The Portland Winterhawks get off to a fantastic start, scoring the first four goals of the game and 25 of the first 30 shots as they defeat the Vancouver Giants 5-2 on the road.
Portland dominated the game’s first half. They slowed down in the second half since they had a game on Saturday night and a five-hour overnight drive home. The Giants came closer, but not quite enough.
Tyson Jugnauth had two assists and was by far the best player in the game. 25 out of 27 shots were repelled by Ondrej T. Bet K.
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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 2:20 POR Kyle McDonough (Tyson Jugnauth, Josh Zakreski) 1-0 | A great play by Jugnauth. From the left boards, he nicely slips past London Hoilett to throw the puck backdoor to McDonough at the edge of the crease. He gained position on Colton Roberts. Diego Buttazzoni won the faceoff back to Zakreski, who got the puck to Jugnauth. |
| 1st 15:43 POR Joel Plante (Kayd Ruedig, Griffin Darby) 2-0 | See Controversies, below. Ruedig made a great long pass to spring Plante, and Darby under some pressure in the corner got the puck over to Ruedig. |
| 2nd :45 POR Alex Weiermair (Ryan Miller) 3-0 | A great play by Miller, winning the puck in the corner and passing it through the crease to Weiermair on the back door. |
| 2nd 1:19 POR Diego Buttazzoni (Tyson Jugnauth, Ondrej t bet k) 4-0 | Jugnauth again, with a perfect long pass from just in front of his own net to Buttazzoni at the Vancouver blue line, and he wrists one from the inside edge of the left circle. We get a goalie assist with t bet k leaving the puck for Jugnauth behind the net. |
| 3rd 8:22 VAN (PP) Adam Titlbach (Connor Levis) 4-1 | A give-and-go with Titlbach and Levis. Max P eni ka got a piece of Levis s pass into the crease, but couldn t clear it and Titlbach knocked it in. Colton Roberts should get an assist added as he was part of the breakout through center. |
| 3rd 17:12 VAN (PP) Jaden Lipinski (Mazden Leslie, Connor Levis) 4-2 | Levis sneaked behind Jugnauth to tip a point shot by Leslie on a 6 on 4. Levis gets an assist as part of the passing on the power play. |
| 3rd 18:57 POR (EN) Ryan Miller (Ryder Thompson) 5-2 | Diego Buttazzoni helps clear a loose puck out of the Portland slot, the puck bounces to Thompson, who hits Miller with a long pass and he s able to carry it all the way to the empty net. We might get a second assist to Buttazzoni or Jordan Duguay, who might have gotten a touch on the puck before it went to Thompson. |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 44:17 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 13:23 |
| Tied | 2:20 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 0:00 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Narratives
Pregame: Without suspended captain Kyle Chyzowski, the Winterhawks are attempting to avoid a three-game losing streak for the first time since November. They were attempting to keep the Giants, who were only three points behind them for fifth place, at bay at the same time.
First period: Tyson Jugnauth set up Portland’s early goal, and the team scored an odd late goal to make it 2-0. At the end of the session, shots moved from 3-3 with 12 minutes remaining to 14-3. Jugnauth had a lot of time to take the lead.
Second period: The Winterhawks secured the catbird seat with two early goals to make it 4-0. They outshot the Giants 22-2 during the 20-minute stretch in the first and second quarters, and they continued to skate circles around them for around eight more minutes. The Giants took advantage of the penalties that followed and inserted Ondrej T. Betk into the game, where he performed admirably.
Third period: Portland was outshot 12-5 after going 8 minutes without a shot; part of it was preserving a significant lead and conserving something for Saturday. Ryan Miller completed it with an empty net goal after the Giants scored two power play goals that brought them within striking distance of the goalkeeper in the dying minutes.
How it was won: 1) Tyson Jugnauth took over after Kyle Chyzowski was sidelined. He played well in the first half of the match and finished with two assists.
2) 29 minutes into the game, Portland had a 25–5 shooting advantage.
3) They limited Cameron Schmidt, a prolific goal scorer, to three shots and zero goals.
4) During a period when Portland was outshot, Ondrej Stebetak kept the Giants off the scoring until the game was so close that it didn’t matter.
