One 47 second stretch very late in the second period was the difference Wednesday evening in Portland as the visiting Kamloops Blazers took down the Portland Winterhawks 3-1.
With the game tied at one and the Blazers on the power play, Nick Chyzowski netted the go-ahead goal. It came with 59 second remaining in the middle frame and was scored due to a wide shot banking off the boards behind the net right to a waiting Chyzowski.
Jermaine Loewen then netted his second of the night as he used his big frame to get in front of Portland goalie Cole Kehler and tipped a Nolan Kneen shot just inside the right post and by Kehler’s glove.
The two goals late in the second were ultimately the difference, but they definitely were not the only story. Portland outshot Kamloops 14-4 in the final frame, but they could not solve Dylan Ferguson and the Blazers backstop ran his record to 3-0 vs Portland this year with him stopping 92 of 97 shots for a 0.948 save percentage. He was at possibly his best in all three of those games in the third Wednesday as Portland had two power plays in the third that their four, NHL first round picks in the lineup used to create plenty of good looks.
Ferguson stopped 30 of 31 overall. His best might have been a duo of saves made on a Portland fourth-liner though and not one of the bigger names. Lukus MacKeznie had back-to-back looks in tight on Ferguson and the Vegas Golden Knights prospect used his left pad to stop him both times.
Cody Glass got the lone Hawks goal on the power play in the first. His back door pass to Kieffer Bellows tipped off the stick of Kamloops d-man Brady Reagan and by Ferguson.
Loewen netted his first of the game in the second when a bouncing puck came onto his stick in the slot, on the power play. He wired a hard wrist shot by Kehler to tie the game.
Loewen, who had just six goals last year, now has 31 to go with 21 assists for 52 points. This was his second two-goal game vs Portland this year.
Kehler was pulled from the Portland net in favor of Shane Farkas after the second period. Kehler stopped 19 of 22, while Farkas turned away all four shots he saw.
Kehler has sandwiched one great effort vs Seattle between four subpar games for him. This was the latest. In those four games, his save percentage has not been above 0.864.
Portland will look to get back on track when they head to the island on Friday for the first of two in Victoria. They now sit nine points back of Everett for the U.S. Division lead with two games in hand and just three points up on Spokane for second in the division.
Kamloops, meanwhile is keeping their playoff hopes alive. They are six points behind Seattle for the final playoff spot with Seattle having two games in hand.
