The Portland Winterhawks throw up a one-goal lead three times, but they manage to hold off the Tri-City Americans’ dominance for twenty-two minutes and win 4-3. With their sixth consecutive victory, they surpass Tri-City to take third place in the US Division of the Western Hockey League and fourth position in the Western Conference. The weekend home-and-home series is swept by them.
After a strong second-half finish, the Americans lost for the fourth time in a row and for the seventh time in eight games after outscoring Portland 15-5 in the third.
In 2024, Portland will play the league-leading Everett Silvertips on New Year’s Eve.
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Game preview
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Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction.
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The off day forum
Scoring summary
1st 5:26 POR Reed Brown (Kyle McDonough, Jordan Duguay) 1-0 | Duguay gets an offensive zone steal from Jackson Smith. He passes to the boards to McDonough, who slips a pass past Smith and Terrell Goldsmith to Brown with an open path to the net. Brown fakes out Nathan Preston and backhands it in. |
1st 7:00 TC Jake Sloan (Jackson Smith, Jordan Gavin) 1-1 | Gavin intercepts an Alex Weiermair pass in his own zone and starts a 3 on 2. His rinkwide pass in the Portland zone sets up a long Smith shot, Marek Schlenker stops it but the rebound goes weak side to a wide open Sloan at the edge of the crease. |
2nd 9:03 POR Josh Zakreski (Diego Buttazzoni, Joel Plante) 2-1 | Carter Sotheran outlets to Plante, who makes a touch pass to Buttazzoni at the Portland blue line. He hits Zakreski at the Americans blue line. With some room, Zakreski skates to the top of the right circle and fires it past Preston. |
2nd 10:15 TC Max Curran 2-2 | Kayd Ruedig fans on an outlet pass in his own zone. Curran takes it from him, has a path to goal, and makes a backhand move past Schlenker. |
2nd 14:03 POR Alex Weiermair (Tyson Jugnauth) 3-2 | An amazing setup from Jugnauth, weaving from the right wing to behind the net, and making a short pass to Weiermair at the left edge of the crease to beat Preston before he could get back to the post. Chyzowski might get an assist if he got a touch on a pass from Weiermair back to Jugnauth. |
2nd 15:14 TC Max Curran (Ismail Abougouche, Kale Margolis) 3-3 | Abougouche floats a pass from behind his own net to center ice at the right boards, Curran tips the puck past Cole Slobodian to himself, takes it to the top inside edge of the left circle, and wrists one past Schlenker. Margolis got a touch before it got to Abougouche. |
2nd 17:33 POR Kyle Chyzowski (Tyson Yaremko) 4-3 | Carter MacAdams makes a bad drop pass decision at the top of the right circle in the Portland zone, giving it right to Yaremko who got it to Chyzowski at center ice. Chyzowski takes it from there, driving down the left wing, getting past Smith to get to the net, and then sneaking on past Preston, who probably should have done better. With plenty of time left, no one thought this would be the last goal, but it turned out to be the winner. |
Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
Portland leads by 1 | 26:24 |
Tied | 33:36 |
Portland trails by 1 | 0:00 |
Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Narratives
Pregame: The Winterhawks, who had won five straight games, and the Ams, who had dropped six of seven, faced off in a repeat of Portland’s victory on Friday in Portland. The competition was for third place in the division, fourth place in the conference, and maybe fourth place in the league.
First period: The period concludes 1-1, which is quite even. The Winterhawks were unable to convert despite forcing numerous Tri-City turnovers, particularly in the Ams zone.
Second period: Tri-City tied it for the second and third periods, while Portland led for the second, third, and fourth, ending with Portland ahead by one. The Winterhawks owned the lead for the majority of the game, but the Americans had a huge shot rush to take the lead after Portland’s final lead.
In the third session, All Tri-City outshot Portland 15–5 and created more opportunities that were not converted into shots. They were unable to obtain the bounces, though, because Marek Schlenker kept them out of the net. It’s unlikely that many would have predicted a scoreless third. Portland sweeps the home-and-home series with a 4-3 victory.
1) Goaltending, as it has been for the majority of the run. With a little luck, Marek Schlenker was large in the third and defeated Nathan Preston in the goaltender fight, allowing him to get a couple he might want back, including the winner.
