The Portland Winterhawks played a three-game set this past week as they gear up to finish the abbreviated season in a week with three games against Tri-City and 1 versus Spokane Chiefs.
The past week, they played three games in three nights, with the biggest being Friday, where they played the Everett Silvertips. The Hawks have had issues trying to get the big W against the Tips. They did so on Friday, but it was a big come from behind. After spotting two goals to Everett in the First Period, the Hawks chipped away in the middle of the Second period to make it close. The third was where the Hawks scored twice at the 13 and 15-minute marks and added an empty-net goal with another just 30 seconds later. All told, it was a 5 goal strong comeback where the Hawks won 5-2. The Hawks dominated the shot clock at 39-20 but couldn’t score the powerplay goal going 0-4 while Everett went 1-3.
The Hawks would have a couple of tough nights playing Seattle Thunderbirds and Tri-City Americans, dropping both by one-goal differentials. The first night was against Tri-City, where they dropped a 3-2 decision. In the first 12:50, Tri-City had built a 3-0 lead, chasing starting goaltender Brock Gould from the Hawk nets. Dante Guiannuzzi would take over and go shutout hockey the rest of the way. Portland chipped away at the lead, scoring one in each of the next two-period middle frames, but couldn’t get the equalizer. Portland once again took a 39-26 shot advantage, going 1-6 on the powerplay and holding Tri-City off the sheet on their 3 tries.
The next night Portland would face the final battle with Seattle as the final televised broadcast. Portland and Seattle would trade goals back and forth in the contest, with Chyzowski and Dureau getting goals just over a minute apart in the first gave the Hawks a short 2-1 lead which would be evaporated two minutes later. The Hawks would fall behind early in the second but tie it up again with yet another goal by Dureau. Reece Newkirk would put the Hawks up but would see the tie happening just over fifteen minutes in, and it would stay that way until late in the Third period when Seattle’s Jared Davison stuck the dagger in the heart of the Hawks with a goal assisted by goaltender Jackson Berry. to win 5-4. Seattle edged the Hawks 27-26 in shots, going 1-3 on the Powerplay. The Hawks went 2-7 on theirs.
Other scores:
Victoria Royal went to overtime in getting the win over the Prince George Cougars 2-1. Prince George outshot Victoria 41-23 but was unsuccessful on the powerplay 0-2, with Victoria 1-5 on theirs.
Edmonton Oil Kings scored a lopsided 8-3 win over the Calgary Hitmen. The Oil Kings outshot Calgary 37-25 and went 3-7 on the powerplay, with Calgary 1-3 on theirs.
Kelowna Rockets trounced Kamloops Blazers 6-1. Kelowna outshot the Blazers 34-32, holding the Blazers off the sheet in their own chance, with Kelowna going 1-4 on their man advantage.
The next night where Tri-City got a win over Portland, other scores saw:
Spokane Chiefs stomped Seattle Thunderbirds 8-3 but did so with just a 31-28 shot advantage. Holding Seattle off the sheet with a 0-3 powerplay, Spokane got 2-4 on their tries.
Kamloops Blazers went to overtime to grab a 4-3 win over the Kelowna Rockets. Kelowna held court with 38-34 shots, and both teams scored twice on the powerplay, Kelowna at 2-5 Kamloops 2-6.
Vancouver Giants had to go all the way to a shootout to get past the Victoria Royal 5-4. The Giants had a wide margin in shots 43-19. Victoria went 2-6 on the powerplay with the Giants 1-5 on their attempts,
Lethbridge Hurricanes doubled up on the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-3. The Hurricanes outshot the Tigers 34-20, holding the Tigers off the sheet 0-3 and going 2-5 on the powerplay.
Red Deer Rebels got a shocking double up on the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-2, though outshot 26-25. Edmonton went 1-6 on the powerplay, Red Deer 1-4 on theirs.
The next night saw the Portland versus Seattle game and also these scores:
Everett Silvertips went to overtime to edge the Spokane Chiefs 3-2. Spokane went 2-4 on the powerplay, with Everett 1-4 on theirs. 33-32 were the shots in Everett’s favor.
Prince George Cougars downed the Vancouver Giants 5-2, though the shots didn’t indicate this at 31-16 in Vancouver’s favor. Both teams went 0-4 on the powerplay.
Red Deer Rebels went to overtime to edge Calgary Hitmen 5-4. The Rebels were a perfect 1-1 on the powerplay; Calgary went 1-3. The shots were close, too, at 33-31 in Calgary’s favor.
Medicine Hat Tigers scored a 6-2 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes with the Tigers 40-39 shot advantage. Lethbridge did not have powerplays in the game; Medicine Hat went 1-3.
The following night the Kamloops Blazers and Victoria Royals tied at one after the first period. Kamloops exploded for three in the second, with Victoria getting one back and then one more in the third to take a 5-2 win. Kamloops outshooting Victoria 33-26 and going 2-5 on the powerplay. Victoria went 1-4.
Kamloops will still have a comfortable lead in the BC Division, leading by 4 wins. Everett leads in the US Division by six wins, Edmonton in the Central by four wins. It doesn’t seem as if any second-place teams will catch the respective leaders.
