The Portland Winterhawks (11-6-0-1) hosted the Kelowna Rockets (8-11-0-0) on Saturday night in the Moda Center. The Winterhawks were off all week after completing a sweep last weekend. Portland returned to the ice to face the Rockets who were on a four-game winning streak of their own. Something had to give, and the Winterhawks, on the back of Shane Farkas and 5-on-5 scoring, pushed their win streak to four with a 3-0 shutout win.
The Winterhawks came out firing everything at 18-year-old Rockets’ goalie James Porter. By the media timeout Portland held a 15-3 shot advantage. “They jumped on us right from the start,” Rockets head coach Adam Foote said post-game, “they knew we played last night. We were trying to weather it. I thought our goalie really kept us in it and it could have been a lot worse.” The final shots finished 50-26 in favor of Portland.
For Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnston, “I think the key to the game was our jump early. I was a little bit nervous when we got the first goal but didn’t score on the 5-on-3. I think you have to convert on those 5-on-3s and we didn’t. It all comes to our energy. I think it was a carry over from the Spokane game. We directed a lot of shots at the net.”
The first goal, and ultimately the game-winning goal, was scored by Joachim Blichfeld just 3:20 into the game. The Winterhawks won a 5-on-5 defensive battle in their own zone and immediately transitioned into a 3-on-2 rush the other way. Blichfeld said he saw “their defenseman go back a little bit giving me a shot lane, and I took the shot. I was lucky it went in.”
As the game transitioned to the second period, each team got into some penalty trouble, but both penalty kills came up strong for their team. The teams combined 0-for-11 on the power play (six chances for Portland and five for Kelowna). For Foote and the Rockets, “it starts with goaltending. What he did making some good saves on their chances. We are getting better on it, but we were better tonight. That is a good power play over there.” Johnston was also pleased with his team’s performance a man short, “they have a good power play and Don Hay [Winterhawks assistant coach] did a really good pre-scout with our penalty killers. They knew what they were going to do and knew their options. Our best penatly killer though tonight was our goalie.”
Shane Farkas faced 26 Kelowna shots before the night was complete and recorded his first shutout of the season. “Farkas did a great job in the net and I’m glad he got the shutout,” Blichfeld said after the game.” Shane was quick to point out that “it was a big team performance. I think everyone was firing on all cylinders. Guys were blocking big shots near the end of the game so I really appreciate that.”
The Winterhawks have been rotating eight defensemen through the lineup and tonight played seven instead of the more conventional six. One area of importance is the communication between the defense and the goalie. Farkas spoke post-game about the relationship he has with his defense, “it all starts off the ice. Being friends and good guys talking about everything helps build the bond on the ice. On the ice too is the little details like move up a foot, move back, watch that guy, again, key little details.”
This week Andy Moog, Winterhawks goalie coach, was visiting with both Shane Farkas and Dante Giannuzzi. For Farkas, he credits tonight’s success to the work done in practice with Moog. “Andy and I have been working on some things in practice that have been really helping me the last couple of days. A big thank you to him, he’s a huge role model in my life.”
After several saves from Farkas, and a failed power play, Cody Glass extended Portland’s lead to 2-0 after scoring on a bang-bang play with the puck coming off the end boards. Foote said, “we had killed the penalty and they score off the end boards when our guy came out. I think that was kind of a killer for us. We are learning, we are a young group, and have to learn how to play when we are tired.” The Rockets kept the game close entering the third period down by two goals.
In the third period the line of Newkirk, Glass, and Blichfeld was reunited. Johnston said, “I put him [Newkirk] out there because it was a tight game, a 2-0 game, and Newkirk is very responsible defensively; the goal was nice to get.” Newkirk’s 11th goal of the season, the final goal of the night, was a result of each guy knowing where the other was going to be on the ice. Blichfeld after the game said, “Cody, Newkirk, and I have played together before so we have some chemistry. Cody gave me a great pass, and Newkirk found open space and I was lucky to find him; and he put it in.” Portland held on for the last nine minutes limiting Kelowna’s opportunities at Farkas.
The same two teams play again on Sunday but will move next door and play in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Overall, Foote was pleased with the play of his netminder, “I thought Porter was awesome. He did his job and gave us a chance.” As Kelowna looks to rebound Foote wants his team “to just take care of us. We know what they are going to do, but if we are playing tired, we have to play smarter than that. Need to control our emotions and stay in structure until things settle down. Some of our players saw how quick it was and got running around.”
This weekend is parents weekend for Portland, therefore many family members are in town. Johnston said, “We are trying to manage to get everybody in tomorrow when we dress four lines and six defense.” As Portland looks to win their fifth game in a row, Johnston feels, “getting shots gives you momentum because it creates a rebound or they have to defend off the shot which is a lot harder than defending off the rush. Overall playing the game like tonight is how we want to play.”
Notes:
– Seth Jarvis is still away at the U17 Hockey Challenge which concluded Saturday afternoon/evening. Jarvis’ Canada Red lost in the shootout in the bronze medal game against Sweden. In six games Jarvis had five points (2G, 3A).
– Nick Perna & Nick Cicek were in the lineup tonight as Kade Nolan was the healthy scratch in the defensive rotation.
– Portland won 40/64 faceoffs against Kelowna (62.5%) with Gricius leading the way winning 71.4% of his faceoffs.
– Joachim Blichfeld is currently third in WHL scoring with 38 points. He trails Prince Albert’s Brett Leason by two points, and leader Trex Fix-Wolansky of Edmonton by four points.
– Ty Murchison, Winterhawks 2018 3rd round Bantam Draft pick, visited Portland. Johnston spoke quickly about the importance of connecting with prospects, “with all our young kids on our list we are trying to connect with them. Whether we connect with them on the road or get them in to watch a game; and then try to convince the players to play here.”
