Plauderecke » Spokane Chiefs edged the visiting Tri-City Americans 4-3

SPOKANE, Wash. - Mitch Holmberg scored his 62nd goal of the season in regulation and then scored in the shootout as the Spokane Chiefs edged the visiting Tri-City Americans 4-3 on Friday in Western Hockey League action. Holmberg currently leads the WHL in scoring with 118 points in 71 games and has an eight-point lead over the second-leading scorer, Nicolas Petan of the Portland Winterhawks. Eric Williams made 26 saves for the win. Connor Chartier and Keanu Yamamoto also scored for the Chiefs (40-25-6) in regulation and Liam Stewart scored the shootout winner. Jessey Astles had a pair of goals for the Americans (28-32-10), who dropped their fifth straight game, and Parker Bowles scored once. Evan Sarthou turned away 39-of-42 shots in a losing cause. --- HITMEN 5 ICE 4 (SO) CRANBROOK, B.C. — Jake Virtanen had a goal and an assist in regulation and had the shootout winner as Calgary slipped past Kootenay. Brady Brassart, Joe Mahon and Greg Chase also scored for the Hitmen (47-17-7). Luke Philp scored twice for the Ice (39-27-5) and set up goals by Jagger Dirk and Sam Reinhart. Calgarys Chris Driedger made 37 saves for the win. Kootenays Mackenzie Skapski gave up three goals on 16 shots before giving way to Wyatt Hoflin, who stopped 16-of-17 shots in 36 minutes of relief. --- RAIDERS 7 BLADES 2 PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — Collin Valcourt had two goals and two assists and Leon Draisaitl scored once and set up three more as the Raiders crushed Saskatoon to keep their playoff hopes alive. Josh Morrissey and Dakota Conroy each had a goal and two assists for Prince Albert (34-32-5), which is tied for eighth place with the Red Deer Rebels in the Eastern Conference. Calder Brooks and Gage Quinney added a goal apiece. Cory Millette and Mitch Lipon scored for the Blades (16-50-5), who dropped their 11th game in a row. Nick McBride made 18 saves for the Raiders. Troy Trombley stopped 31-of-38 for Saskatoon. --- WHEAT KINGS 4 PATS 3 (OT) REGINA — Eric Roy scored the winner at 2:18 of the extra period as Brandon slipped past the Pats. Peter Quenneville had two goals and an assist in regulation for the Wheat Kings (33-29-9), who hold down the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference, and Richard Nejezchleb added a goal and an assist. Dmitry Sinitsyn, Dryden Hunt and Connor Gay supplied the scoring for Regina (39-25-7), which clinched first place in the East Division despite the loss. Jordan Papirny made 29 saves for Brandon while Dawson MacAuley turned away 31-of-35 shots for the Pats. --- BRONCOS 5 WARRIORS 4 SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — Jay Merkley had a pair of goals, including one shorthanded into an empty net, as the Broncos snapped Moose Jaws four-game win streak. Glenn Gawdin, Nathan Burns and Colby Cave also scored for Swift Current (37-25-9) and Eetu Laurikainen made 26 saves for the victory. Bryson Gore scored twice for the Warriors (21-41-9) while Brayden Point and Sam Fioretti had the others. Moose Jaws Zach Sawchenko stopped 33-of-37 shots in defeat. --- BLAZERS 5 COUGARS 1 KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Bolton Pouliot stopped 35 shots, including 17 in the third period, as the Blazers beat Prince George to avoid their ninth straight loss. Collin Shirley, Nick Chyzowski, Cole Ully, Deven Sideroff and Nathan Looysen supplied the offence for Kamloops (14-52-5). Troy Bourke scored the lone goal for the Cougars (26-37-8), who dropped their sixth game in a row. Brett Zarowny allowed four goals on 23 shots for Prince George before Ty Edmonds took over at the 2:20 mark of the third period. Edmonds stopped 9-of-10 shots in relief. --- SILVERTIPS 5 ROYALS 3 VICTORIA — Ivan Nikolishin had a goal and two assists as Everett beat the Royals to improve to 10-0-1 in its last 11 games. Zane Jones, Manraj Hayer, Matt Pufahl and Noah Juulsen also scored for the Silvertips (38-23-9) and Joshua Winquist tacked on two assists. Victoria (48-19-4) got goals from Tyler Soy, Steven Hodges and Mitch Skapski. Everetts Austin Lotz made 23 saves for the win as Patrik Polivka turned aside 26-of-31 shots for the Royals. --- ROCKETS 6 GIANTS 5 VANCOUVER — Madison Bowey and Justin Kirkland each scored twice as Kelowna held off the Giants from a third-period comeback. Myles Bell had a goal and two assists for the Rockets (56-11-4) and Rourke Chartier added the other. Ty Ronning had a pair of goals for Vancouver (32-28-11), which trailed 6-1 after 40 minutes of play, and Dmitry Osipov, Joel Hamilton and Jackson Houck scored a goal apiece. Jackson Whistle made 29 saves for Kelowna. Ryan Kubic allowed six goals on 30 