Goaltenders shine in WHL Game 7s: Wednesday night’s Three Stars

No. 1 Star - Mac Carruth, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Suffice to say, Carruth hadn't had a terrific series. The Winterhawks, of course, took a 3-0 series lead on Kamloops, Carruth stopped just .843 of pucks and the Blazers forced a Wednesday night Game 7. But Carruth was solid, holding off a number of good Kamloops chances including third period saves off of J.C. Lipon and Brendan Herrod, coming up big with Portland facing elimination. He also had the energy left to get into it with Austin Madaisky in a scrum following the final whistle.

Overall, Carruth held out all 32 shots he faced in the seventh game of the series, holding off a late rally, and sending Portland to the WHL Championship Series. Air may be slightly easier to breathe in Portland Thursday morning, as Portland do what Québec couldn't do last night, and closed out the series against an upstart opponent that wouldn't go away.

No. 2 Star - Brendan Shinnimin, Tri-City Americans (WHL)

Shinnimin had a few chances in the third period of this game, as you'd expect in a game where your team puts 48 shots on goal, but the WHL's regular season leading scorer finally broke through. While the Americans spent much of this game trailing, Malte Strömwall evened it up with just 5:22 on the clock, and a little over a minute later, Shinnimin took a Brian Williams feed and put Tri-City up for good.

The Phoenix Coyotes prospect will finish the seven-game series with three goals and seven assists for ten points. His point streak is now at 34 games long, dating back to February 1st.

No. 3 Star - Eric Williams, Spokane Chiefs (WHL)

I'm not sure how many people would have expected Eric Williams to be the best goalie in the series against Tri-City, and even if he had, I'm not sure how many people would have expected the Chiefs to not pull the series out. Williams put on a memorable Game 7 performance that unfortunately results in a loss, making 46 saves on 48 American shots, turning away a flurry in the third period.

At one point in the third period, with the Chiefs up 2-1, they were also being outshot 41-15. Williams kept the team in this game and salvaged the team's first round series against Vancouver after Mac Engel was pulled in Game 2. His .926 save percentage is good for second among goaltenders who made the second round.

Honourable Mention - Cam Lanigan, Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

Lanigan jumped into the series with the Blazers down 2-0 and starter Cole Cheveldave sidelined after taking a hit to the head and a concussion. Lanigan stepped in and played very admirably, his .889 save percentage not exactly going to turn too many heads, but his performance late in games was a big factor in the Blazers coming back forcing Game 7. In the seventh game, goaltending was the least of the team's worries, he stopped 37 of 39 pucks and gave his team a chance to win, but it was one of those nights when he happened to be bested by the man who wound up as the No. 1 star on the night.

Potent Notables: There were also goals scored on Wednesday, I guess. It was Marcel Noebels who scored 1:01 into Game 7 for the Winterhawks on a feed from Sven Bärtschi... Cam Reid fed a pass to Brendan Leipsic midway through the third which sealed the deal... Mike Aviani assisted on a go-ahead goal for Spokane early in the third, but was stopped by Ty Rimmer on a penalty shot in the first period... Brian Williams had a goal and an assist for Tri-City... Game 1 of the WHL Western Conference Final will go Friday in Tri-City, the Eastern Final in Edmonton.