The Portland Winterhawks went to Victoria for games Monday and Tuesday with a goal in mind. Either end the series there or gain a split and bring it back to Portland to end it here. On Monday, the Hawks, either travel weary or just not fully prepared for the Royal assault that they would face, handed the Royals eight power plays on which they scored the only two goals they needed. The game was very physical and both goaltenders suffered pile-ons of which only Portland was penalized on. There were many feelings of a lopsided officiating job and the Hawks battled as best they could, but in the end, couldn’t muster enough offense to seal the deal.
The Hawks were just 14 seconds from being shutout when Taylor Leier found the back of the net to salvage something from the game. The Hawks haven’t been shutout in a game since December 2011 and weren’t about to give up that record easily.
Less than 24 hours later, the two teams would meet again and the Hawks looked to make a comeback. It was Victoria who would strike first. Just over six minutes into the game, the Hawks gave up a goal when Tyler Soy capitalized on Portland being unable to clear the defensive zone. Just under 90 seconds later, Adam Rossignol banged home a pass from Ethan Price as Victoria tried to clear the players around the net and the teams were tied at 1 at the end of the first period.
In the second period, the teams once again had a physical presence, but Portland would go to the power play and Brendan Leipsic would take a beating in front of the net as the Hawks poured on the pressure. Leipsic kept working the puck as Victoria once again tried to clear players, but Leipsic’s continued efforts resulted in him poking the puck through Victoria goaltender Patrik Polivka to give the Hawks their first lead.
Victoria wasn’t about to go away quietly as during the final seconds of a Portland power play, Taylor Crunk would split the Portland defense and score through the legs of Brendan Burke to knot up the game. With the period coming to a close, Mathew Dumba would take a check from behind penalty and Nic Petan just seconds later would get called for a high sticking penalty. Replays of the incident showed that Petan never touched the Victoria player. That penalty would carry over to the third period and just seven seconds into the period, Steven Hodges would rush up from the faceoff and score between the legs in similar fashion to the Crunk goal and Victoria held a 3-2 lead. Portland once again took its cue of scoring immediately thereafter as the Hawks stormed the Victoria zone. Derrick Pouliot took the initial shot with a save by Polivka, only to see Brendan Leipsic on the doorstep to bang home the rebound. For the next several minutes the teams took turns with pressure in the zone, but neither team was able to capitalize. Victoria had several glorious opportunities to score including one shot off the post, but a turnover in the Hawks zone sent Taylor Leier up ice. Chase De Leo picked up the feed from Mathew Dumba and made no mistake as he rifled it home to give Portland their lead for good. Victoria has more chances, but then took a Too Many Men penalty towards the end of the contest which allowed Portland to eat up the clock. Victoria would get a couple more shots at Brendan Burke, but he stood tall and gave the Hawks a chance to end the series in Portland on Thursday.
Should Victoria lose this series, they need only look at the many missed opportunities to take control of the game on Tuesday night. The teams will travel most of the day on Wednesday to get to Portland and the game at the Moda Center on Thursday night.
The next opponent for either of these teams appears to be the Kelowna Rockets, who took a three games to none lead with a 5-2 win on Tuesday in Kent, WA. The other series have Edmonton in full control against Brandon, up three games to none after a 5-2 win on Tuesday and the Kootenay versus Medicine Hat series is tied at one with games set for Wednesday and Thursday.
Ice Chips: With Brendan Leipsic’s two goals on Tuesday, he has moved into top spot in the scoring race during the playoffs. The Portland Winterhawks Booster Club and home viewing party was given a mention during the SHAW broadcast of the game, which was carried by Comcast SportsNet Northwest. Eight establishments are holding viewing parties during the playoffs.
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