<div align="center"> vs. </div>

<div align="center">Game 80</div>

In yet another showcase of the highly coveted Battle of B.C, the Knights managed to scrape by the Whalers with a dominating, 2-0 shutout performance from Mikke Laukkanen. While the Knights had 31 shots, the Whalers tallied 28 shots to show that they were not far behind.

Starting line ups for the nighti

Kelowna Knights

Anatoly Yanovich - Mikael Talo - Mikko Linna
Beau Bent - Dieter Dominique - Nicholas Leier
Sven Bartok - Justs Sirmais - Kyle LeBlanc
Janis Mazmiesis - Justs Sirmais - Aronne Zamloch

Mia Landvik - Ty Justice
Cara Hohenberg - Fedor Shirobokov
Dolph Ziggler - Bernard Frederic

Mikke Laukkanen


Vancouver Whalers

Diego Ramirez - Charlie Conway - Zach Zyvleski
Bernie Sanders - Jon Ross - Conklin Owen
Patrick Kilgore - Levi Kubrak - Strawberry Blake
Lars Dahlstrom - Winston Porter - Thor Pederson

Carl Farris - Theodore Graham
Alfred Holiday - Pablo Biznette
Alessandro Fondente - Brandon Makarov

Stiv Dingles



It was a back and forth battle between the Knights and the Whalers throughout the first, however the Knights were able to capitalize on a big powerplay.

Fedor Shirobokov wires the puck towards the net, and Yanovich just tips it wide! Shirobokov quickly retrieves the puck behind the net, skates it out front he shoots! SCOOOORES! Shirobokov scores after collecting the rebound!

The Vancouver Whalers went down 1-0 in the first period despite outshooting the Knights 19-4.

Little over halfway into the second, the Knights struck yet again on the powerplay.

Graham dumps the puck into the Knights zone and Laukkanen quickly retrieves it. He feeds it to Justice, Justice skates it to the blue line and passes it over to Hohenberg. Hohenberg skates it into the Whalers zone, quickly sees Talo beaming to the slot, she passes it over an TALO SCORES! What a pass by Hohenberg as Talo makes it a 2-0 game!

Early in the third period, the Whalers came out hot looking to shorten the lead to a 2-1 game.

Zyvelski takes a hit from Landvik at the blue line, but Conway picks up the free puck! Conway shoots! Blocked by Justice! Conway retrieves his own rebound, looking to shoot again but Landvik slides into the shooting lane, Knights with another huge block! Ramirez picks up the loose puck for the Whalers, takes a shot and it just goes wide! Gets his own rebound, looking to shoot again and OH it goes wide again! Conway picks up the rebound on the doorstep, quickly shoots and OH what a SAAAAVE BY LAUKKANEN!

Mikke Laukkanen kept the Knights in the game, preserving his 2-0 shutout. Shots were 31 for the Knights and 28 for the Whalers.


Now it's time for our Unsung Hero of the Game, brought to you by SMJHL Today!

Without any surprise, Mikke Laukkanen of the Knights is our unsung hero of the day for this game. Laukkanen kept the team in the game with absolutely jaw dropping saves, and managed to keep a 28 save shutout. If Laukkanen wasn't a brick wall, the Whalers had a solid chance at scoring one, or even tying the game. It was definitely a goalie's matchup tonight, and Laukkanen performed.



Exclusive interview with Knights center Mikael Talo!

The Knights went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead despite being outshot 19-4. How was coach reacting to that first period performance?

It's hard to complain when you come out of the period with the lead, but we definitely let them play in our end too much. That was the message in the room during that first break.

You scored the goal in the second which put the Knights up 2-0. What sort of things did the Knights have to focus on to keep it a 2-0 game?

We just tried to play responsibly and not make any bad turnovers. You never want your goalie to have to stand on his head for you, so we really tried to play well in front of him to make his job a little easier.

Laukkanen put up an exceptional 28 save shutout. How impressed were you with his performance?

I'm always impressed with him. He's been incredible for us this season, and he's a huge part of our success.