The Portland Winterhawks swamped the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday night with a 6-1 victory. The Winterhawks are now 5-4 against Seattle this season. Portland is now 1-1 this weekend, as they fell to the Everett Silvertips by a score of 5-3 Friday night. The Winterhawks have one more game against the Thunderbirds scheduled this season. It will be the Portland’s regular season finale on March 22nd.
The start of the game saw the Winterhawks winning the offensive battle. Portland out shot Seattle 16 to 8 in shots on goal through the first 20 minutes. However, the highlight of the first period belonged to Winterhawks netminder, Marek Schlenker. A giveaway roughly 5 and a half minutes into the action, gave Seattle the puck in the middle of the offensive zone. Coster Dunn would pick up the loose puck for the Thunderbirds, and pass to Brayden Schuurman. Shchuurman would turn towards the net, and then pass right back to Dunn. Dunn’s shot would flutter off his stick, but Schlenker would make a diving blocker save and smother the rebound.
The first goal of the game would come just 52 seconds into the second period. After Josh Zakreski was denied a beautiful power-play opportunity, the Thunderbirds would skate the puck out of their defensive zone. Simon Lovsin would find Matej Pekar near the blue line, penalty box side boards. As Portland’s defenseman came over to pinch off the play, Pekar would pass the puck into open space. Pekar’s pass would set up Braeden Cootes in the middle of the offensive zone. From there, Cootes would line a wrist shot, low past the glove of Schlenker.
Portland responded well to the pressure. Even though the shot count was even though the period, it was the Winterhawks who were creating better scoring chances, including a potential goal that was denied via replay review.
However, Portland’s offense would strike gold with 6:45 remaining in the 2nd period. Transitioning through the offensive zone, Jordan Duguay would get cut off along the boards, but still be able to center a pass for Alex Weiermair. Skating from left to right across the offensive zone, Weiermair would extend and wrist a shot between defensemen. Weiermair’s shot would whip past the glove of Grayson Malinoski and stay inside the post, tying the game at 1-1.
Just two minutes later, Portland was once again in transition from defense to offense. A last second pass across the blue line by Joel Plante would setup Ryan Miller with time and space to shoot. Miller’s wrister would be stopped by the right leg pad of Malinoski. However, the rebound would kick out directly to Reed Brown. Brown wasted no time firing the puck into the wide open net, and the Winterhawks would take a 2-1 lead.
From there, it seemed that the flood gates opened for the Winterhawks offense. After Portland cleared the puck off a great save by Schlenker, Kyle McDonough chased down the loose puck all the way to center ice. Seattle defenseman Radim Mrtka would reach the puck first, but his pass would be intercepted by Josh Zakreski. Zakreski then turned on the jets for a shorthanded breakaway. Going from forehand, to backhand, then back to forehand, Zakreski would roof the shot under the crossbar, and the Winterhawks would score a shorthanded goal with 2:42 remaining.
The Winterhawks offense would find one more goal before the end of the period. After an offsides call, Portland would win a faceoff and enter the offensive zone. Kyle McDonough held possession for Portland and let his teammates get into their positions. Then McDonough would pass across the zone to Tyson Jugnauth at the far point. Jugnauth, recognizing the time on the clock, would wrist a shot towards the net. On it’s way there, the puck would be redirected from low to high by the stick of Hudson Darby. The puck would rise over the shoulder of Malinowski, and strike the back of the net with 0.4 seconds left on the clock. That’s to a last second effort, the Winterhawks would go into the third period with a 4-1 lead.
Early in the third period, Portland’s power-play went to work. With 16:19 on the clock, Diego Buttazzoni would enter the offensive zone with speed. Buttazzoni would reach the goal line, then pass across the net. In the far faceoff circle, Alex Weiermair would gather up the puck. Keeping his head up, Weiermair would spot Zakreski sliding down in the high slot. Weiermair would make the pass across, and Zakreski would rifle a shot past the diving Malinoski, to extend the Winterhawks lead to 5-1.
The final goal of the night would come with 3:38 remaining in regulation. The puck would bounce right to David Hoy on the inside line off a defensive zone faceoff. Hoy immediately saw that he had a jump on Seattle’s defensemen, and a chance for a breakaway on a freshly substituted Seattle goaltender. Hoy began to race up the ice, and Carsyn Dyck would stay step for step with him through the neutral zone. Once they crossed the offensive blue line, Dyck positioned himself to help box out Seattle’s last defenseman. Hoy would then let loose a perfect wrist shot that would snipe the corner high glove side, and give Hoy his third goal of the year. The Winterhawks would run out the rest of the clock, and score six unanswered goals to win 6-1.
After the game, when asked about how important this win was for Portland, Hoy responded, “It was really important. I mean, Seattle is still fighting for a playoff spot too. And we still need to make up points for teams like Vancouver, who we play tomorrow. So every point matters.”
There are only three regular season games remaining. Portland wraps up their weekend Sunday with a game at home against the Vancouver Giants. Puck drop at Veterans Memorial Coliseum is at 4:00 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 