Burke blanks Tri-City

After snapping a four-game losing streak against the Spokane Chiefs on Friday, the Portland Winterhawks notched their second straight shutout with a 7-0 road win over the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. The victory keeps the Winterhawks four points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL Western Conference standings.

A day after goaltending partner Mac Carruth set the Winterhawks career record with his ninth shutout, Brendan Burke got the call in net. With Portland’s defense clamping down against the Americans, Burke stopped all 25 shots directed his way for his third blank sheet of the season.

Right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand highlighted the scoring with the first hat trick of his WHL career. His first goal came with less than four minutes left in the first period, as Shaun MacPherson worked the puck from the point to Chase De Leo. De Leo, who would finish the game with three assists, found Bjorkstrand near the left post, and the Dane beat Tri-City netminder Luke Lee-Knight with 3:42 remaining in the first for a goal that would hold up as the deciding score.

Portland turned up the intensity on both sides of the ice in the second period, clamping down on the Americans’ offense in their own zone and getting more pressure on Lee-Knight on the other end of the ice. Goals by Seth Jones, Brendan Leipsic and Nicolas Petan increased the lead to 4-0, with Tri-City mustering just three shots during the entire period.

Bjorkstrand and Leipsic put the game further out of reach in the final frame. Bjorkstrand scored two minutes into the period, releasing a wrist shot that caromed off the crossbar and into the net for a 5-0 lead. Four minutes later, Leipsic got his second goal of the game off a setup by Petan and Josh Hanson. Petan and Leipsic are currently first and second in the league in scoring, respectively, the only two players in the WHL to surpass 80 points already this season.

Bjorkstrand completed his hat trick with less than three minutes remaining, once again assisted by MacPherson and De Leo. The three goals give Bjorkstrand 20 on the season, and his 40 points in 2012–13 lead all WHL rookies.

“I’ve had two games where I had two goals,” Bjorkstrand said after the game. “It feels good to get the hat trick.”

The Winterhawks continue their road swing with a matchup against Everett on Tuesday night before returning to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday for a showdown against Kamloops.