For the Reporter
The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-2 in a Western Hockey League game Saturday night.
The win extended Portland’s lead for second place in the U.S. Division to nine points over Seattle. The Portland moves to 37-20-2-3. T-Birds drop to 31-23-4-4.
Taran Kozun (28-17-4-3) made his second start in as many nights and took the loss after stopping 23 of 27 shots. Adin Hill stopped 49 of 51 shots en route to the victory.
Portland’s Chase De Leo scored the first goal of the game. De Leo camped out in front of the net waiting for a pass. Evan Weinger found him from the end boards and De Leo’s one-timer beat Kozun to make it 1-0. Keegan Iverson had the secondary assist on the goal coming at 2:46.
Roberts Lipsbergs tied the game up at 8:29. Cory Millette collected a knuckling puck from Mathew Barzal at the left faceoff dot. Millette’s backhand pass found Lipsbergs in the high slot, where he fired away over Hill’s glove-side shoulder for his 11th goal of the season. Barzal’s assist extended his point streak to seven games.
Portland took the lead back with their second goal, coming at 13:40. Oliver Bjorkstrand’s shot from deep in the faceoff circle hit Kozun’s pads and trickled through for the goal. Paul Bittner and Nic Petan had the assists.
Shots were 17-8 Seattle in the first period. Faceoffs were 10-5 Portland.
Portland’s third goal came on the game’s first power play at 2:29. Bjorkstrand’s shot made it through traffic past Kozun, with the shot coming from high in the zone. Petan had the only assist.
Ryan Gropp’s rebound attempt on a Ethan Bear shot was the start of another dangerous sequence for the T-Birds. Gropp found the puck to the side of the crease while Hill was prone and unable to move into position. Gropp’s backhand flip flew through the crease but past the post. Turner Ottenbreit’s point shot after the T-Birds regained possession made it through Hill’s pads but bounced to the side of the goal as well. Shea Theodore then deked into the zone and beat Hill only to have his shot travel perfectly parrallel to the goal line.
Theodore and Jerret Smith both sent shots off the crossbar after beating Hill during separate power plays. The power plays came near the end of a period which saw Seattle on the offensive almost constantly, with Portland’s best chance after the media timeout coming when Smith blocked Bjorkstrand’s shorthanded attempt.
Seattle led in shots 16-8 and in faceoffs 11-7 in the second period.
The hard work finally paid off for the T-Birds at 5:22 when Barzal put home a Smith rebound to make it 3-2. Smith’s shot took a hard shot off Hill’s pads and Barzal tracked it down in the opposite faceoff dot. Hill couldn’t get back up in time to get across the crease, giving Barzal his 12th goal of the season, coming from Smith and Theodore.
Paul Bittner extended Portland’s lead back to two goals on a counterattack at 9:24. Bjorkstrand’s shot trickled off of Kozun’s pads to the side of him. Bittner beat the Seattle defense to the puck and tapped it in to make it 4-2.
Kozun left the ice with 2:49 remaining to give Seattle an extra attacker. Bjorkstrand scored into the empty net at 18:01 to seal the Portland victory.
Shots in the third period were 18-12 Seattle. Faceoffs were 11-9 Seattle.
The T-Birds play two straight games in Victoria, the first at 7:05 p.m. Monday, the other at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Portland, De Leo 31 (Weinger, Iverson), 2:46. 2, Seattle, Lipsbergs 12 (Millette, Barzal), 8:29. 3, Portland, Bjorkstrand 47 (Bittner, Petan), 13:40. Penalties – No penalties.
Second period – 4, Portland, Bjorkstrand 48 (Petan), 2:29 (pp). Penalties – Ottenbreit, Seattle (interference), 1:57. Walter, Portland (roughing), 2:51. Petan, Portland (hooking), 13:30. Texeira, Portland (hooking), 17:26.
Third period – 5, Seattle, Barzal 12 (Smith, Theodore), 5:22. 6, Portland, Bittner 28 (Bjorkstrand, Heinrich), 9:24. 7, Portland, Bjorkstrand 49 (De Leo), 18:01 (en). Penalties – No penalties.
Shots on goal – Seattle 17-16-18 51, Portland 8-8-12 28. Goalies – Seattle, Kozun 27 shots-23 saves (28-17-4-3); Portland, Hill 51-49 (26-8-1-0). Power plays – Seattle 0-3; Portland 1-1. A – 5,035. Referees – Colin Watt, Derek Zalaski. Linesmen – Bevan Mills, Nathan Van Oosten.
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