Jon Gillies led the USHL in saves, minutes played and wins this season with the Indiana Ice. Now he has added another impressive stat: a goal.

Gillies, who is ranked sixth among North American goalies by NHL Central Scouting for this summer's draft, was credited with an empty-netter in the Ice's 6-3 win over the Des Moines Buccaneers on Saturday in South Bend, Indiana. Late in the game, which was held at Notre Dame's arena — did some of that fabled luck of the Irish rub off on Gillies? — the netminder went behind his net to play the puck. The Buccaneers played it behind the net and then a centring pass went between the point men and skidded all the way down the ice into the Des Moines net. Since Gillies was the last Ice to touch it, he got credit for the goal.

Obviously, it's a fluke play. Many of the goals scored by goalies came as a result of the other team putting the puck in their vacant net (literally vacant, not post-lockout Toronto Maple Leafs era vacant).

Niagara IceDogs right wing-centre Joel Wigle (Terry Wilson, OHL Images)Being on a contender can rub off on a young player who is making his case to be selected by a NHL team in the entry draft. Niagara IceDogs right wing Joel Wigle, whose team is considered the favourite to win its first J. Ross Robertson Cup, has reason to believe that could be the case for him this summer.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Wigle has filled an unsung yet necessary niche through the first two playoff rounds for the IceDogs. As a second-year player on a team with 12 NHL draft picks, a lead role can be a little harder t come by. However, his work helming the IceDogs' energy line with Myles Doan and Carter Verhaeghe helped him rise to 113th in NHL Central Scouting's final North American ranking after being listed 182nd in January.

"With our deep team, we just need some toughness sometimes and some grit," says Wigle, a native of Brantford, Ont. "That's that's what the fourth line brings, I think I've been able to do that.

"I'm like a power forward. I have a good shot, I utilize my speed, I can bring toughness."

Wigle had 12 goals and 20 points across 63 games in the regular season. He has yet to record a point through 10 playoff games but IceDogs coach-GM Marty Williamson has praised his willingness to be a complementary player.

"We think a lot of Joel and we think he's going to be an impact player in this league," Williamson recently told the St. Catharines Standard. "He's kind of behind a lot of talent on this team and doesn't get the exposure the other guys have."

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WHL

The Kamloops Blazers should have the Portland Winterhawks' attention after winning big twice to extend their Western Conference series.  (Taking Note, Small Thoughts At Large, Oregon Live)

Winterhawks star Ty Rattie played Saturday but was not at 100 per cent. (Portland Tribune)

Captain Darren Kramer says his Spokane Chiefs need to avoid "the trap of running around" in order to beat Tri-City on Monday to force Game 7. (Spokane Spokesman-Review, Tri-City Herald)

Edmonton Oil Kings centre's Henrik Samuelsson's size and willingness to play with some jam with be of the Ulf-most importance in the Eastern Conference final vs. Moose Jaw. (Edmonton Sun)

Edmonton over Moose Jaw in six games? (Regina Leader-Post)

Kitchener Rangers forward Tyler Randell (OHL Images)

Game 7s for everyone. The Kitchener Rangers gutted out a tight victory over the Plymouth Whalers to send their series back across the border for a seventh game on Tuesday. The Ottawa 67's took another step toward pulling off a comeback from a three-games-to-one deficit by winning beating Barrie. Colts forward Erik Bradford will have two nights to get the vision of the open net he missed in the third period out of his head before the decider. On with the post-game questions.

Kitchener 4 Plymouth 2 (Western Conference semifinal tied 3-3; Game 7 on Tuesday) — How well will the Rangers channel the emotional lift they will get Tuesday when Tyler Randell rejoins their lineup? Down to its last strike in the series, Kitchener drew heavily on the idea of making sure the rugged overage winger's time in the Ontario Hockey League would not end with him sitting helplessly in the press box. Thanks in large part to Ryan Murphy turning in a performance on the blueline that was world-class (no, he could not have helped Team Canada in January, not at all, he did not type sarcastically), the Rangers pulled through.

Randell got a 10-game suspension last month for a head check on Owen Sound's Artur Gavrus in the first game of the playoffs. He will give the Rangers a lift, especially if 6-foot-5 forward Andrew Crescenzi is unable to return after missing Sunday's game with injury. The question, of course, is how the Rangers find something new to spur them on as they shoot for the upset.

Los Angeles Kings second-round pick Chris Gibson (The Canadian Press)No. 1 star: Chris Gibson, Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)

Saku Koivu is the most beloved Finn to ever play hockey in Quebec. But Gibson might have the Saguenay region locked down after his 33-save shutout which kept the Sags alive in their series against the MasterCard Memorial Cup-host Shawinigan Cataractes.

