A tough one for the Winterhawks Saturday night, as the dominated territorial play but coughed it up on the scoreboard, losing 3-1 for their third straight loss to the Kelowna Rockets in Kelowna.
They outshot the Rockets 46-15, including 31-8 in the last two periods. But they lost those last two periods 3-0. Goaltending was the biggest difference as the Rockets got 45 saves from Talyn Boyko, and Jan Špunar had a poor game for Portland.
The Winterhawks are now only 2 points ahead of Kamloops for 3rd place in the Western Conference. Both teams play Monday, Kamloops with almost a gimme game in Edmonton, Portland with a tough game at Prince George.
| 13:25 POR (pp) Gabe Klassen (Luca Cagnoni, James Stefan) 1-0 | Klassen’s shot from the right dot hits Jackson De Souza at the top of the crease and goes in. |
| 37:29 KEL (sh) Marcus Pacheco 1-1 | The key play of the game. Pacheco carries it shorthanded from his own zone down the left side. Portland had it covered pretty well, but Jan Špunar missed his wrist shot from the top of the left circle. |
| 41:58 KEL Turner McMillen (Trae Johnson, Andrew Cristall) 1-2 | On the rush, Johnson sets up McMillen for a decent look from the left dot, and he beats Špunar. |
| 46:26 KEL Adam Kydd (John Babcock, Gabriel Szturc) 1-3 | Kydd tips in a Babcock shot. |
| Lead | Time |
|---|---|
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 24:04 |
| Tied | 17:54 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 4:28 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 13:34 |
Pregame: Portland was the favorite with a 37-point difference in the standings, but they hadn’t played well recently. The Rockets hadn’t been either, but they had superstar draft prospect Andrew Cristall in his second game back from injury.
1st period: Portland played well and had a 15-7 shot advantage and the lead. Kelowna got some quality with this 7 shots and Špunar made some good saves.
2nd period: Winterhawks had numerous chances to make it 2-0, and outshot Kelowna 16-1 (!) But a soft goal by Špunar off the stick of Pacheco, shorthanded to make matters worse, was the 1 in the Rockets’ column.
3rd period: Another 15-7 period for Portland, but the Rockets got the two early goals and Portland never could capitalize on their chances.
Won on offense, defense, or special teams: Special teams and goaltending–Portland was held to 1 for 7 with a shorthanded goal against.
Best team won?: No.
Injuries/suspensions: None.
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Talyn Boyko | KEL | 45 saves-46 shots | Difference in the game. |
| Turner McMillen | KEL | 1 goal | Winning goal. |
| Gabe Klassen | POR | 1 goal | |
| Marcus Pacheco | KEL | 1 goal | Soft goal, but he did make the play and it was the most important play of the game. |
| Adam Kydd | KEL | 1 goal | |
| Jack O’Brien | POR | Dumb mouthguard violation hurt his team a lot, but he gets some credit for Andrew Cristall and Gabriel Szturc having quite games. | |
| Ryan McCleary | POR | ||
| Trae Johnson | KEL | Setup for the winning goal. | |
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | ||
| Luca Cagnoni | POR | He was poor on Kelowna’s third goal, but gets some credit for the shot differential. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan Špunar | POR | 12 saves-15 shots | Was very good in the 1st, then stopped 5 of 8 the rest of the way. None of them were top chances. |
| Andrew Cristall | KEL | 1 assist | A secondary assist and 5 minor penalties. |
| Gabriel Szturc | KEL | 1 assist | A secondary assist and had no real impact. With how Portland held Cristall and Szturc, you’d have liked their chances. |
| Robbie Fromm-Delorme | POR | 0-for-36 in his last 8 games. | |
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | Longest scoreless streak of the season, 4 games. |
| Winterhawks | Rockets | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 36-13-2-2 | 19-30-3 |
| Goal difference | +43 | -32 |
| Goals/game | 3.9 | 3.0 |
| Goals allowed/game | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| Power play | 26.5% | 20.3% |
| Penalty kill | 82.9% | 79.4% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| Power plays against/game | 4.0 | 4.8 |
| Outshooting opponents | 42-11 | 19-31-2 |
| After 1 period | 22-13-18 | 13-19-20 |
| After 2 periods | 26-16-11 | 17-27-8 |
| Score, last 10 games | 28-37 | 30-36 |
| Score, last 20 games | 70-70 | 47-72 |
Portland Winterhawks
A bad night to run into a hot goaltender. They could have put a little more pressure on Boyko, and their rush chances, so often a big part of their offense, were nonexistent. But it was mostly about a good goalie.
Kelowna Rockets
They had a real threat from Victoria for awhile to just make the playoffs, but now they’re 5 points ahead with 3 games in hand and an easier schedule, so they’ve staved off the threat. They would like to get hot and overtake Vancouver, to avoid a possible matchup with Seattle in the 1st round. With Cristall back, the potential for Boyko to play better, and 3 head-to-head games with the Giants, it’s not out of the question.
Monday at Prince George, 2pm
Tuesday at Prince George, 7pm
Friday at Spokane, 7pm
Saturday at Seattle, 6pm
Next home game: Saturday 3/4 vs. Tri-City
Looking ahead: Friday 3/17 at Seattle, 7pm
Next Kelowna game: next season
