What: The Portland Winterhawks (3-3) take on the Medicine Hat Tigers (5-2) in Western Hockey League action.
When: Saturday, October 11, 6pm PDT.
Where: Co-op Place, Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Watch: You can stream the game FOR FREE on Victory Plus:
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Portland Winterhawks
After a very slow start to the season, the goals have been flowing freely for the Portland Winterhawks. In their last 4 periods, they’ve scored 13 goals, with three 4-goal periods. Two of those periods came Friday night against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, turning a 2-1 1st intermission deficit into a 9-4 win. The Nathans, Brown and Free, each had two goals, and defenseman Carter Sotheran had 3 points. In their sixth game, the Winterhawks led at an intermission for the first time all season, their season power play percentage doubled in one game, and their team shooting percentage went from 19 points below the league average to 11 points above.
They continue their 5-game trip to Alberta with a difficult game in Medicine Hat.
[stats are subject to late adjustments]
Miller kept his 9-game wraparound point streak going with an assist, as did Weiermair with an 8-game streak with a goal and an assist. Gustafson has a 3-game point streak.
Reed Brown made his season debut after missing the first 5 games with injury.
Free has goals in 4 of Portland’s 6 games this season.
Sotheran had 3 points and was a +3 on Friday. Slobodian will get an extra point on review, giving him his first career 2-point game.
Would you have guessed that Štěbeták was the 8th-most experienced goalie in the league? And he’s way ahead as the most experienced 18-year-old. He’s played all of Portland’s minutes this season; there’s a chance this is the game he finally sits.
Medicine Hat Tigers
The Medicine Hat Tigers won the WHL championship last season, went 3-0 in the Memorial Cup round-robin, but fell short in the final game. This time last season they would have had visions of multiple season like that, but their dynasty fell away when superstar Gavin McKenna and NHL 1st-rounder Cayden Lindstrom went to the NCAA, an option they didn’t have 12 months ago.
That’s kept them from having an uber-team, but they have started solidly and look to be in the mix to go back-to-back. Their young forwards have started well and they look to have one of the best defense corps.
The Winterhawks catch a bit of a travel break as they had the shorter overnight trip. The Tigers came from Calgary, where they lost 4-2 to the Hitmen, breaking a 4-game winning streak.
They’ve gotten good production from Belorus import Bryzgalov, taking advantage of the league adding the extra import slot. And they’ve had good starts from the Ruck brothers and Gordon-Carroll, who has a 3-game point streak.
Parr played in the WHL final, but for the other side, coming over from Spokane.
Their defense is their strength, although Muhonen has missed 3 straight games. Väisänen (Utah), Muhonen (Dallas), and Pickford (Montreal) are the Tigers only 3 NHL draftees.
Woo isn’t an NHL draftee, but he’s the league’s most experienced 19-year-old by 36 games. The top 25 in experience are 24 20-year-olds and Woo, who sits 9th.
Switzer has gotten the majority of the minutes. He played Friday so they might go with Casey in the back-to-back situation. They’ve felt comfortable enough with Casey to give him a previous start against Calgary.
Tale of the tape
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