Portland Winterhawks Ground Rockets In Weekend Action
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Returning to the lineup after a several game absence for Portland was Joachim Blichfeld, who had been out with a concussion. The Hawks also learned that Ryan Hughes would be out indefinitely from the collision against Spokane in what we first thought might have been a concussion, but in fact was much further south in the body to the tune of a broken ankle. Hughes had surgery on Wednesday and could be out into the new year. Rykr Cole, who initiated the hit, was suspended three games. With the news, the Hawks looked to prove they were more than just a one-line team.
Joachim Blichfeld showed no rust in his return as he scored Portland’s first goal while on the powerplay just over seven minutes into the game. Kieffer Bellows on the powerplay and Henri Jokiharju just over a minute after Bellows goal gave the Hawks a 3-0 lead after the first period. The Hawks ran into penalty trouble in the second period as Keoni Texeira took a major penalty and game misconduct for check to the head and seconds later, Carsen Twarynski put the Rockets on the board. The Hawks would give up goals late in the second and early in the third period to tie the game. Three minutes later, Brad Ginnell scored to put the Hawks ahead. With just over four minutes left in the game, Twarynski netted his second of the game to send the contest into overtime. It was almost the blink of an eye, 24 seconds to be exact, before Skyler McKenzie potted the winner to give the Winterhawks a 4-3 final in overtime.
Portland went three of four on the powerplay while limiting Kelowna to just one goal on four opportunities. Portland outshot Kelowna 39 to 21.
The next night, Portland learned that Texeira was assessed a two game suspension, which pulled him from the lineup and allowed rookie Nick Cicek the chance to play his first WHL game of the season. Shane Farkas also made a return to the net, his first appearance since allowing five goals in the Hawks 10-5 win over Seattle in Kent, Washington the week prior.
The Hawks close brush with a loss the previous evening seemed to fire their engines as they scored three goals in the first 16 minutes of the game. Mason Mannek, Kieffer Bellows and Jake Gricius put the Rockets on the defensive as they doubled the shots on the Rockets starting goaltender Brodan Salmond versus those on Farkas and the Rockets elected to make a change at the start of the second period. James Porter relieved Salmond in the Rockets net and the Hawks once again found themselves in penalty trouble. Twice during the period, the Hawks gave the Rockets a two-man advantage of which the Rockets cashed in on one time. However, it was the Hawks would score three during the period with Bellows notching his second of the game and Skyler McKenzie picking up a pair to put the home squad ahead 6-1. Goals in the third period by Illijah Colina on the powerplay and Joachim Blichfeld made it 8-1. The Rockets Kyle Topping would squeeze a late goal past Shane Farkas on the powerplay, but the game was never in question as the Hawks skated away with an 8-2 drubbing of the Rockets. The shots on goal favored the Rockets 35-32, due to the two-man advantage powerplay chances the Rockets had. Portland went 3 for 6 on the powerplay with the Rockets scoring their two goals on eight opportunities.
The quirky schedule continues with the Rockets and Hawks meeting again this coming week, this time in Kelowna which will end their season series in the regular season. The Hawks will then look at two more games in the month of October, a once a season meeting with the very strong Eastern Division Moose Jaw Warriors and a battle with the Everett Silvertips.
Portland should improve in the CHL rankings this coming week after their performance and moving to within a point of the overall lead in the Western Hockey League.
Ice Chips: The Portland Winterhawks players will fan out to 12 Portland Metro and Southwest Washington Toyota dealerships on Saturday, October 28 from 12-2pm and will also appear at Les Schwab locations in Beaverton and Portland on November 7 from 4:30 to 6pm.
Related Articles
- Portland Winterhawks Win Three in a Row
- Portland Winterhawks Weekend Woes - Playoff Spaces Down to the Wire
- Portland Winterhawks Win Three In A Row, Caplitalizing On The Power Play
- Portland Winterhawks Wings Clipped in Weekend Games
- Roller Coaster Ride for the Portland Winterhawks Early in the Season
- Portland Winterhawks: “Daylight Classics” Good for Business, Good for Record
- Portland Winterhawks Take it on the Chin with 2 Losses this Weekend
- Portland Winterhawks Swing Through Alberta With Wins & Injuries
- Portland Winterhawks Silence Americans, Go Flightless Versus Thunderbirds
- Portland Winterhawks Riding High on the Road and at Home
- Portland Winterhawks Soaring to Start the Season
- Portland Winterhawks Split The Week And Split With Two Players
- Portland Winterhawks Split Weekend and Reduce Roster
- The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly – Portland Winterhawks Split Weekend Series
- The Winterhawks Find Offensive Balance & Defensive Problems in Central Canada
- Winterhawks Split In Opening First Round Games
- Winterhawks Shredded by Everett Silvertips, Bow Out in 1st round
- Winterhawks Split the Weekend & Now Hit the Road
- Winterhawks Swoop Down on Giants, Playoff Spot Looms
- Woes One Week, Highlights the Next for the Portland Winterhawks
- Winterhawks Whipping Up 8 Straight Wins and Heading to Final Games
- Winterhawks Secure Playoff Berth, look to Climb Ladder With 6 Games Left
- Winterhawks Make Things Interesting, Take Two From Top Rated Kelowna
- Winterhawks Fail To Get Off Launchpad Versus Rockets
- Winterhawks Enter Playoffs For 8th Straight Year On Down Note
- Winterhawks Flying High In Preseason, Changes In Roster Both On And Off The Ice
- Winterhawks Go Down Fighting This Week
- Winterhawks Lose in Penalty Shootout to Seattle, Remain Winless
- Portland Winterhawks Pushing Hard into Second Half of Season
- Portland Winterhawks Preseason Nearing an End, Regular Season Around the Corner
- Portland Winterhawks Amass 5-game Win Streak Before Heartbreaking Loss
- Portland Winterhawk Gets Drafted & Team Picks up Two Imports
- Portland Winterhawks Clip Tips, Split with Cougars
- Portland Winterhawks Drop 1st 3 Games of the Season
- Portland Winterhawks Drop Two, Win One, but Stay in Hunt
- Portland Winterhawks Drop Chiefs Twice, Blast Birds In Weekend Matchups
- Playoff Drive Hits its Peak for Portland Winterhawks
- Native American Activists Slam Winterhawks Logo As Racist
- Down to the Wire, Where do the Portland Winterhawks End the Season?
- Depleted Lineup Limps to Losses on the Road for the Portland Winterhawks
- Former Winterhawks Coach Green Named Coach Of NHL’s Vancouver Canucks
- Gelling On The Swing: Portland Winterhawks Take 4 Wins in 6 Games
- Is This The Rebuild Year For The Portland Winterhawks?
- Portland Winterhawks End 2014 On A Whimper, But Open New Year With A Bang
- Portland Winterhawks Fall to Kelowna: One US Team Left to Battle for Memorial Cup
- Portland Winterhawks Making The News In The Offseason
- Portland Winterhawks Making Noise, Captured 3 of 4 Games Last Week
- Portland Winterhawks Need Wake-up Call Before 3rd Period
- Portland Winterhawks Now Atop US Division
- Portland Winterhawks Picking Up Steam, Go 2 for 3 in this Week’s Action
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It