Copyright The Oregonian
What: The Portland Winterhawks (7-5) take on the Victoria Royals (6-3-2-1) in Western Hockey League action. When: Sunday, October 26, 4pm PDT. Where: Memorial Coliseum. Watch: You can stream the game FOR FREE on Victory Plus: Winterhawks broadcast. Royals broadcast. Listen: Winterhawks and Royals audio. Follow: The box score. Get updates and chat before, during, and after the game. Portland Winterhawks The Portland Winterhawks returned home Saturday after 11 straight games on the road, and took maximum advantage of a Saskatoon Blades team that was off their game, especially top goalie Evan Gardner. They chased Gardner in the 2nd period after scoring 4 goals on 16 shots, on their way to a 6-3 win. 12 players hit the scoresheet for Portland, all with single points except for Carsyn Dyck, who scored the first two goals of the game. Now they try to overcome a schedule disadvantage, and sweep a 3-game weekend, against the more rested Victoria Royals. [stats are subject to late adjustments] Dyck had the first 2-goal game of his career. Point streaks: Ryan Miller, 5; Duguay, 4; Reed Brown, 3 (with goals in 3 straight games). Sotheran is a +5 in his last 3 games. In the last 2 he’s been shouldering much of the defensive load with Pšenička missing; we’ll see if Pšenička gets back in the lineup. Sotheran also has a 3-game point streak. McLaughlin was +3 on Saturday and has had a very good weekend. Štěbeták stopped 29 of 32 on Saturday and should get the start in this one. Victoria Royals A potential juggernaut season for the Victoria Royals was derailed in the offseason when they lost five of their top players to the NCAA, including NHL 1st-rounder Cole Reschny and near-certain 1st-rounder Keaton Verhoeff, who was only 17. So they’ve had to scramble to recover, and they’ve done a decent job, although they don’t look to be a championship contender. They’ve played a ton of close games so far. Exactly half of their games have gone to overtime, and they’ve played 6 straight 1-goal games. Most of their success has been on special teams. They have the league’s 2nd-best power play, and they’ve been on the power play more than any other team in the league (notable as the Winterhawks give up a lot of power plays). While their penalty kill is below average, they’ve been very good at staying out of the box. They’re coming off a 3-2 loss at Tri-City on Friday, their 2nd loss in a row, but had Saturday off to travel down the Gorge, so they will be much more rested compared to the Winterhawks. Ex-Silvertip Woodward is their leading scorer, on the back of a league-high 8 power play goals and a .278 shooting percentage. He has a 3-game point streak. Newman, who has played all 257 of his games with the Royals, missed Friday’s game. Perreault and Schwartz are both WHL 1st-rounders. Finley and Pickford are out long term. Wilson and Kayter are both out for awhile; Young is day-to-day. Runtso sounds like an import based on his name, but he’s not; he’s from California. He has 7 power play assists, one off the league lead. He’s another player who will be going NCAA next sesaon. Eskit has been good as the number one goalie and should get the start. Pilon came over from Kelowna and hasn’t played for the Royals yet. Tale of the tape Live updates and chat