Crucial stretch/moment: Joel Plante’s contentious goal near the conclusion of the first that put Portland ahead 2-0. Everyone was taken aback, and over the course of the following fifteen minutes, a Portland advantage grew into a significant one.
Surprisingly, Portland wins the even-strength game 5-0, bringing their goal differential up to -23, but loses the special teams game 2-0, just maintaining their league-leading +22 goal differential on special teams.
Not shocking: Nothing is really noteworthy. There was nothing that could be regarded as a lock.
Disputations:
Update: IT’S A GOOD GOAL!tweet.com/0pA66W20AZ
Huddling over the goalie’s contact and watching the film to see if the puck went in, it took just under three minutes from the whistle to the goal indication. Joel Plante was shoved into Stebetak by Kolby Gapter, according to the Giants. It seems like it would set a horrible precedent to start calling it a goal, and I’m not sure if you can properly call that a push. However, it’s a sensible decision.
Yes, the best squad prevailed.
Suspensions/injuries: On Saturday night, Kyle Chyzowski will be available.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 2 assists | Just put on a clinic, setting up players left and right and having two setups go for goals. |
| Ondrej t bet k | POR | 25 saves-27 shots, 1 assist | A spectator for the first half, then kept it from getting interesting in the second half. Rebounds, often a problem, weren t until very late. |
| Ryan Miller | POR | 1 goal, 1 assist | Deserved kudos even before the empty net goal. Was involved the whole game and made a nice play to set up goal number three. |
| Alex Weiermair | POR | 1 goal | Strong game in front of the net. |
| Carter Sotheran | POR | +3, one of his best games. | |
| Kayd Ruedig | POR | 1 assist | A lot of nice plays as the fifth defenseman. |
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 1 goal | A goal and the third assist on Portland s first goal. 5-game point streak. And news that wasn t really news (two weeks old) got out that suggests this might be his last season. |
| Connor Levis | VAN | 2 assists | A primary and secondary assist on the power play. |
| Adam Titlbach | VAN | 1 goal | A few good chances and finished one. |
| Joel Plante | POR | 1 goal | The controversial second goal, breaking a 3-game scoring drought. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Schmidt | VAN | 4-game point streak snapped, a key to Portland s win. | |
| Josh Zakreski | POR | 1 assist | 6-game point streak. |
| Burke Hood | VAN | 29 saves-33 shots | No real chance on 2 of the goals, and you could hardly blame him for not keeping the puck out while being crashed into. |
Postgame
| Winterhawks | Giants | |
|---|---|---|
| Record |
28-18-2-1 (.602) |
24-20-6 (.540) |
| Goals/game |
4.0 |
3.8 |
| Goals allowed/game |
4.0 |
4.0 |
| Team shooting % |
.114 |
.131 |
| Team save % |
.884 |
.879 |
| Power play | 26.5% |
26.1% |
| Penalty kill | 76.2% |
74.3% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.2 |
4.0 |
| Power plays against/game | 3.7 |
3.7 |
| Outshooting opponents |
21-26-2 |
19-31 |
| After 1 period |
15-20-14 |
16-16-18 |
| After 2 periods |
20-23-6 |
18-18-14 |
| Score, last 10 games | 40-40 (0) | 39-39 (0) |
| Score, last 20 games |
87-78 (+9) |
81-70 (+11) |
The Portland Winterhawks
With a five-point advantage, they have some breathing room over the Giants after a solid victory sans Chyzowski. They’re currently in a bit of a limbo, with the Prince George Cougars five points ahead of them in fourth place.
The Vancouver Giants
Out of their following five games, this one was the simplest. They now have Prince George, Everett, and two Victorias. To remain near Portland, they will need to put in some effort.
Next games
Seattle on Saturday, 2/8, at 6 p.m. PST
Wenatchee, Friday, 2/14, 7 p.m. PST
next Saturday, February 15, at 6 p.m. PST in Seattle
Looking ahead: Everett, Friday, 2/21, 7 p.m. PST
Vancouver’s next game is on Sunday, March 16, at 4 p.m. PDT.
