A win on Friday. A loss on Sunday. The former mattered far more than the latter. When all was said and done, the Portland Winterhawks stood alone in first place in the WHL’s U.S. Division, with a seat in the pole position for home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
The ever hostile Toyota Center in Kennewick saw a high scoring first two periods between Portland and the Tri-Cities, not surprising considering the Hawks are first in the league in scoring, and the Americans are fourth. Brad Ross kicked off the fireworks beating Americans goaltender Ty Rimmer off a pass from Brendan Leipsic twelve minutes into the game. The advantage would be short lived, as Americans winger Justin Feser scored twice in under three minutes to give the Americans a 2-1 lead.
The Hawks stormed back with three unanswered goals in the second, with Chase De Leo and Sven Bartschi scoring the first two, and Ross adding his second of the night. The Americans came right back, with their star winger Adam Hughesman making it 4-3 just one minute after Ross’s second goal, and Zachary Yuen tying the game with four minutes left in the period.
The defenses clamped down into the third, and it was the Winterhawks defensive team of Troy Rutkowski, Tyler Wotherspoon, and William Wrenn that locked the Americans down during several power play attempts in the period. When Americans center Brendan Shimminin broke in and fired a shot in past the wingers, Rutkowski managed a tremendous deflection, getting it up ice to Oliver Gabriel and Taylor Leier for a 2-on-1 break. Gabriel fed a perfect pass to Leier, and the rookie shot it home for a 5-4 lead. Despite several more chances for the Americans, the Winterhawks held firm, and Leier added an empty-netter for a 6-4 Winterhawks win.
Saturday was a field day for the Hawks at the Memorial Coliseum, an afternoon game with the shades drawn against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Sven Bartschi had one of the best games of his young career, lighting the lamp four times. Joe Morrow added three assists, and Brendan Burke turned away twenty-five shots in a 7-3 Winterhawks win. The game did get out of control late, when Seattle defenseman Brad Deagle delivered a ruthless cross-check to Tyler Wotherspoon. The resulting scrum resulted in four ejections, three for Seattle, and Wotherspoon ejected for Portland.
Sunday the Americans came into the Rose Garden intent on revenge for their defeat at home on Friday. There were power-play chances aplenty for both teams in an game that was aggressive from the drop of the puck. Shinnimin scored on the power-play first, but Bartschi evened the score two minutes later, also on the power-play. Connor Rankin would give the Americans a 2-1 lead at the end of the first with the Americans second of three power play goals on the night. Rankin scored his goal after Ross was assessed double minors for taunting Patrick Holland after cross-checking him.
Ross’s temper would get the better of him at the start of the second, as he was sent in for slashing. Hughesman scored on the resulting advantage for a 3-1 lead. Ross would try and make it up, scoring six minutes later to cut down the lead going into the third.
The Hawks came out for the third firing, and Bartschi fired home his 33rd goal of the season to tie the game. The two defenses locked down again, and the Americans only fired four shots in the entire third period. One shot was all Justin Feser, the young scoring ace for the Americans, needed. Feser scored with just fifty-one seconds remaining for a 4-3 Americans win.
Despite the loss, the Winterhawks stand atop the standings with 96 points overall, one point ahead of Tri-Cities, and one point ahead of the Edmonton Oil Kings for top overall playoff seed. Six games left to play before the playoffs begin, with the Hawks playing the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday in Kamloops.
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