Winterhawks face tough test in opening round of playoffs

The Portland Winterhawks entered the playoffs as the top seed in the WHL after finishing the season with a franchise-record 117 points (57-12-1-2). Their reward was a first-round matchup against the Everett Silvertips, a team they beat nine times out of 11 during the regular season.

But if the Rose City faithful thought that Everett would roll over easily, it is now clear that the Silvertips had other ideas, surprising the Winterhawks with two wins on Portland’s home ice. Up 3-2 in the series, the Winterhawks headed back to Washington for Game 6 last night, hoping to close out the series and avoid a winner-take-all Game 7 showdown on Wednesday. Here is how Portland arrived at their narrow lead:

Game 1

Despite putting 58 shots on net, the Winterhawks ran into a brick wall named Austin Lotz. The Everett netminder turned away 55 of Portland’s 58 attempts, securing a 4-3 victory for the Silvertips to open the series. Chase De Leo struck first for the Winterhawks, corralling Taylor Leier’s pass to beat Lotz on the power play midway through the first period for a 1-0 lead at the intermission. But Everett roared back with two goals in the second period to take the lead, then beat Winterhawks goalie Mac Carruth twice more in the final frame to complete the upset in Portland.

Game 2

After the Game 1 setback, the Winterhawks’ defense responded by clamping down in the second meeting at the Rose Garden the following evening. The team swarmed Everett from the start, preventing the Silvertips from finding space to shoot all night. Portland allowed just 11 shots on goal by the visitors, a new team playoff record. Team captain Troy Rutkowski opened the scoring 6:34 into the contest and added two assists in the third period to lead Portland to a 4-1 victory. Midseason acquisition Shaun MacPherson scored his first goal in a Winterhawks sweater in the second period, with assistance from Taylor Peters and Keegan Iverson.

Game 3

As the series moved to Everett, Portland brought the full scope of its arsenal on offense. The Silvertips’ Dawson Leedahl scored four minutes into the game to put Portland in an early hole, but it only seemed to reinvigorate the Winterhawks. Nicolas Petan, who tied for the league lead in scoring during the regular season with linemate Brendan Leipsic, had two goals and two assists on the night as Portland surged to a 5-1 lead and chased Lotz out of net at the second intermission. Everett replaced Lotz with Daniel Cotton and got some help with two third-period goals, but the Winterhawks potted two more of their own past the backup goalie for a 7-3 rout.

Game 4

The Winterhawks continued their onslaught two days later, as Ty Rattie and Leipsic finished with five points apiece in an 11-4 mugging in Everett. Rattie got things started with a goal eight minutes in, then added two more in the second period for his third career postseason hat trick. The five first-period goals by the Winterhawks tied a franchise record for postseason scoring in a period. Playing inspired two-way hockey, defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon threw in two goals and two assists in the lopsided victory as Portland took a 3-1 series advantage.

Game 5

Just as they did in Game 1, the Winterhawks took 27 more shots on goal than Everett. And just like Game 1, Portland fell one goal short of victory at home. After getting pulled in each of the Silvertips’ two home games, Lotz rediscovered his form in net, turning away 43 of Portland’s 45 shots. Goals by Joshua Winquist and Logan Aasman gave Everett a 2-0 lead after one period, and alternate captain Reid Petryk beat Carruth later in the second period to give the Silvertips an unassailable advantage. A pair of power play goals by Leipsic and Derrick Pouliot in the third brought Portland within one, but time ran out on the Winterhawks’ comeback bid and the Silvertips held on for the 3-2 road victory.