2) With two goals and numerous opportunities, Portland’s top line excels once more.
3) Portland’s pressure in the first two periods, which resulted in numerous TC turnovers and a few that the Ams did not force.
The game’s final 22 minutes, when Portland attempted to maintain a one-goal lead under intense Ams pressure, were a crucial stretch or moment.
Unexpectedly, this game had just three power plays, whereas the home-and-home game had five, despite the fact that both teams drew and gave up more power plays than usual. Tri-City spent a total of twenty-eight seconds on the power play.
It should come as no surprise that Portland, one of the league’s top third-period teams, won the third period, but this time they did so from ahead rather than behind.
There aren’t any that come to mind.
The shooting disparity and TC’s pressure in the third made me want to say no, but the best team triumphed. However, it was good of the Winterhawks to take the lead in the first place. Assume that overtime would have been a reasonable outcome.
No suspensions or injuries.
The players
Top 10 | Stat line | ||
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Max Curran | TC | 2 goals | Two great, mostly individual goals. Had enough chances to get a hat trick. |
Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 1 goal | A great individual goal for the winner. He might end up with an assist. For now he s 5th in the league in scoring and has a 4-game point streak. |
Marek Schlenker | POR | 40 saves-43 shots | 15 for 15 in the 3rd period when a goal would have tied it. In his 3 games of Portland s winning streak, he has a .937 save percentage. |
Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 1 assist | Just a great setup on Alex Weiermair s goal, and it gives him a 9-game point streak. |
Jake Sloan | TC | 1 goal | TC s first goal and played a big part in their 3rd period dominance. |
Jordan Gavin | TC | 1 assist | 3-game point streak. |
Josh Zakreski | POR | 1 goal | A snipe from the right wing. |
Reed Brown | POR | 1 goal | A very good 1st period including the game s first goal. |
Alex Weiermair | POR | 1 goal | Now 6 goals on 22 shots, a .273 percentage. Look out Cameron Schmidt. 6-game point streak. |
Ismail Abougouche | TC | 1 assist | Assist on an outlet pass to Curran, and was +2. |
Other notables | Stat line | ||
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Tyson Yaremko | POR | 1 assist | 6-game point streak. |
Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 1 assist | Long pass to set up Zakreski, extending his point streak to 9. |
Nathan Preston | TC | 27 saves-31 shots | Not great on the winning goal, although an Am could have better picked up Chyzowski. A bit questionable on two other goals as well. |
Postgame
Winterhawks | Americans | |
---|---|---|
Record |
20-12-2 (.618) |
19-10-2-1 (.641) |
Goals/game |
3.9 |
4.0 |
Goals allowed/game |
3.8 |
3.7 |
Team shooting % |
.114 |
.113 |
Team save % |
.891 |
.893 |
Power play | 27.8% | 16.4% |
Penalty kill |
80.8% |
81.8% |
Power plays for/game | 4.2 | 3.6 |
Power plays against/game |
3.7 |
3.8 |
Outshooting opponents | 13-20-1 |
19-13 |
After 1 period | 10-13-11 | 11-10-11 |
After 2 periods |
13-16-5 |
15-9-8 |
Score, last 10 games | 42-35 (+7) | 32-41 (-9) |
Score, last 20 games |
87-69 (+18) |
78-74 (+4) |
The Portland Winterhawks
Even though Tri-City still three games left, they move up to fourth place in the league. They appear to be in the best possible form heading into Tuesday’s crucial matchup with the Everett Silvertips.
Americans from the Tri-Cities
Even if it didn’t prolong a losing streak, it was still a difficult one to accept. They are likely favorites to win all five of their upcoming home games, with the possible exception of Portland. So, it’s not all lost.
Next games
Everett vs. Tuesday, December 31, 5 p.m. PST
Spokane vs. Thursday, 1/2, 7 p.m. PST
Tri-City, Friday, 1/3, 7 p.m. PST
1/4 vs. Wenatchee on Saturday at 6 p.m. PST
Future plans: Friday, January 10 at Brandon, 5 p.m. PST (7 p.m. CST)
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