Friday night’s matchup in Portland was a rematch from Wednesday with the top two teams in the U.S. Division. The Everett Silvertips (15-7-0-0) and Portland Winterhawks (13-6-0-2) played a spirited and emotional game which included two fights, 58 combined shots, and a natural hat trick. Portland used a strong first and second period to defeat Everett 5-2 and grab three of the four points available this week against the Silvertips.
Mike Johnston, Winterhawks head coach, felt, “our first two periods were outstanding only giving them 12 shots. Usually they are a team that generally gets in the high 40s for shots and keeps the other team to less than 20 shots. Tonight we had some really good chances early in the game.”
Coming into the game on Friday, Everett had successfully killed 13 straight Portland power plays, but an early Winterhawks power-play goal ended the streak as Jake Gricius was the latest Winterhawk to score a goal by batting the puck out of the air. The physical play and chirping was getting started and just about four minutes after the Gricius goal, Dawson Butt and Lane Gilliss dropped the gloves in front of the Everett bench.
Lane spoke after the game about his fight, “I tried to set the tone for the team early in the first period. Me and Butt have been going back and forth for a couple of years now, so it is an annual thing now I guess.” Johnston praised his 19-year-old forward for the “jump right off the hop. I thought Gilliss responded really well with [Dawson] Butt. There should be a rivalry in our division, a battle, and compete level.” Both teams looked to build off the momentum generated by the fight.
The Silvertips were best able to harness the energy as Jalen Price scored on an interesting play shortly thereafter. He appeared to bank the puck in either off a defender or Farkas’ pad. Connor Dewar was in front of the net, but Price was credited with the goal. Everett’s assistant captain Jake Christiansen said, “his goal was huge. He is a good guy, been working really hard, and deserves it. When a guy like that gets a goal it really sparks the bench.”
Despite the goal, Christiansen and Sean Richards both spoke about needing to be better in the first 40 minutes. Jake felt, “I think we have to have a better compete level for the first period. We came out a little sleepy and we can’t that against a team like this. They will eat you up and it is hard climbing uphill against them.” Richards agreed, “I thought we came out a little flat. They are a good hockey team and are really fast. We didn’t come out playing our game and it costed us early.” The tie game would not last though.
In the middle of a line change Gricius and Portland’s 2018 2nd round import selection Michal Kvasnica kept the play alive in the offensive zone. Gricius was able to spot Joachim Blichfeld arriving late and sent a perfectly flat pass to the overage import who beat Dustin Wolf.
The second period was choppy as there were many conversations, pushing, and shoving after almost every whistle. The Winterhawks pushed their advantage to two goals on Blichfeld’s second of the night just before the second period concluded. Johnston said, “Blichfeld has been really hot. Glass and Blichfeld have great chemistry together and we can put a variety of players with them. I thought they moved the puck well. They find each other and read off each other well.” Blichfeld and Glass each have the ability to make “area passes” to where the player will be, not where he is currently. Blichfeld spoke about their ability, “we both see the game really good so it works out great that way.” The area pass worked for the WInterhawks’ top line to perfection early in the third period as well.
A little over three minutes had elapsed off the clock and Cody Glass sent a pass behind the Silvertips defense. Blichfeld skated onto the puck going in clean on a breakaway vs Wolf. Blichfeld scored in the shootout on Wednesday and was able to get the puck to the back of the net again. The goal completed the natural hat trick for Blichfeld and hats were sent to the ice by several in the 4,007 announced Portland crowd. While the hats were cleaned up, it allowed time for both benches to strategize on how to approach the final 17 minutes.
A big hit at the Everett blue line resulted in Jaydon Dureau taking exception with Dawson Butt and the two dropped their gloves. Dawson landed the majority of the blows, but Dureau stood his ground and defended his teammate. Gilliss spoke about what this meant to the Portland bench, “I thought it was great one teammate stepping up for another teammate. I think that is a huge step for our team and a huge step for Jaydon.”
Everett gained significant energy after Dawson Butt’s second fight of the evening. Johnston said, “Right up until 15 minutes left in the game, I really liked how we played.” Sean Richards scored his fourth goal of the season a few minutes after the fight to get the Silvertips within two. Everett really controlled the play and Richards said, “I thought we got more desperate and started to play our game more. You can see out there when we play our game, we are a tough team to play against. We just have to stick to it from the start of the game though.”
As Everett was pressing, a key moment for Portland was the selfless play of John Ludvig who stepped into a shooting lane blocking a heavy shot directed at Farkas. “That man is made of steel,” Blichfeld said, “he set the team in front of everything so he is a great team player. That block was unreal.”
After three offensive zone shifts, Everett pulled Wolf for the extra attacker. The Silvertips had a few good looks at the net, but Mason Mannek sealed the victory for Portland with 28 seconds left in regulation.
Both teams are in action again tomorrow. Everett departed back north on I-5 as they prepare to play the B.C. Division leading Vancouver Giants at home. For Richards and Christiansen, they want to ensure “we get back to playing our game like we know how.” Meanwhile, Portland will leave for Seattle tomorrow as they face major rival Thunderbirds. Johnston said, “it is always a fun game in Seattle, a great rivalry, really good atmosphere in that building. Of all the road games we play, it is one of the best buildings to play in because there are not a lot of people that really like Portland in Seattle, makes for a great atmosphere.” Blichfeld echoed his coach’s comments, “it is always fun to play Seattle, especially in their barn. Everybody hates us so we have to keep going as we did today.”
Notes:
– After the game a scoring change was announced. Blichfeld’s second goal originally had assists to Ryan Hughes and Cody Glass; however, it was determined Glass never touched the puck, so the secondary assist went to Matthew Quigley.
– With the scoring change, Quigley quietly finished the game with three assists. He had two this season in 17 prior games.
– Nick Perna dressed as the 6th defenseman as Kyle Gustafson and Mike Johnston continue to rotate Perna, Nick Cicek, and Kade Nolan through the lineup.
– Brendan De Jong suffered an injury early in the second period. He appeared to catch either an accidental high stick or elbow from one of the Silvertips. Play was stopped and he needed assistance getting off the ice. De Jong wouldn’t return to the game. Afterwards, Johnston said, “He got a little whiplash with his neck there. It is more of a neck injury and will see how he is tomorrow.”
– Portland throughout the season has played 11 forwards and 7 defensemen. This could be an option for them tomorrow evening should De Jong need to have a reduced role.
– Ludvig had extra face protection during Friday’s game. There was no comment post-game about this; however, in a game last week, Ludvig was a game-time decision.
– All forwards are back and healthy. Haydn Delorme was a healthy scratch.
