The Portland Winterhawks play a mediocre game, especially in the last two periods, but against the shorthanded and cellar-dwelling Seattle Thunderbirds, it’s enough for a routine 5-2 win, that’s Portland’s 3rd straight win and 3rd of the week.
The Winterhawks have one more game before the Christmas break, at home on Tuesday against Spokane.
| 1st 11:30 POR (SH) Carsyn Dyck (Josh Ziemiki) 1-0 | A great shorthanded play by Zakreski, knocking down a pass from Radim Mrtka to Braeden Cootes along the boards, then driving to the net, where Mrtka ties him up, but Dyck one-times the loose puck in from the slot. |
| 1st 15:49 POR Tyson Yaremko (Aaron Zulinick, Alex Weiermair) 2-0 | A long looping shot by Zulinick is knocked down by goalie Grayson Malinoski, but it goes right to Yaremko in front to knock it in. Zulinick’s shot gets him his first WHL point. Weiermair grabbed the puck along the boards and passed it back to Zulinick. |
| 1st 16:46 SEA Braeden Cootes (Radim Mrtka, Arjun Bawa) 2-1 | A similar goal less than a minute later. Mrtka’s long shot is knocked down by goalie Marek Schlenker, but it falls to Cootes who puts it home. Bawa originally passed it back to Mrtka. |
| 2nd 4:19 POR Kyle Chyzowski (Carter Sotheran, Tyson Jugnauth) 3-1 | With Portland getting multiple chances on the shift, Jugnauth from the left boards near the blue line throws it toward the net, where Vanek Popil deflects it to the weak side, where Chyzowski is all alone to put it in the empty net. A fortunate bounce. Sotheran initially put a shot on goal that rebounded out to Jugnauth. |
| 2nd 6:11 SEA Antonio Martorana (Arjun Bawa) 3-2 | Bawa wins the puck off the boards and centers to Martorana. He fans on his first shot, then throws a changeup at the net that beats Schlenker 5-hole. Mrtka might end up with an assist for helping Bawa win the puck. |
| 2nd 11:21 POR (PP) Tyson Yaremko (Joel Plante, Carter Sotheran) 4-2 | Yaremko from just in front of the goal line beats Malinoski short side, a very soft goal. Plante made a pass down low to Yaremko, and Sotheran threw a point shot into traffic that was blocked over to Plante. |
| 3rd 11:36 POR (PP) Diego Buttazzoni (Alex Weiermair, Kyle Chyzowski) 5-2 | From a step closer to the goal from the right dot, Buttazzoni wrists it into the upper corner after coming out of the right corner. Weiermair entered the zone and passed it down low to him; Chyzowski touched the puck as Portland brought it up the ice. |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 31:28 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 17:02 |
| Tied | 11:30 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 0:00 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Pregame: In the first of many of the Rivalry games in Portland this season, the Winterhawks were big favorites. Seattle, trying their best to stay out of the conference cellar, was missing their top two players to World Junior duties although Scott Ratzlaff was cut on Friday. Portland’s injury problems continued as Kyle McDonough and Griffin Darby were placed on the shelf after taking hits on Friday. Both teams going with their nominal backups in goal. It was a matchup of the two least experienced teams in the league.
1st period: Winterhawks dominated possession in the 1st, got the first two goals, and should have left the period ahead by more than one. The Thunderbirds were somewhat dangerous when they had the puck but didn’t have it that often. Neither goalie looked really on top.
2nd period: Winterhawks played a poor period and were outshot 15-8, but increased their lead thanks to a lucky bounce and a soft goal. Marek Schlenker played well at the end to keep the lead to two goals.
3rd period: A pretty even low-event period as Portland brought the game home. A goal by Seattle to cut the lead to one would have made it interesting, but they never got it. Schlenker played well enough to keep them out of it, and Diego Buttazzoni’s power play goal mostly finished off the 3-goal win.
