In one of the season’s most thrilling contests, Portland defeats Spokane 6-4 after scoring four goals in the third period to overcome a deficit. Kyle Chyzowski and Alex Weiermair both scored two goals in the third quarter, while Tyson Yaremko finished with three points.
After winning four in a row, Portland will now take nine days off for Christmas before playing Tri-City at home on December 27.
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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 4:59 POR Diego Buttazzoni (Tyson Jugnauth, Kayd Ruedig) 1-0 |
| 1st 13:34 POR Kyle Chyzowski (Tyson Yaremko) 2-0 |
| 1st 15:18 SPO Rasmus Ekstr m (Smyth Rebman, Rhett Sather) 2-1 |
| 2nd 5:55 SPO (PP) Rasmus Ekstr m (Brayden Crampton, Shea Van Olm) 2-2 |
| 2nd 17:43 SPO Shea Van Olm (Brayden Crampton, Nathan Mayes) 2-3 |
| 3rd 2:10 POR (PP) Alex Weiermair (Tyson Jugnauth, Tyson Yaremko) 3-3 |
| 3rd 3:34 POR Kyle Chyzowski (Tyson Yaremko) 4-3 |
| 3rd 11:39 SPO (PP) Rasmus Ekstr m (Shea Van Olm, Brayden Crampton) 4-4 |
| 3rd 14:13 POR (PP) Alex Weiermair (Diego Buttazzoni, Kyle Chyzowski) 5-4 |
| 3rd 18:51 POR (EN.SH) Tyson Yaremko 6-4 |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 2:53 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 31:55 |
| Tied | 20:45 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 4:27 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Narratives
Pregame: A difficult decision. Usually a top-3 team would mostly survive the loss even of their best player, but Spokane seems to rely more than normal on Berkly Catton, away at World Juniors, and they hadn t yet done much to show either way that they can or can t play without him. Asanali Sarkenov, who has offered them some offense, was also missed by the World Juniors. Additionally, Portland had recently been playing some excellent hockey. It was difficult to determine who had the advantage in a game that was at least 50/50.
First period: Portland led by one and played a little more defense than Spokane in an interesting game. Although the shots were 13–13, Portland had more opportunities.
Second period: When Portland attempted to extend their advantage to two, Dawson Cowan took control of the game, stopping seventeen, including four or five large ones early. Spokane only got 5 shots but made them count, with a power play goal by Rasmus Ekstr m early and a nice backhand by Shea Van Olm late.
3rd period:With 20 minutes to go the sugar plums started dancing, as we got 6 power plays, almost all of them of the undisciplined type. It led to three power play goals–a tying goal for Portland, a tying goal for Spokane, and the winning goal by Alex Weiermair for Portland. Portland scored four goals to win the game after Cowan was unable to hold the dike.
How it was won:Portland outshot Spokane 47-30, a good performance against a team that s pretty good on shot difference. They took big advantage of Catton s absence. He does a lot to control the game himself, and probably would have done so even more with a lead.
Key stretch/moment:A lot of them in a game like this. Maybe the biggest one was Hayden Paupanekis going crazy with Spokane up 3-2, giving up a power play and 10 minute misconduct, and within two minutes Portland had a 4-3 lead. Although right after Portland tied it, Ekstr m had a great chance to put Spokane back ahead, giving him his hat trick 8 minutes earlier than he eventually got it.
Surprising:Beside Portland winning the shot total by a lot, Portland winning the even strength goals 3-2. Their goal difference at even strength is still -26, but getting better.
Not surprising:In a battle of two teams with good special teams at both ends, Portland edges Spokane 3-2 on an empty-net shorthanded goal, the 10th shorthanded goal Spokane has allowed this season and the major difference in the teams special teams numbers.
Controversies:Ekstr m had a goal waved off in the 2nd period that took an awful long time on review. It might have been one that was in, but you just couldn t find an angle that definitively said it was in.
Best team won?:Probably. You can make the case that Spokane was in the game only because of Cowan.
Injuries/suspensions:None.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyson Yaremko | POR | 1 goal, 3 assists | 4-game point streak. First career 4-point game. |
| Rasmus Ekstr m | SPO | 3 goals | First career hat trick, kind of a surprise given the hard shots he unleashed. |
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 2 goals, 1 assist | Finishes the first half tied for 6th in the league in scoring. |
| Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 2 assists | 7-game point streak. Finishes the first half leading defensemen in scoring by 7 points. |
| Alex Weiermair | POR | 2 goals | 4-game point streak. |
| Dawson Cowan | SPO | 41 saves-46 shots | 1st star after 2 periods. |
| Shea Van Olm | SPO | 1 goal, 2 assists | Finishes the first half tied for 4th in the league in scoring. |
| Brayden Crampton | SPO | 3 assists | Finishes the first half tied for 4th in scoring by defensemen. |
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 1 goal, 1 assist | 7-game point streak. |
| Kayd Ruedig | POR | 1 assist |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Zakreski | POR | 3-game point streak snapped. | |
| Ondrej t bet k | POR | 26 saves-30 shots | |
| Smyth Rebman | SPO | 1 assist | 4-game point streak. |
Postgame
| Portland | Spokane | |
|---|---|---|
| Record |
18-12-2 (.594) |
22-11 (.667) |
| Goals/game |
3.9 |
3.8 |
| Goals allowed/game | 3.9 | 3.2 |
| Team shooting % |
.113 |
.111 |
| Team save % | .888 | .896 |
| Power play |
28.4% |
29.3% |
| Penalty kill | 80.5% | 82.4% |
| Power plays for/game |
4.4 |
3.7 |
| Power plays against/game | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| Outshooting opponents |
12-19-1 |
20-11-2 |
| After 1 period |
10-12-10 |
12-10-11 |
| After 2 periods | 11-16-5 |
20-8-5 |
| Score, last 10 games | 41-37 (+4) | 44-25 (+19) |
| Score, last 20 games |
81-74 (+7) |
79-66 (+13) |
Portland
They finish the first half one point behind Victoria for 5th in the conference. The high point of their first half is pretty much this final game.
Spokane
You can t make too much of an evaluation of them without Catton. They didn t have a great defensive night and were kept in the game by Cowan, but their defensive numbers are usually better than this, so it might be a one-off. They still have the 2nd-best record in the league at the Christmas break.
Next games
Friday 12/27 vs. Tri-City, 7pm PST
Saturday 12/28 at Tri-City, 6pm PST
Looking ahead:Tuesday 12/31 vs. Everett, 5pm PST
Next game with Spokane:Thursday 1/2 vs. Spokane, 7pm PST
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