Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Portland Holds on vs. Everett 3-2, Then Loses a Crazy One in Seattle 6-5 in OT

Overhardt had two points in the Portland win
Portland 3 Everett 2:
The Portland Winterhawks utilized a great game from their third line and were able to stand tall late against Everett, holding on to a 3-2 win over the first place in the U.S. Division Everett Silvertips. Adin Hill was spectacular once again for Portland and was the main reason they were able to pull out their fifth victory over Everett in eight tries this season. As they only play two more games vs. the Tips, they have locked up at least a .500 record for Portland in their season series this year.

Portland opened the scoring off a fantastic individual effort from Colton Veloso. He out-muscled first round NHL draft pick Noah Juulsen to get to a loose puck first, then backhanded a pass in front to a waiting Alex Overhardt. A quick stick allowed Overhardt to quickly slam the puck between Everett goalie Carter Hart's pads for the 1-0 lead. Overhardt, had been held out of the lineup for two games last week, as coach Jamie Kompon was making a point to the young center.

Everett tied the game in the second period as a line full of rookies got an odd goal. A shot from the point, caught Hill off guard and he pushed the rebound right to Devon Skoleski, who found converted d-man turned forward Jake Christiansen for the goal. The goal was the first for Christiansen since getting moved to forward. Portland was able to get that goal back off a great play by Skyler McKenzie. McKenzie, who has shown great skill at finding the puck in traffic this year, corralled a bouncing puck, backhanding a shot on net. Rodrigo Abols, then reached out from behind the net and poked the rebound home. Portland then added to their lead off a great face off win by Alex Overhardt. He passed the puck back to Keoni Texeira who quickly fired a shot from the blue line that Hart was not able to stop. Portland, thus carried a 3-1 lead into the third period.

Surprisingly, Carter Hart was pulled from the net for the fourth time this year to start the third period. Mario Petit, who missed a lot of time recently with an illness, came into the game to start the third period. Everett controlled most of the third period and fired 19 shots on Adin Hill. They finally beat him with 1:47 left and Petit pulled for an extra attacker. They scored off a Carson Stadnyk tip of a Brycen Martin shot to cut the Portland lead to one. They would get no closer though and Portland held on for the 3-2 win.

Adin HIll was fantastic, stopping 44 of he 46 shots he faced. Hart was not his best, stopping 16 of 19 before getting pulled. Petit stopped all of only two shots he faced in the game's final frame.

Stats:

Player
Goals
Assists
Points
Shots
F/O
F/O %
Hits
BKS
PIM
McKenzie 0 1 1 1 - - 6 2 0
Turgeon 0 1 1 2 10/15 66.7% 4 2 0
Abols 1 0 1 3 - - 3 2 0
Bukarts0001--402
Glass000113/2161.9%200
Schoenborn0001--620
Clayton0002--402
Overhardt11225/1241.7%230
Veloso0112 --500
Sharp0001--430
Hughes00003/742.9%200
Nagel0000--220
Heinrich0000--1032
Jones0000--430
Texeira1012--150
Dougherty0000--840
De Jong0111--110
Czaikowski0002  --500


Game Notes:
-Overhardt apparently got the message Jamie Kompon was trying to deliver. Overhardt was not in the lineup for Portland's games vs. Seattle and Victoria the previous weekend, even though he was healthy. Before being held out, he had not had a point in his last 14 games. Adding onto the assist he got in his first game back vs. Spokane, he has three in his first two game since.
-Colton Veloso was a handful for Everett, along with Brett Clayton and Overhardt. They were the most consistent line on both ends of the ice, even when the Silvertips were controlling play in the third period.
-Oddly enough, Rodrigo Abols was started in the game as a right wing, but seemed dis-interested in playing there, consistently shading over to the left side, where he has played a lot recently. Skyler McKenzie played really well as he was moved up the top line with Dominic Turgeon and Abols. McKenzie was playing there as Evan Weinger was healthy scratched by Kompon. Weinger, like Overhardt the previous week had not been producing recently. He did not score a point in the last ten games for the Hawks, even though he played most of those games on the top line.
-Everett may have been affected by their late arrival into Portland for the game. Due to traffic, they did not make it into Portland until nearly 6pm and thus did not have as much time to prepare for the game as they are used to.
-Adin Hill's best saves were reserved for Connor Dewar. He was stoned on a breakaway in the first period and also stopped him on a rebound in the third.
-Rihards Bukarts did not return to the game after Noah Juulsen hit him up near the mouth along the boards in the Portland zone, before the puck arrived into the area. There was no penalty called on the play and Bukarts appeared pretty shaken up.
-Bronson Sharp made his WHL debut and appeared to be ready to make the jump. He threw three hits, fired a shot on net, but his best play in my opinion, was a defensive one. While Everett controlled play in the Portland zone for an extended period of time, Sharp read the play and was able to force the puck out of the Portland zone, allowing a change.
Mathew Barzal had three assists in Seattle's OT win
Seattle 6 Portland 5 (OT)
Portland has had some strange games this season. There was the game where Spokane tied the game with eight seconds left. There was the back and forth crazy game with Moose Jaw and the comeback victory over Kamloops. But, they all paled in comparison with what commenced on Saturday night in Kent. Portland blew two different two goal leads and appeared to have won the game on a goal from Caleb Jones, before Scott Eansor scored on a rebound with 0.8 seconds left in OT to win the game for Seattle. Yeah, it does not get much crazier than that.

