The Portland Winterhawks fell to the Everett Silvertips on Saturday by a score of 4-2. The two teams had played the night prior, which resulted in a 5-2 win for Everett. Portland has one game left against the Silvertips this regular season. That will be played in Portland on Sunday, March 15th. With the loss the Winterhawks are now tied for the eighth overall seed in the Western Conference.
Saturday night’s action at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum was preluded by a ceremony comemorating 50 years of Winterhawks hockey. Throughout the season, the Winterhawks had been celebrating the top 50 players to ever represent Portland, and Saturday they revealed their top ten. The list included #10 Glen Wesley, #9 Marian Hossa, #8 Wayne Babych, #7 Dennis Holland, #6 Brendan Morrow, #5 Perry Turnbull, #4 Adam Deadmarsh, #3 Ty Rattie, #2 Cam Neely, and #1 Ken Yaremchuk. The ceremony concluded with the Winterhawks retiring Yaremchuk’s jersery, number 15.
The first period was energetic, with a total of 30 shots on goal between the two teams. However, Everett would score the first goal of the game just 10:15 into the action. Jesse Heslop would get the puck and wheel through the neutral zone. As he crossed the offensive blue line, Heslop had momentum skating from his right to his left. After gaining a step on the far defenseman, Heslop would skate towards the net from a sharp angle. With Portland goaltender Cruz Chase cutting down Heslop’s angle, Heslop would make a pass towards the top of the crease. There to recieve Heslop’s pass was Nolan Chastko, who would tap the puck low and behind Chase to score his eighth goal of the season. Chastko’s goal would be only one of the first 20 minutes, putting the Silvertips up 1-0 at the first intermission.
The second period saw Everett grab momentum early. The Silvertips started to pull away in both time of possession and shots on goal. A Portland penalty didn’t seem to help the Winterhawks either, until there was 10:48 left in the period. On the penalty kill, the Winterhawks would clear the puck from the zone, leaving Portland’s Nathan Brown and Everett’s Landon DuPont in a foot race for the loose puck. DuPont would chop the puck away towards center ice, where Will McLaughlin would pick up possession for Portland. Brown would then get back onside and allow McLaughlin to skate into the offensive zone with momentum. As an DuPont approached to block McLaughlin, McLaughlin would toe drag the puck through the defender’s skates. Now with plenty of time and space, McLaughlin would let rip a wrist shot from just inside the faceoff circle. The puck would squeak through the five-hole of Silvertips goaltender Anders Miller, and the shorthanded goal would tie the game at 1-1.
Everett however, would answer right back with a goal just 27 seconds later. The Silvertips would get possession in the offensive zone, and Jaxsin Vaughan would first shoot the puck wide of the net. After the miss, Vaughan would be able to follow the puck and push it over to Jesse Heslop towards the corner. Heslop then passed the puck from just above goal line extended up to the blue line for Tarin Smith. Smith then skated around the top of the zone, and took two steps up once he reached the far side of the high slot. From there, Smith would wind up a low wrist shot that would sneak past goaltender Chase’s glove side. Smith’s 12th goal of the season would put Everett back in front, 2-1.
Smith’s goal would hold until late in the third period, when the Silvertips would score again. After Sam Spehar was cut off in the neutral zone, the Silvertips would gain the puck and skate back into the offensive zone. A pass by Carter Bear, would set up Landon DuPont at the top of the faceoff circle. DuPont then fired a shot that would be saved by Cruz Chase, but Chase wouldn’t be able to smother the puck before it was forked free. Matias Vanhanen would poke the puck just beyond the left leg of Chase. From there, Julius Miettinen would be able to jab the puck into the back of the net. Miettinen’s goal would extend the Silvertips lead to 3-1, with 5:24 remaining in regulation.
Despite the clock working against them, the Winterhawks were not done yet. With just under four minutes to go, the Winterhawks gained the offensive zone and pulled their goaltender. After rotating the puck and gaining space along the boards, Alex Weiermair would hold possession for Portland. Shifting to the blue line, Weiermair would pass the puck back down to Ryan Miller by the faceoff circle. Miller then passed the puck back to Weiermair, and went to set a screen from the slot. While Miller moved, Weiermair passed the puck over to Max Pšenička. The pass drew the nearest defender over to Pšenička, which allowed Weiermair to slide down in the offensive zone. Pšenička would pass the puck back to Weiermair, who uncorked a one timer from well beyond the faceoff circle. The shot would beat Anders Miller high blocker side, and Portland would cut the score down to 3-2.
With over two minutes remaining, the Winterhawks would pull their goaltender again. Unfortunately, the Silvertips didn’t allow for a second chance. A blocked pass would lead to Everett gaining possession. Eventually, Carter Bear would shoot in an empty net goal, and the Silvertips would go on to win 4-2.
“It’s not an easy team to play against,” Winterhawks head coach Kyle Gustafson said. “The goaltending the last two games was great. Chaser (Cruz Chase) came in, in a tough situation, where we had travel last night, and played a very good team. Everett’s all about volume. They’re a high shot volume team. He was outstanding, he was more than capable of doing what we needed to do. And for a minute there we thought he was going to steal us a game. He was really good tonight, Ondrej (Štěbeták) was good last night. We needed to make sure we had a rested goalie for tomorrow night’s game.”
Portland was set to wrap up the weekend Sunday at home against the Tri-City Americans.
Northwest Sports Desk 