How it was won: 1. Portland’s 1st period got them enough of a gap in play that the next 40 minutes were good enough.
2. Goaltending. Shaky both ways in the early part of the game, Marek Schlenker settled down in the back half, Grayson Malinoski didn’t.
3. Special teams. Portland had a shorthanded goal, went 2 for 7 on the power play, and 5 for 5 on the kill.
Key stretch/moment: Buttazzoni’s 3rd period goal. If Seattle could have gotten to within 4-3 they would have put some pressure on, but 5-2 finished it off.
Surprising: Nothing really.
Not surprising: a 3-goal special teams difference. Portland’s at the top of the lead in special teams goal difference, Seattle’s now second-bottom.
Controversies: nothing really. Neither team was happy with the officiating at times.
Best team won?: Yes.
Injuries/suspensions: Nothing in the game, but all four Portland scratches are fairly recent injuries, two from the Friday’s game.
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyson Yaremko | BY | 2 goals | 3-game point streak. |
| Marek Schlenker | BY | 30 saves-32 shots | The two goals weren’t solid, but other than that was good. Two wins against Seattle where he’s stopped 61 of 65. |
| Carsyn Dyck | BY | 1 goal | Good at both ends and at killing penalties, where he scored his shorthanded goal. |
| Kyle Chyzowski | BY | 1 goal, 1 assist | 7th in the league in scoring. |
| Tyson Jugnauth | BY | 1 assist | 1st in the league in scoring by defensemen, now by 7 points. 6-game point streak. |
| Braeden Cootes | SEA | 1 goal | Seattle’s first goal and a strong game. 3-game point streak. |
| Diego Buttazzoni | BY | 1 goal | 6-game point streak. |
| Antonio Martorana | SEA | 1 goal | |
| Arjun Bawa | SEA | 2 assists | |
| Josh Rangeki | BY | 1 assist | A great play to create the first goal of the game. 3-game point streak. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Zulinick | BY | 1 assist | First WHL point. |
| Joel Plante | BY | 1 assist | First WHL point. |
| Grayson Malinoski | SEA | 29 saves-34 shots | Doesn’t quite look ready as a number one WHL goalie, which Seattle will have to think about when they consider moving Scott Ratzlaff. |
| Alex Weiermair | BY | 2 assists | 3-game point streak. 6 points in 5 games to start his career. |
| Winterhawks | Thunderbirds | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 17-12-2 (.581) | 11-19-2-1 (.379) |
| Goals/game | 3.8 | 2.9 |
| Goals allowed/game | 3.9 | 4.2 |
| Team shooting % | .113 | .094 |
| Team save % | .889 | .876 |
| Power play | 28.1% | 18.9% |
| Penalty kill | 81.5% | 72.3% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.4 | 3.4 |
| Power plays against/game | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| Outshooting opponents | 11-19-1 | 10-20-3 |
| After 1 period | 9-12-10 | 7-21-5 |
| After 2 periods | 11-15-5 | 7-21-5 |
| Score, last 10 games | 43-37 (+6) | 28-36 (-8) |
| Score, last 20 games | 78-74 (+4) | 59-82 (-23) |
Portland Winterhawks
Unlucky to not be up by more after 1, then lucky to be up by more after 2. It felt like they figured out how much it was going to take for a routine win over Seattle, and then they did that. But Tuesday they can close out the first half with 18 wins in 32 games, pretty much at the highest end of everyone’s expectations.
Seattle Thunderbirds
They did well to get back in the game in the 2nd period. If they’d found one more goal it would have made a difference. They finish their first half in last place in the Western Conference. Their focus in the next month is what veterans they’re going to move and for what as the rebuild continues.
Tuesday 12/17 vs. Spokane, 7pm PST
Looking ahead: Friday 12/27 vs. Tri-City, 7pm PST
Next road game: Saturday 12/28 at Tri-City, 6pm PST
Next game with Seattle: Saturday 2/8 vs. Seattle, 6pm PST (seriously?)
