Saturday evening marked the first home game of 2020 for the Portland Winterhawks (27-6-1-3). For the first time since September 21, the Tri-City Americans (13-17-4-1) made the journey to the Rose City. Seth Jarvis scored his first WHL hat trick, and Portland won its fourth straight game against Tri-City this season, this time by a score of 6-2.
The Americans were off on Friday night while the Winterhawks were in Spokane. Mike Johnston, vice president, general manager, and head coach of Portland, said, “That was a real hard travel, but we knew it coming in. (Friday) night and (Saturday) we gave up the first goal, but we responded after that. They are two different teams. Tri-City and Spokane play different styles, so you have to adjust and adapt.”
The visitors had their skating legs to start the game and opened the scoring 97 seconds into the contest.
Sasha Mutala wrapped the puck around the net, and it ended up in the air. Krystof Hrabik was in perfect position to bat the puck baseball-style into the net for his eighth goal of the season.
Portland’s 17-year-old netminder Dante Giannuzzi made his first start at home in the WHL. All of his previous appearances came on the road.
After Hrabik’s early goal, Giannuzzi settled in and finished the evening with 27 saves on 29 Tri-City shots. The win was his third in three starts since rejoining the team with Joel Hofer away at World Juniors.
“Dante played solid again,” Seth Jarvis commented. “He has been doing really well since he has been up here. Things are finally paying off getting a shot. He has taken full advantage of it.”
Jake Gricius evened the score for the Winterhawks after several saves from Talyn Boyko. The 2002-born goalie took over the starting role after Tri-City traded 20-year-old Beck Warm to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Gricius stayed with the play and ended up banking the puck in off Boyko’s glove. The power forward from Colorado Springs, Colorado, has points in seven straight and 12-of-13.
“I think our line is clicking really well. We are finding each other,” Gricius said postgame. “I’m fortunate to play with (Reece) Newkirk and Robbie (Fromm-Delorme), or whoever is on that wing. I think Newkirk and I work well together. We’ve gotten some fortunate bounces as well.”
About eight minutes later, Seth Jarvis gave Portland the lead. A pass from Gricius went to the front of the net where Jarvis scooped up the loose puck. The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native tied Reece Newkirk for the team lead in goals with his 16th of the season.
On the play, Newkirk picked up the secondary assist, extending his points streak to 13 games.
Jarvis has been impressed with the play of Gricius and Newkirk while they are on their point streaks. “I think they are playing their game and getting the puck to each other. I think they are playing fast and making plays — pretty fun to watch.”
With a 2-1 lead heading into the second period, Portland kept its foot on the gas, scoring twice in the middle frame.
First, James Stefan scored his fourth of the season after a heads up play by Giannuzzi. The Americans dumped the puck in and went for a line change. The 2002-born goalie sent a pass from his own zone right to the tape of Cross Hanas who was positioned on the far blue line. With the outlet pass, Hanas led a two-on-one rush and sent a heavy pass to Stefan to deflect into the top corner.
Portland’s speed through the neutral zone continued to put pressure on Tri-City. Kishaun Gervais got to a loose puck and poked it into space for Lane Gilliss to skate onto. The overage forward elected to shoot on his two-on-one which proved to be the correct decision. At 8:52 of the second period, Portland now led 4-1 behind Lane’s ninth goal of the year.
A fast-moving third period eventually saw three goals scored in the final four minutes.
Seth Jarvis netted his second of the night — passing Newkirk for the team lead — on a great passing play started by 18-year-old Jaydon Dureau. He won a race to the puck and spotted Jack O’Brien at the front of the net. The Denver, Colorado, native held onto the puck long enough to force Boyko to slide to his left. Once O’Brien saw the goalie commit, he passed the puck over to Jarvis for a tap-in goal.
The Americans pushed hard in the final minutes of the game, and Jayden Platz was rewarded with his second goal of the season. Sasha Mutala continued his strong season with his second assist of the night and 30th of the year. The Colorado Avalanche draft selection found Platz who beat a Winterhawks backchecker to the front of the net.
Trailing by three, Tri-City pulled Boyko for an extra attacker with 1:33 left in the game.
Jarvis completed his hat trick — his first in the WHL — with the empty net goal. “It was awesome. The last couple of games I’ve struggled a little bit not getting pucks to the net when I need to. I think getting that hat trick really boosted my confidence. The guys on the ice made it easy for me — Jack (O’Brien) with that great pass and Dureau. Playing with Jake (Gricius) and Newkirk for that shift was big. Then Manny (Mason Mannek) and Gilliss really helped me on the empty netter.”
The line of Dureau, Jarvis, and O’Brien finished with five points. Johnston has been impressed with the trio. “I thought they’ve played really well most games. All three of them move the puck, are really smart, but I just think they don’t shoot enough. Dureau doesn’t shoot enough, O’Brien doesn’t shoot enough, but I thought they had more of a shooting mentality tonight. Jarvis had three great chances before he scored his first goal. It was one of those games if he got those opportunities and missed them, eventually one would fall for him.”
Portland concludes its stretch of nine straight games against the U.S. Division on Tuesday when the team welcomes Spokane to the Moda Center.
Gricius is hoping the team brings the “same mentality of getting pucks to the net and never quitting. We went down 1-0 in the first twice, but we’ve come back and never quit.”
Meanwhile, Jarvis sees the team’s speed as a key point of emphasis. “All four lines are really fast, puts the other team on their heels. Playing fast as we usually do will help lead to a big win again.”
Sunday is the final day of World Juniors and the Winterhawks have enjoyed keeping up to date with the play of Simon Knak with Switzerland and Joel Hofer with Canada.
“The guys are watching the games and sending them messages,” Johnston said. “It is pretty exciting for (Joel) with everything happening for him over there being the starter for Canada. It is great for him and we are keeping in touch with him.”
Gricius said, “It is really cool. We text them after each game. Sometimes it is hard to watch because it is in Europe with the time difference, but we still try to watch them play. It is awesome. Joel is shutting the door out there. We are very excited for him but also excited to get him back with us.”
Jarvis has been impressed watching both Knak and Hofer. “It is a little bit harder with Simon since they don’t broadcast it as much, but I’ve seen him score a couple of goals which is unreal for him. Joel, obviously, right when he got that starting spot, everyone thought he was going to steal it and he has. He has been playing unreal.”
Per Johnston, Knak arrives back on Tuesday, but it is unclear if he will play right away against Spokane. Hofer will not be available until the weekend. “Joel won’t be here this week, and won’t be here for Tuesday’s game. He is going to go home to Winnipeg and will join us in Victoria.”
Game Notes:
– Robbie Fromm-Delorme was a healthy scratch per Mike Johnston.
– Kishaun Gervais left the game early, but there is no official update on his status at this time.
– Both teams were unable to convert on the power play. Portland was 0-for-3 while Tri-City went 0-for-1 on its opportunity.
