Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Winterhawks and Silvertips Split Weekend Series

The Portland Winterhawks got their weekend series with the Everett Silvertips started on Friday night at Xfinity Arena with a 2-1 win over Everett. The Hawks were helped by Adin Hill's 37 saves and goals from Paul Bittner Rodrigo Abols. Portland's season long win streak reached five games with the win.

It was not the prettiest win with the Hawks only getting 15 shots(my stats) on Everett's Carter Hart, but the Hawks will take it. Dominic Turgeon's six-game scoring streak was snapped in the win.

Everett started the scoring out with an odd goal from Devon Skoleski. The rookie center took advantage of Adin Hill misplaying a puck behind his own net and neatly tucked in the puck for a 1-0 Everett lead. This was Skoleski's second goal of the season vs. Portland and it's one Adin Hill definitely wanted to have back. Hill has gotten much better this year at playing the puck after really struggling with this aspect of his game last year. However, this was not the only error he made playing the puck this night. He nearly have another goal away when the puck eluded him and ended up in his skates near the goal line with a Silvertips lingering. These two plays were the only blemishes on a perfect night for Hill.

Portland tied the game in the second period after Evan Weinger's forecheck forced an Everett turnover and an active Caleb Jones dropped a perfect pass to Paul Bittner in a shooting lane. Bittner unleashed a wicked wrister past Hart to knot the score up. For Bittner, it was only his third goal of the season.

Portland and Everett both had great looks for most of the rest of the way, but no one got one past either goalie until Rodrigo Abols tipped a Caleb Jones shot past Hart late in the third. The goal came on the power play, after Lucas Skrumeda committed an elbowing infraction on Alex Schoenborn.

Hill earned his seventh win of the season and would have had his fourth shutout if not for his stickhandling gaffe. Hart made a lot of key stops but his numbers do not look as great as Hill's. Hart ended up stopping 13 of 15 in the loss.

Portland's power play was 1/2 on the night, while their penalty kill was 6 of 6.

Stats:
        

Player
Goals
Assists
Points
Shots
F/O
F/O %
Hits
B/S
PIM
Iverson
0
1
1
1
-
-
9
2
2
Turgeon
0
0
0
4
19/32
59.4%
1
5
2
Schoenborn
0
0
0
1
-
-500
Bittner
1
0
1
5--622
Abols1
0
122/4
50%
00
0
Weinger0
0
00--3
0
0
McKenzie
0
0
0
2--5
0
0
Overhardt0
0
0
09/14
64.3%
30
0
Veloso0000
-
-
42
0
Clayton
0
001
-
-
3
0
0
Hughes
0
0
0
0
3/3
100%
00
0
Heinrich
0
0
0
0
-
-
94
0
Dougherty
0
0
0
1
-
-
11
0
Jones
0
2
2
2
-
-
1
3
4
Texeira
0
001
-
-
63
4
De Jong
0
1
0
0
-
-
222
MacEachern
0
0
0
0
-
-
11
0

Czaikowski
0
0
0
0
-
-
21
0

Heinrich
Game Notes:
-19-year-old defenseman Jack Dougherty left the game during the first period with an upper body injury. I did not see the play he was injured on, but he is listed as out day-to-day on the weekly report.
-Portland's penalty kill was key in the win. Especially a two minute three-on-five kill when they were without the services of the injured Dougherty and the penalized Keoni Texeira and Caleb Jones. Blake Heinrich and Brendan De Jong stepped up during the kill, playing nearly the entire two minutes.
-Blake Heinrich threw a high hit on Patrick Bajkov that furthered the animosity between the two teams. While Heinrich's hit did not target Bajkov's head, it did come directly after an offside whistle and thus may've violated an unwritten rule.
-Bittner had five shots on net, while the rest of his team combined for 10 total. The CBJ draft pick scored his first goal in two weeks, but has had countless solid looks in the meantime. Bittner has stepped up defensively in that span though, helping Portland keep opponent's shots to the outside and out of the dangerous areas.
-Dominic Turgeon again took more draws then the rest of his team combined. He and Remi Laurencelle are really getting to know each other this season at the faceoff dot and Turgeon and the better of him in this game.

