The Portland Winterhawks were defeated by the Everett Silvertips, 6-3 on Wednesday night. With the result, the Winterhawks are now officially eliminated from the WHL playoffs. The Winterhawks entered the contest down 3-0 in the series and having been outscored in the series 19-2. Game three of the series ended in a 7-0 win for the Silvertips the night prior at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Portland had a jump in its step in the first period, generating the first four shots on goal in the game. They would be rewarded for their efforts early in action as well. Off a turnover, Cole Slobodian would skate the puck into the offensive zone for Portland. As he skated along the left wing boards, he would be cut off and pinned to the glass on the high end of the faceoff circle. Staying with the play, Slobodian was able to protect the puck, turn, and send a low shot on net. Slobodian’s shot would be saved by Silvertips goaltender Anders Miller, but the rebound would bounce loosely to the top of the crease. There in front of the net for Portland was Nathan Free, who had boxed out to gain inside positioning. Free was able to track the rebound and tap the loose puck around the left leg of Miller. Free’s third goal of the postseason would put the Winterhawks up 1-0 with 14:18 left in the first period.
Free’s goal would hold through the first period, until an Everett delay of game penalty set up Portland’s power-play in the second period. With 14:55 on the clock, after bringing the puck into the zone, Jordan Duguay would pass the puck up to Alex Weiermair at the point. After settling the puck, Weiermair quickly wristed a shot from the middle of the zone. Screening Anders Miller was Portland’s Nathan Brown, who would redirect the puck at the last moment from the top of the crease. Brown’s redirect would shift the puck down under the blocker and over the right leg of Anders Miller. Brown would earn his first goal of the postseason, and the Winterhawks would take a 2-0 lead.
That lead wouldn’t last long, as Everett would answer back quickly. With 13:49 on the clock, Nolan Chastko would win an offensive zone faceoff back to the point for the Silvertips. There to receive the puck was Luke Vlooswyk, who would then fire a wrist shot towards the net. The puck would knuckle off of Winterhawks goaltender Ondrej Štěbeták and bounce down to his right. Reaching out for the rebound was Everett’s Jaxsin Vaughan, who would instantly fire the puck back on net. Štěbeták would slide across, but the shot would just evade his blocker pad and strike the back of the net. Vaughan’s second goal of the series would cut the lead down to 2-1 Winterhawks.
Everett kept things tight, with another goal with 5:21 remaining. A shot from the point would once again be saved by Štěbeták, and the rebound would kick out fast to Štěbeták’s left. Brek Liske would then shift down for Everett and immediately throw the puck back towards the net. The puck would be slowed down as it reached the right side of the crease. Štěbeták would make another save, but this low rebound would trickle out to his right. From there, it was a race between Štěbeták’s right leg and the stick of Lukas Kaplan. Štěbeták’s leg would block the puck, but not before the puck would cross the goal line. Kaplan would score his second goal of the postseason, and Everett would tie the game at 2-2.
Goals came in bundles for Everett this series, and Game Four was no exception. With 4:07 left in the period, a blocked shot by Portland’s Griffin Darby allowed Zackary Shantz to grab the rebound for the Silvertips. With a cluster of bodies in front of the net, Shantz would instead decide to drop a pass back for Landon DuPont. Now skating with momentum, DuPont would weave down the slot and cut back across the screen in front of the net. Štěbeták did his best to track the puck, but the cut across caught him off guard. DuPont was then able to tuck a backhand shot on net, and Štěbeták wouldn’t be able to recover in time. The puck would avoid Štěbeták’s reaching paddle, and the Silvertips would jump in front by a score of 3-2. A score that would hold into the second intermission.
Early in the third period, tragedy struck for Portland. A failed clear along the boards would give Lukas Kaplan the puck for the Silvertips. Kaplan then skated down with another Everett teammate in the middle, ready to assist. Kaplan would wind up a wrist shot, but his shot would deflect and break Ryan Miller’s stick. Štěbeták had come out to cut down on the shooting angle, but now the puck was freely bouncing to his right. Just below the faceoff circle was Zackary Shantz for Everett, who would make no mistake tucking the loose puck behind Štěbeták and inside the near post. With 18:48 on the clock, the Silvertips would extend their lead to 4-2.
Then, the Silvertips’ power play went to work. With 13:35 left in regulation, Everett would work the puck down below the goal line for Jaxsin Vaughan. Vaughan would look to turn in the trapezoid, but would be cut off by Winterhawks defenseman Carter Matthews. With a swipe at the puck, Matthews would knock the puck loose momentarily. At the same time, Everett’s Shea Busch had shifted down in support and was able to bat the loose puck out front for the Silvertips. Sam Spehar had rotated down to block the pass for Portland, but a quick poke check by Jesse Heslop pushed the puck back on Štěbeták. Štěbeták made the initial save, but couldn’t track the rebound. Heslop would take one more swipe at the puck and punch it into the back of the net for the Silvertips fifth goal of the night.
Everett’s power-play would break through one last time late in the third period. With 5:32 left in regulation, the Silvertips would keep the puck in the offensive zone despite losing the faceoff. Carter Bear would race across the zone and stop the puck before it reached the blue line, keeping the Silvertips onside. From there, Bear skated down to the top of the faceoff circle, creating a miniature three-on-one. Bear then passed the puck to his left for Matias Vanhanen in the slot. Vanhanen would take a moment to corral the puck, then shift a pass back to Bear. Between the faceoff circles, Bear rifled a one-timer that Štěbeták would save. The rebound, however, would fall right to an unguarded Rylan Gould next to the crease. Gould would jab the puck around the right leg of Štěbeták, and the puck would stay inside the far post. Gould’s second goal of the postseason would make the lead 6-2 for Everett.
Time was working quickly against Portland, but one last push would reignite the crowd in the final moments of the Winterhawks. With 10.5 seconds left, Alex Weiermair would skate the puck across the neutral zone for Portland and into the offensive zone. Once he crossed the blue line, Weiermair would stop, put his back to the defense, and look to buy time for his teammates. Eventually, Weiermair would be able to send the puck out to the middle for Jordan Duguay. Duguay would be tied up immediately, but that bought enough time for Weiermair to break free and pick up the puck once again. Now with space, Weiermair would skate down the slot and threaten a backhand chance. Right as it seemed Weiermair was ready to shoot, he would pass the puck back across instead. There inside the right wing faceoff circle was captain Ryan Miller, who would blast a one timer past the glove of Anders Miller. Miller’s goal would be the last of the game, and the final score would be 6-3 Everett.
After the game, Winterhawks head coach Kyle Gustafson said they aren’t easy discussions at the end of the game.
“We told our guys that we’re proud of them,” Gustafson said. “Eight months that we spent together, daily, and we’re really proud of the group. I thought, in the end, it was a hard push.”
He said the easy thing for them would have been to show up to the game and get through it.
“I thought our guys showed a lot of care, a lot of want, wanting to extend this series, a lot of care for one another,” Gustafson said. “I loved our start, I loved our first half of the game. I thought we did what we wanted.”
He noted that they put them under pressure with a lot of shots and played a solid game. Gustafson emphasized how proud he was of their effort and hard work the guys put in.
“They’ve been together for so long, there’s a lot of friendship there, a lot of lifelong memories that are going to stick with them,” Gustafson said. “It’s tough to see that.”
With the loss, the Winterhawks’ season comes to a close. Portland finishes the season with a record of 30-34-8, with the postseason included. The Winterhawks have now qualified for the postseason in the WHL for 15 years in a row. The next time fans will see the Winterhawks in Veterans Memorial Coliseum, it will be the 2026-2027 season.
Northwest Sports Desk 