Portland built their first two-goal lead in the first period. Portland's latest top-nine forward to get benched due to lack of productivity, Evan Weinger started the scoring for Portland. Just like Overhardt, he got the message, as shown by the four checks that he threw on his first shift and the goal he scored on his third shift. Jack Dougherty started the play on a great stretch pass to Rodrigo Abols. With Jerret Smith all over him, Abols made a nice drop pass to Weinger, who ripped he puck past Seattle goalie Logan Flodell. Then, after Caleb Jones missed a wide open chance, Abols scored on the rebound of a Brendan De Jong shot to give Portland a 2-0 lead. Abols, once again made a great play while he was on his knees to even get the pass off.

Seattle scored twice in the first ten minutes of the second period to tie the game. First, Mathew Barzal made a great pass from behind the net to Ryan Gropp, who beat Hill on a nice shot to the top shelf from a prime shooting area. Then after Caleb Jones was called for holding, Keegan Kolesar fed Alexander True in the slot and Dane beat Hill to tie the game. After Seattle tied it, Portland came right back and created another two-goal lead. First off of what appeared to be a set play, Rodrigo Abols on the face off, slapped the puck straight out and off the boards. Alex Schoenborn sprinted out and got to the puck first. He then fed an onrushing Keoni Texeira and the d-man beat Flodell. The goal was Texeira's second in the last two games. Texeira was not done though as he fed Skyler McKenzie with a great stretch pass and McKenzie then Alex Overhardt on a breakaway. The goal was Overhardt's second over the last two games as well. 

Portland carried a two-goal lead into the third period, just like they had with the second. And, just like with the second, they blew it. After Jack Dougherty was called for slashing, Donovan Neuls used a screen, beating Hill for another power play goal to cut the lead to one. Alex Schoenborn was then called for a delayed penalty after he was hooked by Jared Hauf and collided with Flodell. Seattle utilized the delayed penalty call and Nolan Volcon fed Smith on the rush, with the latter beating Hill to tie the game. Just 45 seconds later, Portland took their third lead of the game. Alex Schoenborn smartly used a Dominic Turgeon screen to beat the struggling Flodell for his 20th goal of the year. Seattle was able to tie the game, after they were given a power play on another Dougherty minor penalty. Ryan Gropp scored his second of the game and 27th of the year, as he beat Hill on the glove side. This was Seattle's third power play goal of the game. 

Portland appeared to have won the game in overtime, after Dougherty picked Ethan Bear's pocket in Seattle's zone and fed a rushing Caleb Jones. The d-man stick-handled around Barzal, with Barzal tripping him to the ice. Jones was stopped initially, but forced the rebound home. The goal was allowed with to begin with, but after a lengthy review, decided that Jones had forced the puck across the goal line with his glove. I was not able to see an overhead shot, but i certainly hope that the referees were privy to this shot before making such an important decision. From the angles that I was able to see, it was difficult to come to the conclusion that Jones had used his glove to score. Portland was awarded a power play on Barzal's tripping of Jones, but Portland failed to convert on the four-on-three man advantage. Seattle then won the game on a strange play. Jerret Smith's shot from the point was screened enough by Scott Eansor in front, that he had to make an awkward looking save with his right shoulder. Scott Eansor then got to the loose puck first and poked it past Hill with 0.8 seconds left. 

Hill was the big reason Portland got this game to overtime, as he stopped 48 of the 54 shots he faced. Flodell, really appeared to be struggling, which makes it even more disappointing that Portland was unable to score in overtime and get the two points. He stopped 38 of the 43 Portland shots that he faced.

Seattle was 3/6 on the power play, while Portland failed to convert on the four chances they had.

