Copyright The Oregonian
For the second time in a week, the Portland Winterhawks torch one of the Western Hockey League’s top goalies, this time in a 6-2 win over the Prince George Cougars. After beating the Saskatoon Blades’ Evan Gardner last week, they beat Prince George’s NHL 1st round draft pick Joshua Ravensbergen, scoring 6 goals on 28 shots before he got the hook in the 3rd period. Jordan Duguay and Alex Weiermair led the scoring with 3 points each. Ondrej Štěbeták stopped 33 of 35 shots. Game preview Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction. The off day forum Scoring summary Narratives Pregame: The Cougars were fairly significant favorites, although Portland welcomed defenseman Max Pšenička back to the lineup after missing 3 games. 1st period: The Winterhawks blitzed the Cougars highly-ranked special teams with 2 power play goals, then hit them with a Finn Spehar goal with 15 seconds left in the period. 2nd period: Portland went up 4-0 before the Cougars made a little headway, cutting it to 4-2 and outshooting Portland 16-13. So it was a little bit in doubt. 3rd period: Reed Brown scored Portland’s fifth goal, which mostly finished the game off as the Cougars weren’t very threatening after that, and the Alex Weiermeir got goal number six to finish off Joshua Ravensbergen. How it was won: 1) The Winterhawks, who came into the game slightly below average in shooting percentage, scored 6 on 22 shots against an NHL 1st-rounder. 2) They held Prince George’s big guns all in check; PG had three players significantly over a point a game and they were held to two points total. 3) Portland got three goals outside of their top scorers, from Jake Gustafson, Spehar, and Reed Brown. 4) Special teams. Key stretch/moment: Spehar’s goal with 15 seconds left in the 1st to make it 3-0. Surprising: Prince George losing the special teams battle, after winning it by at least a goal in every game they’d played so far. The Winterhawks went 2 for 4 against a PG penalty kill that was 90.7% coming into the game. Not surprising: PG had to settle for scoring a power play goal in their 13 straight game. Controversies: A chippy game in places, but not too much controversy. Best team won?: In this game, yes. Injuries/suspensions: Sam Spehar left in the second half of the game and didn’t return. Nathan Brown missed a significant chunk of the game after a fight, but returned. Carson Carels was hurt in the 3rd, which helped with Portland’s fifth goal, and missed a few shifts but returned. The players Postgame Portland Winterhawks Now up to 5th in the conference, and could jump as high as 2nd with a win on Saturday. Prince George Cougars They have a fun road trip: Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Portland again, Everett, and Wenatchee, all in 8 days. Not the most efficient travel. Next games Saturday 11/1 vs. Kamloops, 6pm PDT Wednesday 11/5 vs. Prince George, 7pm PST Friday 11/7 at Wenatchee, 7pm PST next Saturday 11/8 vs. Spokane, 6pm PST
