Portland won their 9th straight Western Hockey League game Saturday night, 7-3 over Spokane at Spokane Arena. Jaydon Dureau had a hat trick and four points to lead the way. Portland had four power play goals and outshot Spokane, who are tied for last place in the conference, 46-19. It’s their 15th win in 16 games and they haven’t lost in regulation in their last 16 games. They play Spokane their next four games, Wednesday at Memorial Coliseum and then three back in Spokane.
Why Portland won: Special teams, especially the power play. Portland went 4 for 6 on the power play (the league’s graphic above is incorrect) and 4 for 4 on the penalty kill. All four goals came at important times. Three gave them the lead: two by Dureau in the 1st period on his way to a hat trick, the third by Clay Hanus, the eventual game-winner in the 2nd. This came off the back of going 2 for 6 in a win over Tri-City Friday night. This was a power play that had been just about league average going into the weekend, but it played a big part in the two wins.
Why Portland won: A couple of quick responses to Spokane goals. Spokane scored two goals in 15 seconds late in the 1st to go from 1-0 down to 2-1 up, but then Kyle Chyzowski answered with a big goal 24 seconds after that to make it 2-2. That was perhaps the biggest goal of the game in trying to prevent a Spokane upset. Then after Spokane tied the game 3-3, Hanus got his power play goal 26 seconds later that gave Portland the lead that they never again gave up.
Why Spokane: You will always say “discipline” when a team gives up four power play goals, but Spokane especially had problems in the first half of the game, when the official were calling the game closely. Grady Lane was a double offender. He took an unsportsmanlike penalty leading to the opening power play goal of the game. Then after Spokane had tied it 3-3, he slashed Dureau right off the center ice faceoff, leading to Hanus’s eventual game winner. Jake Gudelj was called for an unnecessary crosscheck in the 1st, leading to Dureau’s goal that made it 3-2. With the teams playing four more times in a row, this might set the tone.
What it means: Like Friday night, the top half of the conference played the bottom half, and the top half won all five games (easily--Portland’s four-goal win was the closest). So no change to the playoff situation. Portland is still four points ahead of Seattle in 3rd place, but Seattle gets one of their games in hand back on Sunday with a game against Vancouver (UPDATE: no, they don’t). Spokane remains one point out of the last playoff spot.
| 5:08 POR (pp) Jaydon Dureau (Tyson Kozak, Cross Hanas) 1-0 | Wide open net from the bottom of the right circle on a cross-ice pass from Kozak. |
| 13:40 SPO Brayden Crampton (Bear Hughes, Chase Bertholet) 1-1 | Bad goal from Dante Giannuzzi, long shot from the right boards, just trying to get a rebound and it got through him. |
| 13:55 SPO Chase Bertholet (Nick McCarry, Bear Hughes) 1-2 | Mac Gross should have an assist, from the left dot he centered to Bertholet right of the slot. |
| 14:19 POR Kyle Chyzowski (Luke Schelter, Marek Alscher) 2-2 | Huge goal as Spokane only led for 24 seconds. A backhand pass from behind the net by Schelter found Chyzowski in front. |
| 17:27 POR (pp) Jaydon Dureau (Cross Hanas, Clay Hanus) 3-2 | Beat Mason Beaupit five-hole from the right dot on the power play. |
| 24:43 SPO Graham Sward (Nick McCarry, Chase Bertholet) 3-3 | A snap from the right dot, kind of an iffy one for Giannuzzi, right at the edge of what you’d consider a legit scoring chance. |
| 25:09 POR (pp) Clay Hanus (Jaydon Dureau, Tyson Kozak) 4-3 | The eventual winner from the top inner edge of the left circle. |
| 29:01 POR (pp) Marcus Nguyen (Aidan Litke, Luca Cagnoni) 5-3 | Cagnoni’s point shot goes off bodies in front including Litke’s, and it bounces right to Nguyen on the back door. |
| 41:16 POR James Stefan (Kurtis Smythe, Gabe Klassen) 6-3 | Stefan wide open in front to put in the rebound of Smythe’s shot. |
| 53:32 POR Jaydon Dureau (Aidan Litke) 7-3 | Dureau gets a breakaway and goes backhand-forehand-backhand to convert the hat trick. |
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaydon Dureau | POR | 3 goals, 1 assist | Second career hat trick. His first was January 11, 2020 in Victoria, in which the hat trick goal was an overtime winner. |
| Clay Hanus | POR | 1 goal, 1 assist | Point streak is at 9, 1 behind Dureau’s season high. |
| Cross Hanas | POR | 2 assists | Fourth multi-point game in a row and his sixth in seven games. |
| Tyson Kozak | POR | 2 assists | Now with a 4-game point streak. |
| Chase Bertholet | SPO | 1 goal, 2 assists | Game Spokane the lead for 24 seconds. That trade is paying off. |
| Bear Hughes | SPO | 2 assists | |
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 1 goal | A very big goal to tie it 2-2. |
| James Stefan | POR | 1 goal | Had quite a few chances and converted one in the 3rd. |
| Marcus Nguyen | POR | 1 goal | On a good streak: 5 goals, 6 assists in his last 8 games. |
| Nick McCarry | SPO | 2 assists |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dante Giannuzzi | POR | 16 saves-19 shots | Not needed to have a big performance, and didn’t have a great game, with one bad goal and another iffy one. |
| Mason Beaupit | SPO | 26 saves-31 shots | A struggle, and he left injured after two periods. He’s important for Spokane to have a chance in their next four games with Portland. |
| Josh Zakreski | POR | Looks like he’s going back to his U-18 team. In another year, with a different roster makeup, he might have been here all season. | |
| Dawson Pasternak | POR | Apparently out for the season. | |
| Brayden Crompton | SPO | 1 goal | First WHL goal. |
Wednesday vs. Spokane, 7pm
Friday at Spokane, 7pm
Saturday at Spokane, 7pm
Looking ahead: Tuesday, 2/15 at Spokane, 7pm (and that’s it)
Article From & Read More ( Dureau’s hat trick, power play goals give Winterhawks 9th straight win - OregonLive )https://ift.tt/3AnICsk
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar