The Kootenay Ice are going to the Western Hockey League Championship series for the third time in franchise history, after sweeping the Medicine Hat Tigers last night.

And they didn't so much sweep the Cats as consume them in a Dyson-esque cyclone, bag them and throw them by the curb with a resounding 7-2 win.

Max Reinhart filled the net like a greedy fisherman, making some history in the process. His five goals match a WHL playoff record last reached at the dawn of the 1980s.

Series MVP Cody Eakin scored the Ice's other two goals.

"I'm just filled with excitement right now," said a giddy Reinhart. "I've never even been past the first round and I don't think anyone has been past the second round. Coming in, we were kind of in foreign territory. We just came out flying."

He's not kidding. Even though it was the Tigers one loss away from elimination, the Ice opened the game with a two-on-none break that led to the game's first penalty 16 seconds in.

Reinhart was on that rush, in a preview of things to come.

He said spending the first couple of minutes of the game on the ice with a pair of power plays really got him into it.

He opened the floodgates at 6:20, snapping a shot off the right wing. An assist went to the fans in the south end of the rink, as they hollered with the puck having trickle through Tyler Bunz's pads and come to rest in the crease. Reinhart swooped in to bang in his second consecutive game-opener.

"That first one was the best one for me: just the excitement in the building was a great feeling," said Reinhart. "I don't think I've seen this place that loud. It's a great feeling right now."

He made it 2-0 five minutes later, after captain Brayden McNabb intercepted a Linden Vey pass high in the Ice zone. He passed to Joe Antilla, who led a 3-on-1 the other way. Reinhart entered the slot with his stick cocked, and Antilla got him the puck for a one-timer.

Reinhart completed a natural hat trick at 13:02, as he was foolishly left alone in front and Matt Fraser found him from behind the net.

The Ice let off the gas pedal for a stretch after that, and Kellan Tochkin made it 3-1 with a floater from atop the left circle.

After some back-and-forth hockey, the Ice were able to restore their three-goal cushion about a minute before the intermission. Kevin King won a battle down the right wing and one-handed the puck on net. Eakin swooped in to net the rebound.

Cole Grbavac wrapped up Medicine Hat's scoring at 4:42 of the middle frame by sending a puck in off the out-stretched arm of Nathan Lieuwen. Lieuwen finished with 21 saves.

Eakin popped in a tough rebound off a Hayden Rintoul point shot to chase Bunz (he allowed five goals on 15 shots).

Reinhart welcomed replacement Deven Dubyk by beating him on a shorthanded break to make it 6-2.

No. 23 repeated the trick with another shorty early in the third.

That fifth goal tied a WHL record for most in a single playoff game. It had happened three times previously, most recently by Dave Chartier of the Brandon Wheat Kings in 1981. Reinhart was born some 11 years later.

"It's a great feeling individually," said Reinhart. "I'm sure I'll look back on it in a couple of weeks when our season is over and feel really proud of that. Right now, I'm not so much focused on the individual stats as much as we are this next series coming up."

Reinhart leapfrogged to second in league scoring, and first in goals with 14.

He figured the last time he filled the net so much was in his second year of Pee Wee.

"I don't remember too many five-goal games but tonight... it's just one of those games where the puck finds your stick and you seem to be putting it in the right places," he said.

"It seemed like he could have had seven or eight maybe," marveled Hayden Rintoul, who finished a team-high plus-5. "He's a great hockey player. He can put the puck in the net and I think you guys got a little taste of that tonight."

Max said finishing the sweep in such grand fashion was made all the sweeter given he did it with 15-year-old brother Sam in the lineup.

"It's awesome," said Reinhart. "He's going to learn so much from this, and I think it's going to benefit him when he gets a chance to lead his teams when he's an older guy."

Proceedings got chippy in the third, with one lengthy scrum turning into simultaneous fights between Elgin Pearce and Matthew Konan, and McNabb and Etem.

It was a frustrating night for Etem, who - along with league-leading scorer Vey - finished minus-four.

King said the Ice had prepared for a big push-back by the cornered Tigers in Game 4. It didn't materialize.

"Maybe we were a little bit surprised they didn't push a little harder. But we were pretty disciplined in our systems and the way we played, took away all their speed and momentum, and took away their talented players."

The Ice have now won 11 games in a row. Somehow they have avoided complacency in that stretch.

"Everyone is playing their position well and doing what they've got to do, playing their roles," said Rintoul. "Everyone's just being real mature, making safe plays, doing the better play for team, not yourself."

He was excited to complete a second sweep and stay off the road.

"You don't want to go back there and have more bus rides and give them opportunities to get back in the series," said the defenceman. "It's obviously a big game for us and we're really happy to close it out at home and get some rest for the next series."

They could use the respite, with Drew Czerwonka, Steele Boomer and Brock Montgomery all injured or sick. Head coach Kris Knoblauch noted those three alone would form a formidable line.

"We were able to stick together, and so many guys played well," he said, glad the game was never really in doubt.

"The ones you remember the most are the ones that are the hardest to win. Game 2 against Saskatoon (which needed overtime) was pretty special given what we went through to win that one, but that one is a lot easier on me in 60 minutes behind the bench.