The Portland Winterhawks went 1-1 on their weekend road trip. On Friday night, Portland clutched a 6-5 overtime victory against the Wenatchee Wild. Then on Saturday, the Seattle Thunderbirds defeated Portland 4-2. The Winterhawks now sit at a 29-20-3 record, placing them fifth in the Western Conference.
Portland’s matchup against Wenatchee started with some self-inflicted errors. Short-handed goals from Luka Shcherbyna and Tye Spencer gave the Wild a two-goal lead. However, Portland’s power-play would redeem themselves, thanks to a redirect goal from Kyle Chyzowski. Before the period ended, Wenatchee would regain their two-goal lead. A pass from Radoslav Dimitrov would skip over the stick of Morgan Hackman, and find Reid Andresen for a one-timer at the faceoff circle. The puck would race past Ondrej Štěbeták’s blocker pad, and give Wenatchee a 3-1 lead.
In the second period, both team’s offenses had found their place to attack. For Wenatchee, the rush through the neutral zone was finding success. Miles Cooper was a major benefactor, as he picked up a pair of goals for the Wild in the second period. First, Cooper would collect a rebound goal on a 3-on-2 rush. Then Cooper’s second would come from tape to tape passing, allowing for a clean wrist shot to beat a diving Štěbeták.
Meanwhile, Portland’s position to attack was the front of the net. Alex Weiermair scored a goal just over a minute and a half into the second period, by driving to the crease on a 2-on-2 rush. A chip shot from in close would give Weiermair his 13th goal of the year. Then later that period, Jordan Duguay would jab home a goal from the top of the crease, thanks to some slick passing from Diego Buttazzoni and Kyle Chyzowski.
Wenatchee held a two-goal lead heading into the third period, but the Winterhawks continued to find success in front of the net. Nearly three minutes into the final frame, Carsyn Dyck would score a goal off a redirected shot by Tyson Jugnauth from the blue line. Then with only 6:43 remaining in regulation, a shot from the point would create another scoring chance. This time, Carter Sotheran’s blue line shot would be saved by Wild goaltender Alex Garrett. However, Kyle Chyzowski would bury the rebound, tying the game at 5-5.
The game would go to overtime, where the hard work of Joel Plante and Josh Zakreski was on full display. Zakreski would fight off a defender to take a wrist shot from low inside the faceoff circle. Garrett would make the save, and the rebound would bounce high in the air. Eventually, the puck would fall inside the crease, where Joel Plante would sweep through. Surrounded by three defenders, Plante would poke the puck free to Zakreski at the opposite faceoff circle. Zakreski would then slide inside, and fire a shot past the glove of Garrett, giving the Winterhawks the 6-5 overtime win.
One day later, Portland was locked in for a duel against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Unfortunately for Portland, Seattle would earn a power-play in the first minute of the game. Radim Mrtka would shoot the puck well wide of the net from the point. The bounce off the back wall would be corralled by Nathan Pilling. Spotting a recovering Štěbeták, Pilling would instantly throw the puck back to the front of the crease. The puck would then kick off the backside of Štěbeták, and into the net, giving Seattle the first goal of the game.
The Winterhawks would respond with a power-play of their own. Nearly five minutes into the action, Diego Buttazzoni would rifle a wrist shot off the shoulder of goaltender Scott Ratzlaff. The puck would then bounce off the crossbar, and fall towards the ice. Before it could reach the ground, a Seattle defenseman would try and swipe the puck out of the air. However, the puck would hit the back of the defenseman’s leg, and fall into the goal. Buttazzoni would get credit for an unassisted goal, and the Winterhawks would tie the game at 1-1.
The stalemate would not last long, as the Thunderbirds would score just one minute after Buttazzoni’s goal. Off a turnover in the defensive zone, Matej Pekar would pick up the loose puck. Skating between the faceoff circles, Pekar would wind up a wrist shot and snipe the top corner of the net. The shot beat Štěbeták high blocker side, putting Seattle back in the lead.
The action wasn’t done for the first period either. Just over a minute later, the Thunderbirds would strike again. This time, it was Seattle on the 3-on-2 rush. Štěbeták would make the initial save on Sam Charko’s redirect chance. However, Charko would grab the rebound, and spin a pass back across the crease to Colton Gerrior. Gerrior would lift the puck over the leg of Štěbeták, and score his third goal of the year, giving the Thunderbirds a 3-1 lead.
The Winterhawks knew they needed a response, and decided to substitute goaltenders to help change their momentum. Roughly three minutes later, their game plan payed off. In the offensive zone, Portland would cycle the puck up to the blue line. From the middle of the zone, Cole Slobodian would attempt a slap shot. The puck was blocked, but stayed close to the point. So, Slobodian skated around Seattle’s shot blocking forward, and regained the puck. Now with room in the high slot, Slobodian marched in, and wristed a shot over Ratzlaff’s blocker. Slobodian would score his first goal of the season, and the Winterhawks would cut the lead to 3-2.
The one goal deficit would hold into the second period, where there was only one more goal scored. A rebound would kick back out to Seattle’s Antonio Martorana, who would backhand a shot towards the net. The puck would get slowed down in front, but that left just enough time for Matej Pekar to make a diving play at the far post. Pekar would fork the puck just past the leg of substitute goalie Marek Schlenker, and give the Thunderbirds a 4-2 lead.
The Winterhawks would out shoot Seattle in the third period 15-6. However, none of those shots would fall. The Thunderbirds would go on to win 4-2.
Portland then rebounded on Monday with a 4-3 victory over Seattle at home to improve to 30-20-2-1. The Winterhawks’ next game is Friday at Everett with puck drop set for 7:05 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 