What: The Portland Winterhawks (36-12-2-2) take on the Kelowna Rockets (18-30-3) in Western Hockey League action.
When: Saturday, February 18, 7pm PST.
Where: Prospera Place, Kelowna, British Columbia.
Watch: You can stream the game via the CHL TV pay per view (US$6.10 for one game).
Listen: Winterhawks audio.
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After a bad loss in Spokane, the Winterhawks head to Canada for the 2nd game of their 6-game road trip. It was an embarrassing loss Wednesday, as the Winterhawks gave up four in the 2nd period and lost to the conference’s last-place team 6-2.
They’ve suddenly fallen 6 points behind Seattle at the top of the conference; they’re probably gone. Their main concern now is holding off the Kamloops Blazers, who are only 2 points behind with 2 games in hand. It won’t make a difference to the 1st-round playoff matchup, but it will matter if the two teams meet in the 2nd round.
| Forwards | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 11-Robbie Fromm-Delorme (243 games) |
| 19 | 92-Jack O’Brien (191) 13-James Stefan (184) 16-Gabe Klassen (176) 9-Aidan Litke (127) 51-Chaz Lucius (6) |
| 18 | 72-Marcus Nguyen (145) 19-Kyle Chyzowski (140) 77-Luke Schelter (114) |
| 17 | 28-Josh Zakreski (67) 93-Nicholas Johnson (49) 8-Braeden Jockims (9) |
| 16 | 90-Diego Buttazzoni (40) |
Fromm-Delorme hasn’t scored a goal in his last 7 games (plus one game missed due to injury) and only has 1 assist in that span.
All the forwards are in slumps to some extent except for Nguyen, who has 8 points in 6 games
Leading forwards: Stefan (58 points/50 games), Klassen (57/48), Fromm-Delorme (57/50), O’Brien (49/51), Litke (36/48).
| Defensemen | |
|---|---|
| 19 | 6-Ryan McCleary (142) |
| 18 | 73-Luca Cagnoni (135) 43-Ryder Thompson (124) 26-Marek Alscher (116) 2-Josh Mori (87) |
| 17 | 59-Carter Sotheran (52) 14-Rhett Ravndahl (22) |
| 16 | 91-Alex Thompson (31) |
Leading defensemen: Cagnoni (52/51), McCleary (26/50), Sotheran (21/52).
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 74-Dante Giannuzzi (102) |
| 18 | 31-Jan Špunar (20) |
Giannuzzi got the hook against Spokane; Špunar played well with the game more or less out of hand. With 3 games in 4 days and 5 in 8, there will be some kind of rotation going on.
Save percentages: Giannuzzi .902, Špunar .904.
The Rockets are 3 points ahead of Victoria with 3 games in hand for the conference’s last playoff spot. And they probably have the easier schedule than the Royals. So the Victoria threat, which was very real for a month or more, has dissipated just a little bit.
The rebuild continues after their ill-fated attempt to host the 2020 Memorial Cup. They have a couple of good pieces in that rebuild in 17-year-olds Andrew Cristall and Caden Price, the 16th- and 30th-ranked players per Central Scouting. Cristall returned from a 14-game injury absence with a 4-goal game in the Rockets’ 5-2 win over Everett on Wednesday.
| Forwards | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 19-Adam Kydd (183) 11-Carson Golder (168) |
| 19 | 10-Turner McMillen (138) 24-Dylan Wightman (136) 22-Gabriel Szturc (113) |
| 18 | 7-Max Graham (127) 16-Ty Hurley (65) |
| 17 | 15-Trae Johnson (119) 28-Andrew Cristall (117) 9-Marcus Pacheco (110) 18-Ethan Neutens (46) 8-Grady Lenton (45) 12-Will Munro (40) |
| 16 | 29-Logan Peskett (37) |
Szturc, ranked 181 as an older prospect, is having a big year, and also had a 4-point night against Everett.
They have a lot of 17-year-olds but haven’t gotten much production from them outside of Cristall. In general they’re not high draft picks.
Leading forwards: Cristall (66/37), Szturc (58/41), Golder (42/51), Kydd (38/35), Wightman (24/51).
| Defensemen | |
|---|---|
| 19 | 14-Elias Carmichael (182) 27-Jackson DeSouza (121) |
| 18 | 5-John Babcock (113) |
| 17 | 4-Caden Price (102) 23-Ethan Mittelsteadt (55) 6-Marek Rocak (8) |
| 16 | 3-Ismail Abougouche (47) 2-Landon Cowper (3) |
Leading defensemen: Price (32/51), Carmichael (21/45), DeSouza (19/49).
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 31-Talyn Boyko (138) |
| 18 | 30-Jari Kykkanen (38) |
Kind of a disappointing year as a 20-year-old for Boyko.
Save percentages: Boyko .894, Kykkanen .899.
| Winterhawks | Rockets | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | 36-12-2-2 | 18-30-3-0 | |
| Goal difference | +45 | -34 | |
| Goals/game | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
| Goals allowed/game | 3.1 | 3.7 | 3.4 |
| Power play | 26.9% | 20.7% | 22.4% |
| Penalty kill | 82.6% | 79.3% | 77.6% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.2 |
| Power plays against/game | 4.0 | 4.7 | 4.2 |
| Outshooting opponents | 41-11 | 19-30-2 | |
| After 1 period | 21-13-18 | 13-18-20 | |
| After 2 periods | 26-16-10 | 17-27-7 | |
| Score, last 10 games | 33-37 | 28-40 | |
| Score, last 20 games | 76-69 | 45-75 | |
| Total WHL games | 2322 | 2251 |