What: The Portland Winterhawks (43-20-5-3) take on the Everett Silvertips (33-35-2-1) in Game 4 of their best-of-7 Western Hockey League first round playoff series. Portland leads the series 3-0.
When: Friday, April 7, 7pm PDT.
Where: Angel of the Winds Arena, Everett, Washington.
Watch: You can stream the game via the CHL TV pay per view (US$6.10 for one game).
Listen: Winterhawks and Silvertips audio.
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The Portland Winterhawks go for a 4-game sweep in Everett, which would have been unthinkable on March 3 after the 10-3 loss at the same venue. Kyle Chyzowski and James Stefan scored two goals each in game 3; Jan Špunar stopped 38 of 39.
The Winterhawks have outscored the Silvertips 14-4 in the series, and 10-1 in the last two games.
| Forwards | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 11-Robbie Fromm-Delorme (261) |
| 19 | 92-Jack O’Brien (209) 13-James Stefan (201) 16-Gabe Klassen (195) 9-Aidan Litke (132) 51-Chaz Lucius (6) |
| 18 | 72-Marcus Nguyen (164) 19-Kyle Chyzowski (156) 77-Luke Schelter (130) |
| 17 | 28-Josh Zakreski (86) 93-Nicholas Johnson (68) 8-Braeden Jockims (26) 20-Aiden Sotas (20) |
| 16 | 90-Diego Buttazzoni (59) 29-Hudson Darby (7) |
| 15 | 18-Kyle McDonough (9) |
Portland has six forwards who have scored a series-leading 4 points: Fromm-Delorme, Stefan, O’Brien, Nguyen, Chyzowski, and Zakreski. Klassen only has 2 points but had a big goal in Game 3.
Fromm-Delorme has a 9-game point streak; Stefan and O’Brien each have streaks of 3 games.
Leading forwards: Klassen (71 points/67 games), Fromm-Delorme (71/68), Stefan (68/67), O’Brien (63/69), Nguyen (50/69)
| Defensemen | |
|---|---|
| 19 | 6-Ryan McCleary (161) |
| 18 | 73-Luca Cagnoni (154) 43-Ryder Thompson (143) 26-Marek Alscher (135) 2-Josh Mori (106) |
| 17 | 59-Carter Sotheran (71) 14-Rhett Ravndahl (29) |
| 16 | 91-Alex Thompson (40) |
All six Portland defensemen have at least one point, with Cagnoni and Alscher leading the way with 2.
Leading defensemen: Cagnoni (66/70), McCleary (32/69), Alscher (26/63).
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 74-Dante Giannuzzi (109) |
| 18 | 31-Jan Špunar (34) |
Špunar has stopped 92 of 96 shots in the series, a .958 save percentage.
Save percentages: Giannuzzi .894, Špunar .913.
The Silvertips are hoping that the three days between games will be good for their top players, who have been playing an insane amount of minutes. Based on comments in the Everett Herald, they know they are giving them too many minutes, but don’t see any other alternative. Their top players were at their best in Game 1 off of 5 days’ rest, so they will be hoping things repeat here. After that there’s nothing but short rest, so it won’t be much of a reprieve.
Outside of Jackson Berezowski, Austin Roest, and Aidan Sutter, who each have 3 points, the entire rest of the Silvertips’ roster only has 1, by Raphael Pelletier in Game 3.
You’d think they’d need to first goal to give them some extra energy. In the three games they’ve only led for 1 minute and 42 seconds.
| Forwards | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 17-Jackson Berezowski (286) 18-Raphael Pelletier (201) |
| 19 | 29-Vincent Lamanna (84) |
| 18 | 14-Austin Roest (151) 9-Ben Hemmerling (140) 12-Caden Zaplitny (115) 10-Beau Courtney (110) 21-Oren Shtrom (106) 16-Dominik Rymon (18) |
| 17 | 13-Roan Woodward (115) 58-Kyan Grouette (63) 20-Matthew Paszkiewicz (57) 26-Andrew Petruk (51) |
| 16 | 22-Jesse Heslop (73) 11-Carter Bear (22) |
| 15 | 19-Julien Maze (8) 25-Lukas Kaplan (5) |
Berezowski is trying to keep his long and outstanding WHL career alive in what could be his final home game. He has 3 points in 3 games, which you can’t complain about, but Portland has done a good job on him the last two games.
Zaplitny apparently will not be suspended for an early game misconduct for a hit on Jack O’Brien in Game 3. Which generally suggests the league thought it was the wrong call. He’s one of their only big players.
Leading forwards: Berezowski (84/65), Roest (81/63), Hemmerling (62/55), Pelletier (53/68), Heslop (41/69).
| Defensemen | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 44-Aidan Sutter (192) |
| 19 | 6-Ty Gibson (159) |
| 18 | 4-Dexter Whittle (98) |
| 17 | 47-Kaden Hammell (151) 5-Eric Jamieson (80) 27-Niko Tsakumis (51) 7-Logan Greenough (15) |
| 16 | 3-Cameron Sytsma (58) 24-Tarin Smith (12) |
Everett really should be getting more from Hammell and Gibson. Sutter in general has been outstanding.
Leading defensemen: Sutter (41/65), Hammell (26/70), Gibson (24/69).
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| 19 | 31-Tyler Palmer (97) |
| 17 | 35-Tim Metzger (17) |
Palmer has stopped 79 of 92 in the series, a save percentage of .859. He’s had a roller coaster season with two teams.
Save percentages: Palmer .890, Metzger .888.
| Winterhawks | Silvertips | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | 43-20-5-3 | 33-35-2-1 | |
| Goal difference | +26 | -24 | |
| Goals/game | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
| Goals allowed/game | 3.1 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| Power play | 24.4% | 20.5% | 22.2% |
| Penalty kill | 82.8% | 77.3% | 77.8% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| Power plays against/game | 4.1 | 3.5 | 4.1 |
| Outshooting opponents | 50-19-2 | 36-32-3 | |
| After 1 period | 27-18-26 | 28-26-17 | |
| After 2 periods | 32-24-15 | 32-31-8 | |
| Score, last 10 games | 34-29 | 24-39 | |
| Score, last 20 games | 54-67 | 54-81 | |
| Total WHL games | 2711 | 2535 |