under five minutes remaining, but Ranford restored Kamloops' lead with a power-play goal of his own with six seconds left in the period to give the Blazers a 2-1 advantage after one.
Wruck tied it up again halfway through the second, dancing across the blue-line before calmly tucking the backhand behind Cheveldave.
Kamloops took a 3-2 lead on Trzonkowski's goal midway through the third, but penalty trouble cost the Blazers moments later with Moroz's power-play deflection tying the score once again.
Edmonton briefly held a 4-3 edge with Samuelsson's power-play goal through traffic at 18:01, but Lipon capitalized on another Oil Kings turnover to score short-handed just 35 seconds later and force overtime.
With a pair of assists, Smith has recorded at least one point in all 11 of the Blazers' games this season and now has seven goals and 23 points on the year.