Cliffhangers are always good if there is an excellent payoff at the end. Such was the case with the Portland Winterhawks and Everett Silvertips. The Western Conference regular season top club and Scotty Munro champions had a tough time when they faced Seattle for the right to move into round 2. It seemed like a done deal after Everett scored two in a row over the Portland Winterhawks to start round 2. However, Portland rebounded and led the series 3-2 at one point, before giving up game six at home. With the series tied, game 7 in Everett was the lead-in to the 3rd round.
Portland took the game 4-2 and stunned the large crowd of Silvertip faithful, who saw their season was over. The Hawks would get little time to rest as they faced the Spokane Chiefs, a team that went heavy at the trade deadline to secure Andrew Cristall of the Kelowna Rockets, along with some other housekeeping. The Hawks stood pat, with nine rookies and a couple of recently acquired players on the roster.
Games would format a 2-3-2 due to travel, and the Hawks needed to come off the ground early.
Against the Chiefs in the first game, the Hawks took it on the chin. With under 10 minutes gone in the first period, Spokane had chased starting netminder Ondrej Stebatek from the goal after four straight goals. Marek Schlenker went the rest of the way, barely surviving better in his giving up six goals in a brutal 10-4 loss. The only positive could be that the Hawks posted four up, up Dawson Cowan, and knew that they could get goals behind him.
A day off in between allowed the Hawks to refocus on their monumental task at hand and a return shot at the Spokane Arena. The Hawks started with Diego Buttazzoni on the powerplay and countered with Assinelli Sarkaov’s first of two on the night. Josh Zakreski would restore the Portland lead and end the first on that note.
Andrew Cristall showed why Spokane was hot on him at the trade deadline as he would score his first goal en route to capturing a hat-trick in the contest. Spokane held a 5-3 lead only to see Max Psenicka score his first WHL playoff goal and see Zakreski add another to tie the game and send it to overtime. Chase Harrington intercepted a pass inside the Hawks’ zone and wheeled high way to the front of the net, firing in over the top on Ondrej Stebatek for the game winner just a couple minutes in to make a 6-5 overtime final.
It’s not the first time the Hawks have been down in a series, and they can score goals. The deal will keep Cristall off the sheet and keep their leads. They have up to three chances at home starting Wednesday and Thursday to extend the series.
The Hawks shouldn’t feel bad. With so many rookies, a new coach, etc., no one was quite sure what to make of a team that had many ups and downs during the regular season. Regardless, they are the Cinderella team and need magic to continue the trek.
Out east, the Medicine Hat Tigers are only getting stronger. After their initial battle with Swift Current, a bit tighter than expected, they demolished the Prince Albert Raiders and seemed to be headed for a showdown with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. After an initial 5-2 win, they went on a 7-2 run at home, to bring the series back to Cane territory, up 2-0
Homerish, yes, but Portland could still win in seven, while the Hat seems to be in a sweep motion right now. Regardless, it would appear the Tigers are the ones to dethrone in the WHL.
Barrie Colts and Oshawa Generals won their respective battles and are meeting head on, while the Kitchener Rangers and London Knights are doing battle in the Eastern Conference Oshawa leads 2-0 after two strong 3-1 and 7-1 wins, London holds a 2-0 lead after 5-2 and 6-2 wins Shawingan Cateractes are finding out why Rimouski is hosting this years Memorial Cup after 5-1 and 7-0 losses to the Oceanic, while Monton Wildacts hold a 2-0 series lead over Rouyn-Noranda Huskies with 5-2 and 2-1 wins.
Currently, the leagues are in the final four, with all series having a 2-0 margin. The lesser seed teams host the next two games each, and it will be interesting to see if they can stop the momentum that appears to be strangleholds by the upper seeds.
Games will start Tuesday through Thursday in all leagues, and VICTORY will carry the WH contests.
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