The Portland Winterhawks are a win away from the WHL’s second round of the playoffs after a 6-1 win Monday night in Everett. They take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7.
Kyle Chyzowski and James Stefan each had two goals, Gabe Klassen chipped in with a big early goal, and Jan Špunar stopped 38 of 39 and also had an assist.
Portland comes home for three days of practice before heading back up to Everett Friday to try to close it out.
| 7:09 POR Kyle Chyzowski (Josh Zakreski) 1-0 | On the rush Zakreski goes almost coast-to-coast unimpeded, then hits the goal line and backhands a centering pass to Chyzowski, who was similarly left alone and scores from the right doorstep. |
| 23:28 POR Gabe Klassen (Ryder Thompson, Josh Mori) 2-0 | The big goal. After 3 minutes of Everett dominance in the Portland zone, Thompson gets the puck and flips a long clearing pass to center ice. Klassen runs onto it at center ice, gets behind the Everett defense, and dekes out Tyler Palmer. |
| 37:11 POR (pp) James Stefan (Luca Cagnoni, Jan Špunar) 3-0 | Cagnoni’s long pass to Stefan starts a 3 on 1, Stefan down the left wing keeps it and beats Palmer. |
| 37:34 POR Kyle Chyzowski (Josh Zakreski, Aidan Litke) 4-0 | The Winterhawks strike again quickly and put the game away. Zakreski wins a battle for Litke’s long pass just inside the Everett zone, then passes to Chyzowski cutting down the middle wide open, and he beats Palmer 1 on 1. |
| 40:29 POR (pp) James Stefan (Robbie Fromm-Delorme, Jack O’Brien) 5-0 | Stefan one-times Fromm-Delorme’s pass from the left circle. |
| 55:53 POR Nicholas Johnson (Aidan Litke, Kyle McDonough) 6-0 | After McDonough jumps on a loose puck at the Everett line and takes it to the net, he lays it off to Johnson, who passes to Litke, who passes back over to Johnson for an open look and goal. McDonough’s first WHL point. |
| 57:07 EVT Jackson Berezowski (Raphael Pelletier, Aidan Sutter) 6-1 | Everett breaks a scoring drought of 120:18. It’s their veteran star, Berezowski, open at the bottom of the right circle. |
| Lead | Time |
|---|---|
| Portland leads by 2+ | 36:32 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 16:19 |
| Tied | 7:09 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 0:00 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Pregame: Everett trying to capture the form of Game 1, a close loss, and stay in the series.
1st period: Early fireworks with Caden Zaplitny hitting Jack O’Brien, getting 5 minutes and a game misconduct. Although 4 minutes of that was wasted by a Robbie Fromm-Delorme sort-of instigator, which cut 4 minutes off the 5. Then Portland scored on the 4-on-4. Everett finished ahead in shots 13-7, most on three power plays in the back half of the period.
2nd period: Portland got a big goal against the run of play, then all but finished it with two quick ones near the end of the period.
3rd period: It would have taken a miracle from there, and James Stefan silenced all thoughts of a miracle with a goal in the first minute. Garbage time the rest of the way.
Won on offense, defense, or special teams: All.
Best team won?: Yes.
Injuries/suspensions: Zaplitny will probably get a game suspension for the game misconduct.
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 2 goals | 4 point in 3 games; his return has been most welcome. |
| Jan Špunar | POR | 38 saves-39 shots, 1 assist | Series MVP to this point with a .958 save percentage. |
| James Stefan | POR | 2 goals | 3-game point streak. |
| Josh Zakreski | POR | 2 assists | 4 points in 3 games, he’s picked up where he left off in the regular season. |
| Gabe Klassen | POR | 1 goal | Someone quiet up to now in the series, he had a big goal against the run of play to make it 2-0. |
| Aidan Litke | POR | 2 assists | |
| Ryder Thompson | POR | 1 assist | It’s another good game for Portland’s defensemen. Thompon made the outlet pass to Klassen for the big third goal. |
| Luca Cagnoni | POR | 1 assist | |
| Marek Alscher | POR | ||
| Jackson Berezowski | EVT | 1 goal | 3 points in 3 game, but his only impact with the series in balance is in Game 1. The Winterhawks will take it. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Palmer | EVT | 18 saves-24 shots | |
| Robbie Fromm-Delorme | POR | 1 assist | 9-game point streak. |
| Jack O’Brien | POR | 1 assist | 3-game point streak. |
| Kyle McDonough | POR | 1 assist | The 15-year-old gets his first WHL point. |
| Winterhawks | Silvertips | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 43-20-5-3 | 33-35-2-1 |
| Goal difference | +26 | -24 |
| Goals/game | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| Goals allowed/game | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| Power play | 24.3% | 20.5% |
| Penalty kill | 82.8% | 77.4% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.2 | 4.1 |
| Power plays against/game | 4.1 | 3.5 |
| 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 |
Portland Winterhawks
The Winterhawks take a 3-0 lead, exactly a month after losing 10-3 in Everett.
It’s never over until the 4th win. In the WHL’s comebacks from 3-0, however, the team down 3-0 was still the better team and had home ice advantage.
Everett Silvertips
They have three days at home to regroup before their attempt to stay alive. You’d give them a decent chance, but not after that.
Friday at Everett, 7pm (Game 4)
Saturday vs. Everett, 6pm (Game 5 if necessary)
Monday at Everett, 7pm (Game 6 if necessary)
next Tuesday vs. Everett, 7pm (Game 7 if necessary)