Thanks in large part to the 19-year-old goalie's best game of the playoffs, the Sags prevailed 2-0 to even the series 3-3 and force Game 7 on Tuesday, when all the pressure will be on Shawinigan. No Memorial Cup host team has failed to reach the third round of the playoffs since 2003.

Gibson faced the prospect of having his junior tenure end after allowing six goals on 40 shots in the fifth game of the series. The Finnish world junior netminder played big, though, with his best stop likely being a right-pad save on Shawinigan's Anton Zlobin. The pressure on him was sky-high all afternoon. Étienne Brodeur opened the scoring late in the first period and Chicoutimi nursed that one-goal lead like a poor graduate student nursing a beer, making it stand up for 42-plus minutes before an empty-netter relieved the pressure.

Everett Silvertips' Ryan Murray, NHL Central Scouting's second-ranked North American skater (Marissa Baecker, Getty Images)Much of the focus of the hockey world in May turns to the NHL playoffs and the CHL championship series', but there's still a special spot on the TV on days off reserved for the IIHF World Championship. There are always a few storylines to keep Canadians interested, and a new one popped up Sunday, courtesy of the Pipeline Show.

As reported Saturday evening by Dean Millard via Twitter, Hockey Canada has talked to and is expected to invite 2012 draft eligible defenceman Ryan Murray to join their entry to the Men's World Championship in Sweden/Finland.

"We have confirmed that Ryan Murray has been approached by Hockey Canada to play in the World Championship.Should be announced tomorrow," was how Dean's tweet read.

As expected, the instant reaction from fans was surprise but that quickly gave way to speculation of what this may mean for the entry draft this June.

As the post notes, Kevin Lowe is the general manager for Team Canada at the tournament which takes place in Helsinki and Stockholm from May 4-20. Kevin Lowe is also the president of the Edmonton Oilers, a team in dire need of defencemen, and keepers of the No. 1 pick in this spring's NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh.

London Knights defenceman Olli Maatta has 12 points in the playoffs (OHL Images)One half of the league's final four is complete, while Ottawa and Kitchener have their backs to walls in the the Game 6s set for Sunday evening. On with the (very belated, sorry about that, spring cold) post-game questions:

London 5 Saginaw 3 (Knights win Western Conference semifinal 4-2) — How much concern should there be about Greg McKegg being unable to finish the game on Saturday? The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect who is London's designated dangerous scorer was knocked out of the game early on Saturday. However, as Ryan Pyette reported, it's not anticipated that there was serious damage. London also gets four full days of R&R before it likely opens the Western Conference final vs. the Kitchener-Plymouth victor on Thursday, so that buys McKegg some time.

McKegg was injured early on an open-ice hit by Saginaw's Vincent Trocheck and never returned to the game. He was examined by team doctor Dieter Bruckschwaiger, who made the trip to Saginaw.

"It's nothing major," London assistant GM Misha Donskov said. "He'll be looked at again when he gets home."

Without McKegg, the lines were shuffled and the defencemen stepped up, scoring three of the five goals. (London Free Press )

Kamloops Blazers right wing Jordan DePape (The Canadian Press)No. 1 star: Jordan DePape, Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

The Blazers have promises to keep and miles to go before they sweep the last four games of the Western Conference final, but the way they have fought off match point twice against the Portland Winterhawks is admirable. DePape, the veteran who missed nearly the entire regular season due to shoulder season shouldered the load by notching four points (2G-2A) in the Blazers' 7-2 pounding of Portland in front o a crowd of 10,135 in the Rose City.

Only one Western Hockey League team has ever surmounted a 3-0 deficit. DePape factored into both first-period Blazers goals as they took a 2-0 lead, receiving an assist on Marek Hrbas' opener after Portland's Mac Carruth played a puck rather than freeze it and then scoring the second. The Winnipegger had a secondary helper when Brendan Ranford got a dagger goal with 42 seconds left in the second period to re-open a three-goal lead and make it all but official there will be a Game 6 in the B.C. Interior on Monday.

From Jim Beseda:

The Blazers ... moved a step closer to becoming only the second team in WHL history to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.

The Spokane Chiefs were the first to do it — in the first round of the 1995-96 West Division playoffs against the Winterhawks.

"It was do or die tonight," DePape said. "I think our guys were obviously all ready. We were kind of blazing out there and we were lucky enough to get the win." (The Oregonian)

Kamloops goalie Cam Lanigan stopped 34-of-36 shots as his team shut down Portland, which had Ty Rattie back in the lineup from injury. The 7-2 margin represented Portland's worst home playoff loss in 23 years.