The Portland Winterhawks lost Wednesday night to the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-5. The Winterhawks entered the night with a 6-5-1 record. The last time the Winterhawks defeated the Tigers, was November 1st, 2023. Medicine Hat has won the last two meetings against Portland, including a 5-0 victory last season back on October 11th. The Tigers are in the middle of a six game road trip into the USA. With tonight’s results, the Medicine Hat are 3-1 on their trip.
Portland had a strong first period, lighting the lamp just 3:03 into the game. After an early penalty to Trevor Toyne put the Tigers on the power-play, the Winterhawks penalty-kill would make a stand and clear the puck from the defensive blue line. Winning the race to the loose puck, Nathan Brown would grab possession in the offensive corner for Portland. With pressure coming, Brown would then pass the puck out to the middle. Skating down into the zone to support was Luke Wilfley. With time and space, Wilfley controlled Brown’s pass, and ripped a wrist shot on net from the high slot. The puck would scream past the blocker pad of Medicine Hat goaltender, Carter Casey, and ping off the inside of the far post. Rolling around the twine in the back of the net, Wilfley’s third goal of the season would give the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead.
Then with 11:16 left, the Winterhawks forecheck earned another goal. As the Tigers skated back towards their own net with the puck, Luke Wilfley would force an awkward spin move from the Tigers defensemen, and Medicine Hat would lose the puck in Wilfley’s skates. Wilfley then banked a pass off the boards for Kyle McDonough at the top of the zone. McDonough then turned his back, braced for contact, and shuffled a backhand pass back down into the offensive zone. Wilfley then retrieved McDonough’s pass behind the net, and skated to the front threatening a wrap around chance. Playing patient, Wilfley eventually shoveled a backhand chance across the net. Posted up at the far post was Nathan Brown, who was able to corall and pound home the lose puck behind Casey, to extend Portland’s lead to 2-0.
Forty-two seconds later, the Winterhawks found the back of the net again. This time, the Winterhawks cycled the puck along the boards in Medicine Hat’s defensive zone. Eventually, Jordan Duguay would work the puck off the boards to the top of the zone for Cameron Jacobson. Jacobson would then take the puck, and change his shooting angle by skating towards the center of the zone. As he did, Sam Spehar was skating between the faceoff circles and battling for position. As Jacobson fired a wrist shot on net, Spehar would redired the puck down past the left leg of Casey. Spehar would earn his first goal of the year, and the Winterhawks would jump out to a 3-0 lead.
In the second period, the Tigers would answer back early. Just 55 seconds into the second frame, a failed clear by Portland left Liam Ruck alone at the blue line with the puck for Medicine Hat. Ruck took a few strides towards the top of the faceoff circle, then passed across the zone for Markus Ruck. Markus Ruck then softly laid a pass central for Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll. Gordon-Carroll then sent a one-timer slap shot from just inside the right hand faceoff circle on net. The shot would sneak five hole on Portland goaltender, Ondřej Štěbeták, and the Tigers would have their first goal of the night.
Then just 15 seconds later, the Tigers would find their second goal. A mishandled pass by Easton Dozark gave Markus Ruck the puck along the boards. Markus Ruck then immediately fired a pass across the zone, where Liam Ruck was waiting. Liam Ruck caught Markus Ruck’s pass and wasted no time rifling a wrister on net. Štěbeták would make the save with the padding under his glove, but the rebound would pop right back to Liam Ruck. Ruck was able to control the rebound, and fire a shot behind the sliding Štěbeták, to make the score 3-2 Portland.
After those two goals the Tigers had the momentum and were making the most of it. With 11:27 left in period two, Medicine Hat found another scoring chance. This time, a long defensive shift for Portland lead to Owen Hayes poking a rebound free to Portland’s defensive corner. Hayes then shifted the puck up the boards where Dayton Reschny could recieve it. Reschny skated down, sensed pressure, and turned back towards the blue line. With his back to the net, Reschny made his way to the high center of the zone, and then passed the puck over to Riley Steen. Steen then sent a slap shot high towards the net. Jake Burmis had worked his way into the slot, and would redirect the puck down between the legs of Štěbeták. After a replay review confirmed that there was no high stick, Burmis’s goal would stand and tie the game at 3-3.
