Hawks Survive Knight's Comeback, Win 6-3

The Portland Winterhawks came out inspired in their 2nd Memorial Cup game, jumping out to a 3-0 2nd period lead, before letting London come back and tie it. This was the point against Halifax on Saturday, where the wheels came off in a 3 goal loss. Instead, the Hawks pushed right back and walked away with a 3 goal victory. They relied heavily on a great performance from their netminder Mac Carruth, who was challenged even more then he was in giving up 7 goals Saturday.

After some tight defensive play on both sides, Taylor Leier opened the scoring eith 3:07 left in the opening period, off a nice deflection of a Tyler Wotherspoon shot. The deflection beat starting Knights Goalie Anthony Stolarz through his 5-hole and gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead after 1. Portland out-shot London 12-9 in the period.

The Hawks second line built on their momentum when, after a great cycle, Oliver Bjorktrand took a Leier feed and spun around for a shot that beat Stolarz high. Then the Hawks took their 3-0 lead 10:27 into the period, when Ty Rattie pulled the same move he made on Saturday. He toe dragged the puck away from 2 Knights D-men and then backhanded it past an out of position Stolarz. The lead would last only 11 seconds however, as Knights Captain Scott Harrington lead his team out of the abyss. He drove the net off a turnover then pulled up and wired a wicked wrist shot past Carruth's blocker and into the top corner of the net.  London was not done, as off a power play rush, they scored what could be the goal of the tournament. Max Domi got off a pass to Bo Horvat by putting his stick between his legs and flipping it to the driving Horvat. Horvat did not let the puck hit the ice, before he deflected it past a sliding Carruth, making it 3-2 after 2 periods. Portland out-shot London 13-12 in a fast paced second period.

Harrington battles Nic Petan

Alex Broadhurst would tie the score for the Knights only 1:38 into the 3rd, off a rebound in front. The Hawks could have been sent reeling after blowing yet another multi-goal lead, but instead responded as they have more most of the season and playoffs. On the power play, Derrick Pouliot took a nice pass from Ty Rattie and beat Stolarz on the blocker side to re-take the lead. Then Chase De Loe, the only oone form his line without a goal, got in on the action, beating Stolarz off a pass from Bjorkstrand for the 2 goal cushion. Taylor Leier would steal an outlet after London had pulled Stolarz for an extra attacker and he pushed it up to Hawk's leading playoff goal scorer, Rattie, who fired it into the empty net to put the game away.

Carruth was much, much better in this game as he made many spectacular saves. He even made one with the back of his pad. He stopped 25 of 28 shots. Stolarz, got the start after Jake Patterson started Friday vs. Saskatoon. Stolarz stopped 31 of 36 shots. He made several big stops, to help keep the Knights close, but did not provide the performance that was going to be needed to beat the Hawks in this one. Portland 1/3 on the power play and is now 3/11 in the tournament. London was also 1/3 on the power play and is now 2/9 in the tournament.

Carruth stops Bo Horvat

3 Stars:
#3- Bo Horvat- 1 goal and 1 assist, but really lead the Knights when they needed him to. His goal was soomething you will probably see on sportscenter, it was that good.

#2- Ty Rattie- 2 goals and an assist for the future NHLer. He now has 6 points in 2 games in the tournament. This is not surprising as he has always stepped up his game in the biggest games.

#1- Taylor Leier- His second line played awful in their first game of the tournament and really have not been that effective since the Spokane series. Leiere changed that in this one, getting one goal and two assists, but really leading the way and creating matchup issues for the Knights.

Random Notes:
-All 4 teams are now 1-1 overall. This is the second straight year this has happened, but also only the second time since 1983.
-Hawks play next on Wednesday vs. Saskatoon, while London plays Halifax on Tuesday.