After Portland got the split in Prince George, the series was brought back to Portland with three games in the Rose City. If either team won the three games in Portland, the series would be over, and Portland would have an advantage if it could be done on home ice.
Home or away, the Winterhawks have found ways of doing impossible wins this season, and the fans came in force to “the Red Out.” In game three, Portland raced out to a 3-0 lead just over nine minutes into the match, which chased starter Joshua Ravensbergen from the net. Marus Nguyen scored a pair, and Marek Alscher added another as the Hawks. Ty Young replaced Ravenbergen and kept the door closed for the second. However, Nguyen would not be denied as the Hawks buzzed at the PG net; Young made several saves but could stop the wraparound roof job by Marcus. Prince George finally solved Spunar with a goal nearly sixteen minutes into the third period but fell 4-1. Portland was outshot 31-30, primarily on the 17-shot outburst in the third period. Prince George went 1-4 on the powerplay and the Hawks 1-7 in a game where frustration showed heavily on the Cougars, especially once down 3-0.
With the schedule in Portland, there was a day off with two games to follow before the series could head back to the northern capital.
Game four saw Ty Young between the pipes for Prince George against Spunar in that Young had only one goal. The solid defensive effort in the third period seemed to give the Cougars momentum leading to game 4.
Gabe Klassen, on the powerplay, and Diego Buttazoni, in the first period, led the Hawks to a 2-0 lead at the end of one. Midway into the second period, Prince George scored a powerplay goal, only to see Marcus Nuguyen score four minutes later. 5 1/2 minutes into the third period, Nuguyen did it again and increased the lead to two. Prince George countered on the powerplay with Hudson Thornton getting his second of the night. Portland’s Nate Danielson scored just over two minutes later, and the Hawks shut down the Cougars the rest of the way.
Now leading 3-1 in the series, the Hawks need just one of the remaining three games, while Prince George now has to win all three. Shots favored Portland 39-30, and the Hawks went 1-4 versus 2-3 for the Cougars.
Would the Hawks be able to get four straight? The question would be answered in Game 5. With a Gabe Klassen goal just before the eight-minute mark, the locals were on their feet in anticipation. Then the wheels fell off. With a pair of goals by Koehn Ziemmer in the first period, the Hawks couldn’t catch up. PG scored a powerplay goal midway through the second frame and then piled on three more to take Game 5 by a score of 6-1. Prince George outshot the Hawks 36-26 and were 1-3 on the powerplay, holding the Hawks off the board on a pair of tries. The series returns to Prince George with two games, possibly on Monday and Tuesday. The Hawks took one of the games in PG on the two to start the series and have that in the back of their mind. Right now, Portland holds a 3-2 series advantage.
In the east, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw have been at an all-out war. The games have been close, decided in all but one game by a goal, and that one game was still close at 3-1 with an empty-net goal.
Game three was 3-1 and was as close as possible. After Saskatoon opened the scoring, Moose Jaw scored three consecutive goals, including the empty net, which gave them a 2 to 1 lead in the series.
Game four in Moose Jaw looked like a runaway for Saskatoon as they scored three consecutive goals before the nine-minute mark of the first period. Refusing to concede, Moose Jaw smacked in a pair before the end of the frame to bring it to within one. Saskatoon drew the dagger with a goal before the end of the first to put them up by two.
Moose Jaw again refused to give up. Scoring just past the one-minute mark and just before the midway point of the second, the Warriors tied up. The two traded chance after chance but couldn’t break the tie. Finally, the game headed to overtime, and while the deadlock couldn’t be broken in regulation, it could be in overtime. The Blades scored 3 1/2 minutes in, with one of their snipers, Egor Sidornov, knocking in his 13th of the playoffs.
The series tied at two and heads back to Saskatoon for game 5.
In the OHL, Oshawa and London hold 3-1 series leads as they look to game five this weekend in North Bay and Saginaw, Michigan, respectively.
The QMJHL also had 3-1 series leads, with Victoriaville and Baie Comeau leading Drummondville and Cape Breton in those matchups. The Baie Comeau versus Cape Breton match also occurred on the same night as the Hawks versus PG series, and Baie Comeau is headed to the President’s Cup in the Q with a 2-1 overtime win.
Both teams scored powerplay goals in a heavily penalty-filled contest. There were 13 total powerplays, including one each during overtime, that did not decide the outcome. Baie Comeau is now waiting for the conclusion of the Drummondville/ Victoriaville match.
In other news, Prince George, while lagging in the series, has two awards for General Manager and Coach Mark Lamb. Lamb was voted Executive of the Year and Coach of the Year by the Western Hockey League.
Rookie of the Month of April went to Prince George’s goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen after a solid run in the April playoffs.
Jan Spunar of the Winterhawks was voted Goaltender of the Month after taking Goaltender of the Week last week. Spunar was also voted Goaltender of the Month when he took the honors for September/ October. He is in the running for WHL Goaltender of the Year.
