Leading up to the Christmas break, the Portland Winterhawks had three games left and two weekend contests in the mix. First up was the Prince George Cougars, a team leading the BC Division, but have seen their number controlled by the Hawks.
On a night where no powerplay goals were scored, there was a statistic to record in the books. Josh Zakreski scored a hat trick, and Kayd Ruedig scored his first-ever WHL goal. There were 60 minutes in penalties called and PG may be in trouble as Monday approaches, Both Kaide Lemaiire and Patrick Sopiarz received 5 minute majors and game misconducts, Lemaire for Interference and Sopiarz for Check to the head. With resulting game misconducts, they are in for at least a game suspension apiece. More will be known on Monday when the WHL reviews the weekend action. The four goals were more than enough as the Hawks won 4-1 to sweep the four-game season series with the Cougars. They retain the top spot in the BC Division, but barely in that they have the same number of points as Victoria Royals but played one less game. Ondrej Stebetak took the win for the Hawks, who were outshot 40-36, and both teams were scoreless on the powerplay, Portland with 4 and PG with 3.
Portland would take on Seattle Thunderbirds the next night. Similar to Prince George, for the most part, the Winterhawks have held court versus Seattle on a night that was on TV for fans in the Northwest. Marek Schlenker went in between the pipes for Portland, as they have yet to establish a number-one goalie. Portland saw Carsyn Dyck score while the team was shorthanded midway through the period and added a second four minutes later on a Tyson Yaremko marker. Seattle would cut that in half a minute later to end the period at 2-1.
Just over four minutes into period 2, Kyle Chykowski blasted one home, but it was again short-lived. Just two minutes later, Seattle was on the doorstep again. Portland pushed hard and was rewarded five minutes later with a Tyson Yaremko powerplay tally, his second of the night, and Portland was up 4-2.
Diego Buttazzoni finished the scoring at 13:36 of the third period to hand the Thunderbirds a 5-2 loss. Portland nudged Seattle 34-32 in shots and went 2-7 versus 0-5 for Seattle on the powerplay.
The Hawks complete the homestand on this side of the Christmas break as they host Spokane, who comes into Portland 22-10, good for second place in the division and third in the Western Conference. Portland at 17-12 2 is in sixth spot, 6 points up on Vancouver and three back of Victoria for 5th. The following seven games, which include the Spokane game, are all classified as four-pointers in that they are divisional matchups with 2 points for a win and preventing two points for the opposition. Two are with Spokane, three with Tri-City, one with Wenatchee, and New Year’s Eve with Everett. Five of the seven games are at home, so this could be a breakout time for the Hawks.
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