Stats:

Player
Goals
Assists
Points
Shots
F/O
F/O %
Hits
BKS
PIM
Abols 1 2 3 5 3/3 100% 3 1 0
Turgeon 0 1 1 4 12/30 40% 0 0 0
Weinger 1 0 1 5 - - 7 0 0
McKenzie0115--1102
Glass00016/1154.5%210
Schoenborn1123--400
Clayton00001/1100%300
Overhardt10128/1457.1%112
Veloso0001 --510
Sharp0002--005
Hughes00035/683.3%010
Nagel0001--310
Texeira1122--610
Dougherty0222--626
Heinrich0003--730
Jones0113--434
MacEachern0000--310
De Jong0111  --200


Game Notes:
-Jack Dougherty took a late hit early in the game and appeared to lose his cool multiple times afterwards. He received three separate minor penalties, with Seattle converting on two of them. It should not be too surprising that they were able to convert with Portland's best d-man in the sin bin.
-Landon Bow was out of the lineup for Seattle for the second straight game.
-Mathew Barzal had a hat-trick in Seattle's 6-0 win over Kelowna on Thursday. He added three assists in this game for six points in his last two games. Barzal had three points in his previous six games vs. Portland, so the fact that he was able to break through in this one is a good sign for Seattle.
-Keoni Texeira appears to be playing much better since switching defensive pairings. This could also be due to switching back to the left defense role, rather than the right defense role, he had been playing most of the season in.
-Ethan Bear is really struggling for Seattle. Portland forced a lot of turnovers on him, including the one that appeared to have won the game for Portland.
-Weinger has a lot of potential for Portland and his lack of consistency has to be maddening for Kompon. Turgeon and Abols are solid passers, so Weinger needs to start converting on more of them.
-Abols has reached another level over the past week. He is right up there with Bukarts and Turgeon as the best possession forwards on the team. His stick-handling has been really impressive recently, as he utilizes his long reach to protect the puck from smaller defenders. Abols has five points over his last three games and could have had a lot more.
-Speaking of Bukarts, he was held out of the lineup with an upper body injury. It is suspected that he received this on the late hit form Juulsen the previous game.
Winterhawks in the NHL:
Thursday:
-Another assist for Matt Dumba and another loss for Minnesota. They fell to Washington 4-3.

.@matt_dumba assists on Suter's #mnwild PPG. Matt extends his career-high point streak to five games (2-4=6) and 7-10=17 points this season— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) February 12, 2016
-Brandon Dubinsky scored the game-tying goal and Seth Jones assisted on it as Columbus went on to win 4-3 in a shoot out over Anaheim.
#CBJ tie it 3-3 at 14:57 of the third. Dubinsky coming through the right circle, gets two whack at it. Second is money.
Saturday:
-Brendan Leipsic was called up by the Toronto Maple Leafs and proceeded to score the eventual game-winner for the Leafs, as they beat Vancouver 5-2. Sven Baertschi had a goal and Jannik Hansen had an assist in the Canucks' loss.
-Ryan Johansen had an assist as Nashville shut out Florida 5-0.
-Columbus beat Ottawa 4-2 and Seth Jones had two assists in the win.

Winterhawks in the AHL:
Friday:
-Taylor Leier assisted on the lone Lehigh Valley goal, as they lost to Portland 3-1.
-Mac Carruth came in just briefly for Rockford, as Michael Leighton had an equipment issue. He did not face any shots in Rockford's 4-3 OT loss to Taylor Aronson and Milwaukee.
-Rob Klinkhammer scored the eventual game-winner for Bakersfield in their 3-2 victory over Ontario.
Saturday:
Saturday: 
-Chase De Leo scored his 14th goal of the year in Manitoba's 3-2 OT loss to Ty Rattie and Chicago.
 -Craig Cunningham assisted on a goal that got Springfield within a goal at 3-2 in the third period. Unfortunately, they fell by that score to Hershey.
-Two more assists for Taylor Leier, who has six points in his last three games. Lehigh Valley fell to Utica 5-2 in the game.
-Oliver Bjorkstrand assisted on a goal that gave Lake Erie a 3-1 lead in the third period. Texas stormed back though, tied the game and then won it in OT 4-3.
Sunday:
-Nic Petan scored a goal and Manitoba got revenge on Chicago 5-2.
-Craig Cunningham scored his 11th goal of the year and Springfield fell to Providence 3-2.
-Rob Klinkhammer scored a goal and added an assist as Bakersfield beat San Jose 4-2. Klinkhammer has eight goals and two assists in only 9 games at the AHL level.

Winterhawks in the ECHL:
Friday:
-Thomas Frazee scored the only goal in regulation for Atlanta and they ended up falling to Orlando in the shoot out 2-1.
-Kevin Young notched an assist for Reading as they beat Norfolk 4-2.
-Troy Rutkowski assisted on a goal as Evansville jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Brett Ponich had an assist for Kalamazoo, but Evansville would win 4-3.
Saturday:
-Thomas Frazee scored another goal for Atlanta, but they fell to Orlando again 4-2.
-Patrick Wellar scored his first goal of the year for Alaska and they went on to beat Allen 5-4. Garrett Haar had an assist for Alaska, while Tristan King notched one for Allen.
Sunday:
-Gasper Kopitar had an assist for Manchester as they beat Wheeling 6-2.
-Anton Cederholm had an assist for Kalamazoo as they edged Brampton 4-3.
-Troy Rutkowski had an assist for Evansville as they fell to Cincinnati 4-3.


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