Helenius, Riku

Mitch Fadden notches two assists to help Lethbridge move on to the Conference Finals and an injured Riku Helenius watches as the Thunderbirds end their season.

Results from Sarnia, Lethbridge, and Seattle.

WHL WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

Game 3: (1) Tri-City Americans 3 @ (4) Seattle Thunderbirds 2
Tri-City leads Best of 7 series 2-1

G Riku Helenius, SEA:
Game: Loss, 42 saves on 45 shots
Playoffs: 9 GP, 4-4-1, 2.70 GAA, .911 sv%

Game 2 summaries for Lethbridge and Seattle.

WHL EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

Game 1: (5) Kootenay Ice 3 @ (3) Lethbridge Hurricanes 2
Kootenay leads Best of 7 series 1-0

C Mitch Fadden, LET:
Game: 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM
Playoffs: 7 GP, 2-6-8, -3, 4 PIM (plus a 10 min misconduct)

After winning 5 of 6 regular season games from Lethbridge, Kootenay took Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semi-finals series by turning a 2-0 third period deficit into a 3-2 win. Ben Maxwell (undrafted) scored his fifth of the playoffs to win the game for the Ice at the 13 minute mark of the third period. Game 2 is Saturday night in Lethbridge.

WHL WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

Game 1: (4) Seattle Thunderbirds 7 @ (1) Tri-City Americans 1
Seattle leads Best of 7 series 1-0

G Riku Helenius, SEA:
Game: Win, 29 saves on 30 shots
Playoffs: 7 GP, 4-2-1, 2.41 GAA, .913 sv%

The T-Birds chased All-WHL goalie Chet Pickard when they jumped out to a 6-1 lead less than 3 minutes into the third period then added one more for good measure on their way to a 7-1 win. Pickard led the WHL with a 46-12-2-2 record this year and is expected to be one of the first goalies taken at this summer’s draft. Colton Yellow Horn and Jason Reese had a short-handed breakaway for Tri-City with 30 seconds left in the first, but couldn't get the puck past Helenius. A goal there would have cut Seattle's lead to 2-1. Seattle got a hat trick from Ian MacKenzie (undrafted) to help them steal home-ice advantage from the Americans, who hadn’t played in 9 days after sweeping Kamloops. No.1 Tri-City was 5-4 against Seattle this year with both teams earning an overtime win. Game 2 is Saturday night in Kennewick, Washington.