The Portland Winterhawks won their first home game of the season Saturday night 5-3 over the Kamloops Blazers. With the win, the Winterhawks are now 2-0 to start the season. Portland is one of five teams that is still undefeated in the WHL through two weekends of play. Seattle, Spokane, and Victoria are all undefeated teams in the same conference as Portland. The Winterhawks were 3-0 against the Blazers last season. The last time these two teams played, was on November 21st in Kamloops. The Winterhawks would go on to win that game, by a score of 7-4.
Veterans Memorial Coliseum was packed for Portland’s home opener, but it was the Blazers who opened the scoring on Saturday night. A tripping call just over two minutes into the game put Kamloops on the power play. Portland killed the first 1:43 of the power play, but the Blazers still had one last opportunity on the man advantage. After dumping the puck into the offensive zone, Portland goaltender Ondřej Štěbeták would go behind his net to play the puck. As the forecheck approached, Štěbeták would wrist the puck back along the boards. Kicking off the glass, Ty Bonkowski would corrall the puck for Kamloops outside the faceoff circle. Bonkowski then shuffled the puck back to the blue line for Mateo Ferreira. Ferreira then banked a pass off the boards for Vit Zahejsky. Zahejsky’s momentum would carry him towards the blue line, where he would then turn and drift down inside the near faceoff circle. Once there, Zahejsky fired a wrist shot that would be blocked by defenseman Cole Slobodian. The puck then fell free low between the faceoff circles, where Ty Bonkowski was sitting. Bonkowski wasted no time slapping the rebound chance back on net, and his shot would soar over the right shoulder of Ondřej Štěbeták. The Richmond, BC native scored his first goal of the season, and the Blazers would take an early 1-0 lead.
Just under five minutes later, the Portland Winterhawks would fire back with their first goal. A stretch pass from Luke Christopherson found Jordan Duguay at the far blue line for Portland. Duguay then entered the offensive zone, and cut towards the middle of the ice. As Duguay reached the high slot, he would deke around one sweeping poke check and pass the puck down low. There in the corner to receive Duguay’s pass was David Hoy. Once Hoy settled the puck, he sent a pass to the top of the crease where multiple players were crashing towards. After a bounce, the puck would find its way to Reed Brown’s stick. Brown then jammed the puck onto Blazers goaltender, Logan Edmonstone. The puck trickled five hole between Edmonstone’s pads, and cross the goal line to tie the game at 1-1 for Portland.
The 1-1 tie would remain until early in the second period, where the Winterhawks offense surged. A flurry of goals in the second frame started with Alessandro Domenichelli setting up the Winterhawks breakout as the outlet. After recieveing a pass, Domenichelli would kick the puck from the boards over to Luke Wilfley. Wilfley then backhanded a pass across the neutral zone for Stevie Grumley at the right wing. Grumley then entered the offensive zone, and centerd the puck once he reached the top of the faceoff circle. There for the center was Finn Spehar, but Spehar couldn’t gain control of the puck. Instead, the puck would bounce off a Kamloops defender’s skates back towards Grumley. Grumley poked the puck back across the crease as two more skaters crashed towards the net. The puck slid all the way across to goal line extended, where Finn Spehar was left all alone. Spehar gathered up the puck, and flicked a shot over the outstretched leg of Edmonstone. Spehar’s goal gave the Winterhawks a 2-1 lead with 15:18 left in the second period.
Then, 22 seconds later, Portland was back to applying pressure. After the Winterhawks dumped the puck into the offensive zone, Madden Tymchak attempted to pass the puck up the boards for Kamloops. Tymchak’s pass hit Ty Coupland, which allowed David Hoy and Jordan Duguay to aggresively forecheck. Eventually, Duguay would dig the puck free from the boards, and flick a pass back to Hoy inside the near faceoff circle. Hoy took a moment to let the puck roll to his backhand, then batted the puck down low for Reed Brown at goal line extended. Brown then cut to the top of the goal crease, and wrapped a backhand shot around the left leg of Edmonstone. Brown’s second goal of the night would put Portland up 3-1, just five minutes into the second period.
Kamloops needed a response and would find one just before the halfway mark of the game. With 10:02 left in period, the Blazers were once again under pressure from the forecheck. Isa Guram received a pass in front of the Kamloops net, and was forced behind his net by Luke Wilfley. As Guram got pinned to the boards, he would backhand a pass out to his right. Low in the faceoff circle to recieve Guram’s pass was Collin Kim. Kim would have time to turn, keep his head up, and stretch a pass across the ice to Vit Zahejsky at the penalty box boards. Zahejsky would then sidestep his way around a sweeping poke check, and gain an edge on the closest defender at the offensive blue line. After untangling his stick from the defenseman, Zahejsky deked to the front of the net and be one on one with Ondřej Štěbeták. Zahejsky slid a shot around the paddle of Štěbeták, and beat Portland’s goaltender five hole to make the score 3-2 Winterhawks.
However, scoring was not done in the second period. With 2:30 left in the second period, Kamloops would loose control of the puck into Portland’s defensive zone. Will McLaughlin skated over and shifted the puck up toward the blue line for the Winterhawks. There to pick up McLaughlin’s pass was Nathan Brown, who skated through the neutral zone along the bench boards. Brown entered the offensive zone with speed, and wound up a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle. Brown’s shot snuck low past the glove of Edmonstone, and stay inside the far post to give Portland a 4-2 lead.
Entering the third period, the Blazers knew the clock was working against them. Kamloops out shot Portland in the final frame 18-8. The Blazers offensive push was rewarded late in the third period. With 3:03 left in the game, Liam Kilfoil peeled back with the puck and setup the breakout for Kamloops. With Portland retreating and making line changes, Kilfoil passed the puck over to Collin Kim at the top of the far faceoff circle. From there, Kim raced through the neutral zone and crossed the blue line near the bench boards. Now in the offensive zone, Kim would try and cut inside to split defenders at the top of the faceoff circle. Kim would get through, but the puck would end up on edge thanks to some sweeping poke checks. However, Kim stayed the course and looked to cut across the face of the crease. Before Kim made his cut, he flicked a wrist shot on Štěbeták’s blocker side. With Štěbeták starting to move for Kim’s cut, and the puck being on edge, the shot would flutter off the side of Štěbeták and into the back of the net. Kim earned his second point of the night, and the Blazers pulled within one goal.
In the final three minutes of the game, Portland’s defense held strong. The Blazers didn’t have the chace to pull their goaltender until there was less than one minute left in regulation. Even with the extra skater, the Blazers offense never had a chance to fully set up, and the Winterhawks forecheck would ice the game for Portland. After a long shot at the empty net was deflected wide, Andrew Thomson gathered the puck for Kamloops and skated out from behind his net. Nathan Brown chased Thomson down and landed a strong poke check to force the puck free. Jordan Duguay was already guarding the blue line, and picked up the loose puck. With Nathan Brown and a defenseman blocking Duguay’s line to the net, Duguay passed the puck over to Reed Brown. Reed Brown wasted no time snapping a quick wrist shot into the empty net for his first career hat-trick. The Winterhawks killed the last seven seconds of regulation, and Portland took the victory.
The Winterhawks are back in action on Friday as they host Spokane at 7 p.m.
