Sandhu scores twice as the Silvertips edge the Thunderbirds

The fight for the final two playoff positions in the Western Conference has become a three-team race that won't be decided until the final week of the regular season.

Tyler Sandhu scored twice as the Everett Silvertips edged the host Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action.

The victory moves Everett within one point of Seattle for the seventh spot in the West and both clubs have three regular-season games remaining. The Prince George Cougars earned their third win in a row on Saturday and are just four points behind the Silvertips for the eighth and final spot. The Cougars, however, have two games in hand and with five points separating the three clubs, nothing is certain at this point.

Dawson Leedahl broke a 3-3 tie at 17:03 of the third period for the Silvertips (23-39-6), who halted a three-game winless streak, and Reid Petryk had the other.

Connor Honey, Shea Theodore and Luke Lockhart scored for the Thunderbirds (23-36-9).

Austin Lotz made 28 saves for the win as Brandon Glover stopped 27 shots in defeat.

Everett went 1 for 3 on the power play while Seattle failed to score on its only chance with the man advantage.

Saturday's matchup was the 10th and final meeting of the season between the two clubs and each team won five games.

Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Edmonton 4, Moose Jaw 1; Medicine Hat 2, Prince Albert 1 (OT); Saskatoon 8, Regina 7 (OT); Swift Current 3, Brandon 2; Calgary 9, Lethbridge 0; Vancouver 3, Victoria 1; Kelowna 2, Kamloops 1; Spokane 6, Kootenay 3 and Prince George 3, Tri-City 2 (SO).

At Kent, Wash., Lockhart and Petryk traded short-handed goals in the first period.

Honey put Seattle up 2-1 just over a minute into the second period, however Sandhu responded for Everett at 11:23 and the game headed to the third period tied at two.

Sandhu gave the Silvertips their first lead of the game with a power-play goal at 11:23 of the third, but Theodore replied for the Thunderbirds 1:07 later.

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Oil Kings 4 Warriors 1

At Moose Jaw, Sask., Trevor Cheek scored twice and Michael St. Croix had a goal and an assist as Edmonton (49-15-5) downed the Warriors (23-36-10) to extend its win streak to six games.

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Tigers 2 Raiders 1 (OT)

At Prince Albert, Sask., Hunter Shinkaruk scored with 23 seconds remaining in overtime and Marek Langhamer stopped 37-of-38 shots as Medicine Hat (35-31-3) dealt the Raiders (35-27-7) their fifth loss in a row.

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Blades 8 Pats 7 (OT)

At Saskatoon, Brenden Walker scored twice, including the winner, and added two assists and Collin Valcourt had two goals and an assist as the Blades (43-22-4) beat Regina (25-36-8).

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Broncos 3 Wheat Kings 2

At Brandon, Dillon Heatherington scored once and added an assist and Adam Lowry's 44th goal of the season stood up as the winner as Swift Current (34-29-7) defeated the Wheat Kings (22-39-8), who lost in regulation for the first time in four outings.

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Hitmen 9 Hurricanes 0

At Calgary, Brooks Macek scored three times and Chris Driedger made 22 saves as the Hitmen (43-20-5) earned their third win in a row by crushing Lethbridge (26-32-10), who are winless in five games.

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Giants 3 Royals 1

At Vancouver, Jackson Houck scored twice in the third period and Payton Lee made 19 saves as the Giants (20-47-2) downed Victoria (33-28-7), which has lost 12 of its last 13 games.

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Rockets 2 Blazers 1

At Kelowna, B.C., Jordon Cooke stopped 31 shots and Tyrell Goulbourne scored the winner early in the second period as the Rockets (49-16-4) downed Kamloops (45-20-5) for the second time in as many nights.

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Chiefs 6 Ice 3

At Spokane, Wash., Blake Gal scored two goals and set up one more while Brenden Kichton and Alessio Bertaggia each had a goal and two assists as the Chiefs (41-25-2) handed Kootenay (33-33-2) its third straight defeat.

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Cougars 3 Americans 2 (SO)

At Kennewick, Wash., Zach Pochiro and Colin Jacobs scored in the shootout and Mac Engel made 22 saves as Prince George (21-38-8) picked up its third win in a row by edging the Americans (40-24-4).