The Portland Winterhawks will face the Everett Silvertips in the second round of the WHL playoffs. Portland and Everett played eight times this year. The Winterhawks went 6-2 in those matches, with one shootout victory on January 5th. Thanks to that shootout victory, the Winterhawks went 4-0 against the Silvertips at home this season. Portland outscored Everett at home 25-11, including a 10-2 victory the last time they met in Veterans Memorial Coliseum. On the road, things have been a lot closer between these two. Portland is 2-2 against Everett in Angel of the Winds Arena. Both teams have 14 goals for when the Silvertips are hosting as well.
Austin Roest was Everett’s top performer in their first round of the playoffs. In five games against the Vancouver Giants, Roest scored three goals and four assists for a total of seven points. Notably, Roest had a slow start to the series, scoring zero points in Everett’s first playoff game. However, Roest would bounce back with Everett’s only two goals of Game 2 and three assists in Game 3.
One player who could help shut down Austin Roest for Portland is Luca Cagnoni. Cagnoni has three goals and four assists in four games against the Victoria Royals. One of those goals came on the power-play, and would eventually be deemed as a game winning goal. Against Everett, Cagnoni has almost always made an impact. In their eight regular season games, Cagnoni had one goal and eight assists. On top of that, Cagnoni had a plus/minus of +3 against the Silvertips.
The last time these two teams met, was February 18th in Everett. The Silvertips won 4-0, handing Portland their second shutout loss of the season. The winner of this best of seven series advances to the Conference Finals, and will play either the Prince George Cougars or the Kelowna Rockets. Game one will be in Portland on Friday, April 12th. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 