Notable WHL Scores
-Kamloops got four points from Gage Quinney and put an end to Lethbridge's eight game winning streak, beating them 7-3.
-Rookie Brogan O'Brien had two points for 10 already on the season and Prince George halted Kelowna 2-1.
-John Quenneville had three points including the over-time winner and Brandon beat Kootenay 3-2.
-Alex Forsberg had his first goal since October third and Vladimir Bobylev had the over-time winner as the Victoria Royals beat Prince Albert 3-2.
Hamm
-Everyone of Spokane's goals was of highlight reel quality and Tyson Verhlest stood tall under withering third period pressure as the Chiefs beat Red Deer 3-1.
-Moose Jaw's top line kept on rolling and Dryden Hunt's hat trick led the Warriors to a 5-1 win over Regina.
-Saskatoon's Brock Hamm recorded his first career WHL shutout as the Blades beat Swift Current 4-0.
-Jordan Topping provided the heroics for Tri-City as the Americans handed Vancouver their fifth straight loss.

Winterhawks in the NHL:
-Nino Niederreiter notched his fourth on the season and his Wild beat Marian Hossa and Chcago 5-4.
-Luica Sbisa had two assists and Vanocuver edged Arizona 4-3. Sbisa has three points in the last two games.
Winterhawks in the AHL:
-Craig Cunningham had an assist as Springfield took care of Rochester 6-1.
-Brendan Leispic scored his first goal of the season and added an assist as the Toronto Marlies ousted Grand Rapids 6-1.
Winterhawks in the ECHL:
-Anton Cederholm notched his third assist of the year and the Kalamazoo Wings beat Cincinnati 3-1. Cederholm has had a strong professional start, now that he's getting playing time in the ECHL. He has three points in four games and is a plus three.
-Thomas Frazee notched another assist and Atlanta ousted Greenville 3-2.

Everett 2 Portland 1
Portland's five-game win streak was snapped Sunday night after Cole MacDonald's point shot snuck through Adin Hill's wickets with under a minute left, breaking a 1-1 tie. The Silvertips not only halted Portland's streak, they stopped their own two game skid with the win.

Everett again opened the scoring against Portland. This time it was Brian King who scored for Everett. King was coming on after a line change, directly after Portland killed off an Everett power play. He rushed into the zone, received a pass right in the slot and made no mistake. The goal was King's first career WHL goal.

In the second period, believe it or not, the play opened up for possibly the first time this year in the five game season series. Both Everett's Riley Sutter and Portland's Colton Veloso struck posts in succession during a wild sequence.

The Winterhawks did finally knot the score in the third period though just 35 seconds in when Caleb Jones led Keegan Iverson out on an odd man rush and the 19-year-old Rangers' prospect beat Carter Hart. The goal was Iverson's 100th career WHL point. Both teams had chances late but Cole MacDonald's sneaky shot found a home behind Hill. The goal came after Everett controlled possession in Portland's zone for over a minute and the exhausted Hawks could not clear the zone. Portland pressed late to tie the score but could not solve a stellar Hart and the Tips took their first win over Portland since the squads' first meeting this season. In the span since, Portland had won all three meetings.

Portland's Hill stopped 28 of 30 in the loss, while Hart stopped all but one of 24 shots. Hill was named WHL goalie of the month for the second straight week and was also named WHL goalie of the month. Portland was 0/4 on the power play, while they were 2/2 on the penalty kill. This was the first time since their win streak started that they had more PP chances then their opponent.  The Hawks' PP is now 10/53 or 18.9% on the season. They are tied for 12th in the WHL in this category. Meanwhile, the Hawks' PK has become a team strength, going  59/69 for 89.5% (tied for second in the league).

