Without a doubt, the 2012–13 Portland Winterhawks are something special. The 4,322 fans that attended Wednesday night’s comeback win at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum would attest to this statement. Playing host to the Kamloops Blazers, a conference rival with championship aspirations of their own, the Hawks found nothing easy in the first period.
After a contentious first 10 minutes, which included a wrist shot by the Hawks’ rookie phenom Oliver Bjorkstrand that rocketed off the crossbar, the score remained 0-0. Portland missed opportunities early, including two power plays, and fell behind 14 minutes into the first on a goal by Kamloops’ Dylan Willick. Just two minutes later, Kamloops standout Colin Smith added a goal of his own, putting the Hawks behind 2-0 going into the first intermission. For most young hockey teams and their fans, this would spell big trouble.
But the Winterhawks’ defense, led by captain Troy Rutkowski and rookie Seth Jones, was suffocating in the second period. While Kamloops managed only four shots in the second, Portland scored twice within a minute midway through the period to even the score on goals by Ty Rattie and Joe Mahon. As if they needed more momentum, the Hawks and their home crowd were energized when Mahon dropped the gloves with Kamloops’ Kale Kessy shortly after scoring his game-tying goal.
Portland broke the tie early in the third with a goal from prolific center Nicolas Petan. After falling behind, Kamloops reacted like a playoff team and put together several scoring opportunities, all of which were thwarted by goalie Mac Carruth. With five minutes remaining, Taylor Peters scored to put the Hawks up 4-2, and Brendan Leipsic added an empty net goal in the final minute to push the final score to 5-2. In typical fashion, eight Winterhawks contributed points in the comeback.
It is a testament to the pedigree of this year’s squad that there was zero panic in the air at the coliseum despite the 2-0 deficit. The Hawks boast three of the WHL’s top 10 scorers, a dominant goalie in Carruth and a guaranteed playoff spot with six weeks remaining in the regular season. In other words, no lead is safe for their opponents.
If Portland maintains their current level of play for the next month-and-a-half,
they will easily earn a number-one seed in the playoffs. First things first, though—the Winterhawks host the formidable Calgary Hitmen at the coliseum on Wednesday night.