Portland then found a much needed response with 6:30 left in the second period. A shot from the point for Portland was blocked before it reached the net, and the loose puck would kick out to the corner. From there, Kadon McCann would try and backhand the puck around the boards behind the Tigers net. Unfortunately for McCann, Jordan Duguay would intercept the play. Batting down the puck, Duguay would gain control in the trapezoid, and attempt a wrap around shot. Goaltender Carter Casey was late to react to the play, and Duguay’s stick would win the race to the near post. Duguay’s fourth goal of the season would give the Winterhawks the lead back, making the score 4-3.
Medicine Hat however, was not done either. With 4:31 to go, Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll would recieve a pass and skate through the neutral zone. Entering the offensive zone on the right hand side, Gordon-Carroll would stop, turn, and send a pass to open ice across the zone. Skating in to catch up to the puck was Markus Ruck, who quickly shifted another pass towards the front of the net. Alone at the top of the crease was Liam Ruck, who would stop Markus Ruck’s pass and flick a backhand shot high over the blocker of Štěbeták. Liam Ruck’s second goal of the night would tie the game at 4-4.
Portland continued to respond to the adversity, with another goal just over two minutes later. After winning a defensive zone faceoff, Alessandro Domenichelli was able to work the puck over for Jordin St. Louis. St. Louis raced through the neutral zone and crossed the blue line near the bench side boards. With speed, St. Louis reached the top of the faceoff circle uncontested, and would rifle a wrist shot on net. The puck would bounce off the bottom of Casey’s glove, and knuckle into the back of the net. Jordin St. Louis would score his third goal of the year, and the Winterhawks would take the lead back for the third time this game.
Then, just when you thought the scoring was done, Medicine Hat answered back with 32.5 seconds left. Another turnover proved costly for Portland, as Štěbeták’s pass from behind the goal was redirected by the stick of Liam Ruck. Ruck would then poke the puck up to Kadon McCann, high in the faceoff circle. McCann then fired a shot on net that would bounce up high off Štěbeták. Unfortunately for Portland, neither Štěbeták nor his closest defender would be able to bat the puck out of the air. This allowed Liam Ruck to skate back in front, and find the rebound. Ruck chopped a shot back over the left leg and around the glove of Štěbeták to earn a hat-trick. The Tigers and the Winterhawks would go into period three, tied at 5-5.
After a scoreless third period, it would take extra time to find a winner. Portland would possess the puck through the majority of the first half of overtime, but it was Medicine Hat who would find the game winner with 43.9 seconds remaining in Overtime. A cut from the corner and shot by Tyson Moss was blocked by Portland’s Avery Laliberte. The puck would flutter over the net, but stay in play and break Laliberte’s stick in the exchange. The Tigers would sieze this opportunity, and attack the shorthanded defender. First, Markus Ruck would work the puck back to the point for Liam Ruck. Liam Ruck then passed the puck back to Tyson Moss, who was left one on one with Laliberte. Moss would skate into the slot and shoot a wrister wide, of the net. Once again, the puck would roll off the boards and find the stick of Liam Ruck. Ruck then passed the puck back across for Moss, who was still being guarded by Laliberte. With momentum Moss would take another wrist shot from just inside the left hand faceoff dot. This time, Moss’s shot would beat the glove of Štěbeták, and the Tigers would win in overtime 6-5.
“You could sense the urgency from the beginning,” Portland coach Kyle Gustafson said. “When you play a good team like Medicine Hat, you have to get your group on edge.”
He said he thought the team understood the task at hand and that the players were fired up for it.
“We played the right way in the first ten minutes of the game,” Gustafson said. “We put their Ds (defensemen) under a lot of pressure, able to get to the net front, it was the start we wanted.”
He said the team could feel about five minutes into the first period that it was starting to slip away.
“Obviously our start in the second period didn’t help us out,” Gustafson said. “So, good team, great start. The message as I told the players just a bit ago was, ‘we’ve gotta find a way to find 60 minutes.’ Against good teams, you can’t lay off the gas, and I thought we did that in moments of the game.”
Portland Winterhawks is home for back-to-back games against the Spokane Chiefs at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