Stats:
        

Player
Goals
Assists
Points
Shots
F/O
F/O %
Hits
B/S
PIM
Iverson
1
0
1
7
0/1
0%
7
0
0
Turgeon
0
0
0
2
9/23
39.1%
5
2
0
Schoenborn
0002
-
-314
Bittner
00
0
3--402
Abols00039/12
75%
51
0
Weinger0
0
00--90
0
McKenzie
0
0
0
0--51
0
Overhardt0
0
0
06/8
75%
21
0
Veloso0001
-
-
41
0
Clayton
0
001
-
-
2
0
0
Hughes
0
000
3/4
75%
100
Heinrich
0
112
-
-
424
MacEachern
0
0
0
4
-
-
720
Jones0110
-
-
210
Texeira0003
-
-
51
0
Czaikowski
0
0
0
1
-
-
110
De Jong
0
0
0
0
-
-
31
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
--
-

Game Notes:
-Portland was without the services of top pairing d-man Jack Dougherty in this game. Conor MacEachern stepped in his spot in the meantime and played quite well. He appears to be getting more comfortable as the season continues and demonstrated more physical play with seven checks.
-Dawson Leedahl is becoming enemy number one as afar as Portland is concerned. he checked Rodrigo Abols right in the numbers, driving him face first into the boards. This was only two games after hitting Blake Heinrich in a very similar way. He was called for boarding for this hit, but had Abols been hurt, he may've been looking at more punishment. The WHL seems to only crackdown on dirty hits, when there is a player injured on the play.
-Paul Bittner had three shots and two of them were off of pro-style power moves to the net. He is going to start scoring more if he keeps this kind of play in his repertoire. Very few WHL defensemen can handle someone of Bittner's skill, size and strength.
-Rihards Bukarts was kept out of both games on the weekend with visa related issues. Bukarts should be able to go when Portland plays Kelowna this Friday. Hopefully the inclusion of Bukarts on Bittner's opposite wing, will get this lien going a little more.
-Keegan Iverson played one of his better games, despite not factoring in the scoring. He threw his weight around to the tune of eight checks and created havoc for Everett's defensemen.
-Brendan De Jong briefly left the game with a cut to his mouth after receiving a check from Brandon Ralph. It did not appear that Ralph's elbow made contact with De Jong on the check. The Hawks cannot afford to lose another top five d-man.
-Evan Weinger played solid in the loss as he led the team in hits and was pivotal in the lone Portland goal. He may lose playing time when Bukarts joins the team, but he will definitely be the first one to jump into the top six should Coach Jamie Kompon need him to.
Notable WHL Scores:
Saturday:
-Tyson Baillie and Dillon Dube each scored their 10th goals on the season and Kelowna beat Lethbridge 5-3.
-Ryan Gropp and Matt Barzal each had three points and Seattle took down Kootenay 5-2. The T-birds received eight power plays in the game and scored on two of them
-Chase Harrison picked a great time for his first goal of the year. He notched the overtime winner as Regina responded well, beating Moose Jaw 4-3.
-Jon Martin had a hat trick and Jake DeBrusk had four assists as Swift Current beat Prince Albert 4-2. Martin now has 27 points this season, which is already a  career high for the 20-year-old. He had 24 points in 56 games all of last year. Raise your hand if you predicted Jon Martin would be an MVP candidate before the season started.
Sunday:
-Seattle blew a 3-1 lead as Calgary stormed back behind three points from recent acquisition Jackson Houck and won 4-3. 
-This season has been a bit of a nightmare for Edmonton and it continued Sunday. They went into the third period, holding a 1-0 lead, but gave up three straight to Spokane, losing 3-1 at home. Kailer Yamamoto had two goals in the win.
-Ivan Nikolishin had the only goal of the circus as Red Deer beat Medicine Hat 6-5. Evan Polei had two goals and an assist for the Rebels in the win. Nick Heid was a minus two in the game, his second with the Tigers.
-Nolan Patrick had the eventual winner as Brandon edged Moose Jaw 3-2.
-Vladimir Bobylev stayed hot as he had two goals in a 5-1 Royals' win over Saskatoon. Joe Hicketts had three assists in the victory and now has 15 this season.
-Tri-City swept the weekend series over Vancouver, beating them 4-1 behind three points each from Jordan Topping and Parker Bowles.
Monday:
-Brad Morrison and Jesse Gabrielle each had three points and Prince George handed Lethbridge their thired straight loss 4-3. The game was a chippy affair as 108 total penalty minutes were handed out.
Tuesday:
-Kelowna got two third period goals from Nick Merkley and they started their U.S. Division swing out right with a 3-1 win over Tri-City.
-Spokane blew a 4-0 second period lead over Kamloops and the Blazers won in overtime behind a goal from Collin Shirley. Kailer Yamamoto had three assists in the loss and is currently on a five-game point streak. In that span he has had nine points.
-Seattle blew a second straight 3-1 lead. This time the loss was to Red Deer as the Rebels came back behind three points from Ivan Nikolishin. The former Silvertip has 26 points in only 17 games this season and currently sits tied for sixth in the league.
-Calgary beat Saskatoon 6-3, behind four third period goals. Former Everett Silvertip Michael Zipp had two goals and an assist in the win.
-Alex Forsberg who has been cold recently after a hot start, appears to be heating up again. He had three assists and the Victoria Royals beat Swift Current 3-1.

