The Portland Winterhawks lost to the Tri-City Americans 3-2 in overtime in a game in which Portland was the better team but were beaten by goalie Tomas Suchanek standing on his head. But that’s not what will be remembered.
In overtime:
- Kyle Chyzowski fell down in the Tri-City zone and turned the puck over to Ethan Peters with Portland preparing to attack,
- Peters hit Reese Belton with a long pass for a breakaway,
- Ryan McCleary slashed Belton from behind, causing referee Stephen Campbell to put his arm up for a penalty shot,
- Dante Giannuzzi saved Belton’s shot, at which point Campbell put the whistle up to his lips and apparently blew it,
- the rebound went to Adam Mechura, who put the puck in the net,
- Campbell, realizing too late that Giannuzzi didn’t cover it, disregarded his whistle and allowed the goal,
- the Ams all celebrated on the ice, many fans left the arena, most of the Winterhawks and the coaches went to the locker room,
- about four Winterhawks, including Chyzowski, Giannuzzi, and Marek Alscher, stayed out there and pressed the officials–they apparently heard the whistle,
- after an approximately 5-minute discussion, they waived off the goal,
- the Winterhawks went from the locker room back to the bench,
- but there was still the matter of the penalty shot, and a delay where they were originally going to award it to Mechura, but then switched it to Belton,
- and then Belton backhanded one past Giannuzzi to end the game anyway.
Some of this is speculation. Either no announcement was made, or if it was it was impossible to hear in a building where you can’t hear the PA when the crowd is loud. No official explanation has come out yet, although it might at some point. The gist of it is that it probably was an officiating mistake, maybe an understandable one at this level with so much going on during the play, but it turned out correctly anyway.
There are fans who left when Mechura put the puck in who probably right now have no idea that the game was restarted, and, if they don’t follow the team closely, will never know.
In any event, it finished with a 3-2 Tri-City win in overtime. Suchanek stopped 47 of 49 for the win.
| 7:49 TC (pp) Reese Belton (Parker Bell, Lukas Dragicevic) 0-1 | Bell’s one-timer from the right dot generates a rebound to Belton at the top of the crease. Not a great rebound for Giannuzzi. |
| 38:00 TC Adam Mechura (Lukas Dragicevic) 0-2 | Portland changes their defensemen very poorly, and Dragicevic hits Mechura for the breakaway. Marek Alscher almost caught up but just a bit too late. |
| 50:47 POR (sh) Marcus Nguyen 1-2 | On the power play Dragiceivic breaks his stick on a point shot. The puck just sits a few feet in front of the Portland blue line, Nguyen jumps on it, speeds down the ice for a breakaway, and scores. |
| 54:48 POR Luke Schelter (Josh Zakreski, Ryan McCleary) 2-2 | Zakreski nicely picks out Schelter in the slot on a 3 on 3 rush, and the Winterhawks finally get a finish. |
| 61:08 TC (ps) Reese Belton 2-3 | Chyzowski falls down with the puck with Portland attacking and the Ams turn it around with a long pass from Peters to Belton. Then all the confusion, but the result was a Belton winning penalty shot. |
| Lead | Time |
|---|---|
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 0:00 |
| Tied | 14:09 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 34:12 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 12:47 |
Pregame: The Americans trying for a bonus win in their attempt to beat Everett for 5th in the conference. Portland trying for a successful road weekend, and trying to finally wrap up 5th in the conference.
1st period: An even period up to the point Tri-City got the power play goal. At which point it was totally dominated by the Winterhawks. 14-2 after the goal, and a lot of good chances, but Suchanek stopped everything. Should have been at least 1-1. And it looked like it was 1-1 on a tip by Luke Schelter, but it was ruled on video review that he deflected it with a high stick.
2nd period: Not as dominant as in the 1st, but after an even start Portland got it going again. Suchanek started giving up rebounds but they bounced past Winterhawks. Then a disastrous line change near the end of the period, and they’re down 2.
3rd period: The Ams played their best period but gave up two to tie it anyway, on Dragicevic’s broken stick for Nguyen’s shorthanded goal and then Schelter finally making Tri-City pay for an open look from the slot.
Overtime: Chaos.
Won on offense, defense, or special teams: Suchanek.
Best team won?: No.
Injuries/suspensions: The Ams missed top scorers Jake Sloan and Ethan Ernst.
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomas Suchanek | TC | 47 saves-49 shots | Great in the 1st, was kind of lucky in the 2nd with rebounds missing Winterhawk sticks, but stole the win. |
| Reese Belton | TC | 2 goals | 5-game point streak. Turns 21 in a month, at which time this officiating crew might owe him a drink. |
| Marcus Nguyen | POR | 1 goal | 4-game point streak. His speed was really evident for the first time in awhile. He beat a lot of icings. The shorthanded goal came when it looked like Portland might fade away. |
| Luca Cagnoni | POR | He and Sotheran played very well and got no points because their teammates couldn’t beat Suchanek. | |
| Carter Sotheran | POR | ||
| Lukas Dragicevic | TC | 2 assists | Was good, but that broken stick on the power play could have been a game changer. |
| Adam Mechura | TC | 1 goal | |
| Dante Giannuzzi | POR | 31 saves-34 shots | Bad rebound on the first goal, but played well enough to make up for it. |
| Luke Schelter | POR | 1 goal | The tying goal, and looked like he had another in the 1st but lost it to review. |
| Ethan Peters | TC | Set up the winning penalty shot. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gabe Klassen | POR | 5-game point streak snapped. | |
| Robbie Fromm-Delorme | POR | 3-game point streak snapped. | |
| Parker Bell | TC | 1 assist | 4-game point streak. |
| Winterhawks | Americans | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 38-17-4-3 | 29-26-5-2 |
| Goal difference | +30 | -3 |
| Goals/game | 3.6 | 3.7 |
| Goals allowed/game | 3.2 | 3.7 |
| Power play | 24.2% | 28.1% |
| Penalty kill | 81.9% | 74.5% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.1 | 4.2 |
| Power plays against/game | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Outshooting opponents | 46-14-2 | 16-42-4 |
| After 1 period | 24-16-22 | 19-27-16 |
| After 2 periods | 27-20-15 | 26-27-9 |
| Score, last 10 games | 20-35 | 26-34 |
| Score, last 20 games | 53-72 | 58-64 |
Portland Winterhawks
They played better than they did in their Friday win over Spokane. Overall, 3 points out of 4 for the weekend is about the level at which they played, and for a road trip can be considered a success. Their magic number is 1 point to clinch 3rd in the conference.
With 4 out of the last 6 against Seattle, make it to 40 wins is going to be a chore.
Tri-City Americans
They continue to rely a whole lot on Suchanek.
A big win, giving them a 2-point advantage for Everett for 5th. Both have the same number of games, and both have relatively similar schedules against the conference’s bottom ranked teams.
Tuesday vs. Spokane, 7pm
Friday at Seattle, 7pm
Saturday vs. Seattle, 6pm
Looking ahead: Friday 3/31, probable Game 1 of the playoffs
