Portland Takes Game Two 4-1 to Knot Series Up

A sold out crowd of 10,947 watched Portland once again dominate play against the Everett Silvertips and pull out a solid victory this time 4-1 to tie the series up at one game apiece heading to Everett for games 3 and 4 Wednesday and Friday night. They now are guaranteed a game 5, which will be Saturday March 30th at home.

The Hawks started out dominating possession again creating 4 power play chances for themselves in the first period. The goal that they would sore was at even strength, however when Manraj Hayer fanned on a chance on one end and Nic Petan Brendan Leipsic and Ty Rattie started an odd man rush the other way. After the initial shot by Rattie, Defenseman Troy Rutkowski, jumping into the play would find the rebound and put it past Everett Goalie Austin Lotz for the 1-0 lead. This would be the only goal scored in the period,but it did not feel as devastating as game one because they only out shot Everett 9-3 in the period.

Shaun MacPherson

The second period is where the Hawks lost the game on Friday and it's where they won it last night. They dominated play out shooting Everett 9-1 and getting the second goal they needed for a little bit of a cushion. They scored their goal when, at the 8:04 mark, Taylor Paters retrieved an errant Shaun MacPherson point shot and got it back to him. MacPherson made a nice fake and utilized a Paul Bittner screen in firing it past Lotz's blocker, scoring his first career playoff goal and giving Portland a 2-0 lead.

6:43 into the 3rd, right after killing a penalty, Troy Rutkowski made a great play at center ice, picking Everett Defenseman Landon Oslanski and sending Ty Rattie in on the breakaway. Rattie buried it top shelf, scoring his 2nd of the post-season and giving the Hawks the 3-0 lead. Everett would get that one back, however, when on the power play, Joshua Winquist drove the Hawks net from the right corner, getting his own rebound and putting it through Mac Carruth's 5-hole. Any further come back would not happen though as Derrick Pouliot fired a point shot on the power play past Lotz's glove, closing out the scoring and the game 4-1.

The game would start to get a little ugly late, when Everett started to lose their head a bit. Down 3 goals, two of their better players, Landon Oslanski and Joshua Winquist, were awarded game misconducts for instigating fights late in the game. This would help destroy any opportunity they had at coming back in this game.

Austin Lotz did not stand on his head in this one, though he was solid with 30 saves on 34 shots. Carruth made 10 saves on only 11 shots. Portland was 1/7 on the power play and Everett was 1/4.

3 Stars:
#3- Derrick Pouliot- Played a much better defensive game, scored a big goal and even got involved in a couple scrums near the benches.

Troy Rutkowski

#3- Ty Rattie- Had a goal and an assist and helped his line have a much more consistent game in this one.
#1- Troy Rutkowski- The captain responded well from a poor game one, getting a goal early and feeding Rattie on his breakaway goal. He got involved in a scrum as well, showing some grit.

Random Notes:
-Portland had a goal taken away half way through the first period, when, on a 5-3 power play, Nic Petan put a rebound into Lotz's blocker. Lotz brought the blocker, containing the puck across the goal line, but, even after review was somehow not awarded a goal.
-Brendan Leipsic was one of several Hawks that had a much better game 2, getting into a late fight with a much larger Connor Cox. When Leipsic is involved in scrums, he is going to have his head in the game a little more.
-Everett, for the second game in a row, used Defensemen Landon Oslanski and Cole McDonald as forwards. Meaning they are short-handed in experience up front.
-Seattle upset Kelowna for the second night in a row 2-1 in over time. They now have a 2-0 lead over the 2nd seeded Rockets.
-Spokane won 6-4 over Tri City and Kamloops beat Victoria by the same score. They both have 2-0 leads in their series.
-Former Winterhawk Frazer McLaren(2003-08) scored a beautiful between the legs goal in Toronto's 3-2 win over Boston last night.