Winterhawks in the NHL:
Saturday:
-Brandon Dubinsky had an assist but Columbus lost another game. This one was to Winnipeg 3-2.
-Ty Rattie fed David Backes for the overtime winner as St. Louis beat Minnesota 3-2. Rattie now has two assists since being called up by the Blues.
Sunday:
-Cody McLeod scored his first goal of the year and it was a predictably dirty one. His Avalanche still fell to San Jose 4-3.
Monday:
-Marian Hossa was scratched by the Chicago Blackhawks and reportedly suffered a lower body injury during the game against Minnesota Friday.
-Sven Baertschi had his fourth assist of the year and Vancouver beat Philadelphia 4-1.
Tuesday:
-Colton Sceviour had his second assist of the year and Dallas beat Boston 5-3.
-Brandon Dubinsky had an assist and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat San Jose 5-2. Dubinsky has a point in four of his last five games and seems to be taking well to new/old coach John Tortorella. Ryan Johansen bounced back from his illness with two assists in the win.


Winterhawks in the AHL:
Saturday:
-Taylor Aronson notched his second assist of the year  but Milwaukee was edged by Iowa 3-2.
Sunday:
-Brendan Leipsic added another assist on the weekend and the Marlies won another game. This one was a 3-2 win over Albany.
-Jason Lababrera notched his first professional win on the season, as Lehigh Valley beat Hershey 5-4, behind his 29 saves.

Winterhawks in the ECHL:
Saturday:
-Cam Reid scored his third goal this year for Reading but they fell to Orlando 5-2.
Monday:
-Taylor Peters scored the game winner for Idaho as they edged Utah 2-1. Peters has three goals already for the Steelheads.
Cody Glass and Team Red Undefeated:
-16-year-old center Cody Glass and Team Canada Red have yet to lose at the U-17 Challenge. They beat Finland on Sunday 3-1, before beating Sweden 4-1 Monday and Russia 4-3 (OT) Tuesday. Team Canada Red will take on Team Canada Black tomorrow in one of the quarter finals.
 Scott Reedy and the USA Also Unbeaten:
-Winterhawks prospect Scott Reedy is second overall in points in the tournament with seven over the first three games. The U.S. U-17 team won Group A with  consecutive victories over the Czech Republic (6-1), Canada White (7-5) and Canada Black (6-1). They will take on Sweden in another quarter final.


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