shots for the Giants. --- WINTERHAWKS 5 THUNDERBIRDS 2 KENT, Wash. — Oliver Bjorkstrand had two goals and four points as Portland toppled Seattle for its fifth win in a row. Taylor Leier had a goal and an assist for the Winterhawks (52-13-5) while Brendan Leispic and Mathew Dumba each scored once. Roberts Lipsbergs and Ryan Gropp scored for the Thunderbirds (40-24-6). Portlands Brendan Burke made 30 saves for the win as Seattles Taran Kozun turned away 46-of-51 shots in defeat. --- Cheap Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys . The 19-year-old Swiss centre back will initially have to impress in Uniteds reserve side to earn a spot in the first team. Veseli says "Manchester United has a long history of younger players coming through and hopefully I can follow and do the same. Cheap Flyers Jerseys .com) - Oregon wasnt going to let Arizona ruin its national title dreams for a second straight season. http://www.cheapflyersjerseys.com/ . While plenty of statistics illustrate Torontos turnaround in the second year of manager Ryan Nelsens tenure, stopping goals is not one of them. Cheap Flyers Jerseys Authentic .A. Happ capped a challenging season with one of his best efforts of the year. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . - Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Feb. GRANADA, Spain -- Karim Benzema scored to give Real Madrid a 1-0 win at Granada in the Spanish league Monday amid growing speculation the club is close to a blockbuster deal to sign Wales winger Gareth Bale. Madrid started brightly thanks to the playmaking of Angel Di Maria which led to Benzemas goal in the 10th minute, but left Granada with the chance to snatch the draw late. Madrid joined defending champion Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal as the only teams to win the first two rounds of the season. Madrids offer to English club Tottenham for Bale is reportedly similar to the record 80 million pounds (then $131 million) it paid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. And while it appeared the transfer was close to being done over the weekend, Bale remained a Tottenham player and is expected back with his team after a two-day break to rest a hurt foot he used to visit the southern Spanish resort town of Marbella. If Bales possible arrival wasnt enough to distract from the action on the pitch at Los Carmenes Stadium, there was also the sight of Spain and Madrid captain Iker Casillas sitting on the bench for a second consecutive match under coach Carlo Ancelotti. Despite a week of pressure by Spanish media to see Casillas returned to Madrids goal, Ancelotti stuck with Lopez in goal and maintained former coach Jose Mourinhos decision from last season to reduce Casillas to the role of backup. Ancelotti said his decision was because "Diegos playing well right now. Theres nothing else to say." Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa called on Madrids fans to unite behind the team and let rest the debate over the goalkeeper. "I support them both, Lopez and Iker, juust like my teammates do, and I think it would be interesting if the public did the same," he said.dddddddddddd Even though Madrid has two wins in as many games, it has struggled to take the first six points of the season after needing a late goal to edge Real Betis in Ancelottis debut. "We are in the second round, with a new coach and new players," said Arbeloa. "Its normal that we are not at our top level. We are trying to do it the best we can, but it takes time." Bale might be tagged to be Madrids next big threat up front, but in the meantime Di Maria put on an all-around attacking display against the overmatched Granada in the first half hour. Di Maria had already tested the keeper and set up Benzema before Granada left the Argentina international with enough time to pick out Ronaldos run from the left flank. The Portugal forwards first touch to control the ball wasnt good, but Benzema was there to drive the ball home as the defence looked on. Madrid seemed ready to romp as Mesut Ozil was denied from close by Granada goalie Roberto Fernandez and Di Maria again crossed for Ronaldo, only for Ronaldo to uncharacteristically whiff when trying to slot in the dangerous pass. Madrid almost doubled its lead in the 62nd through Francisco "Isco" Alarcon who wrong-footed his marker before forcing Fernandez to push his shot onto the post. Ronaldo came alive as the rest faded and drew several saves from Fernandez, but he was still left without a goal this season. Granada surged forward in the final minutes and managed to trap Madrid in its area, but it couldnt do better than pepper the box with crosses that never turned into shots on goal. ' ' '