Wednesday night in the Rose City was the final regular-season meeting between the Vancouver Giants (11-10-1-1) and Portland Winterhawks (13-5-1-2).
For the third time this season, the Winterhawks emerged with the victory. Jake Gricius scored twice, and Joel Hofer saved 27-of-28 Vancouver shots for a 3-1 Portland win.
Portland started the night with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, but by the end of the first period, they were down to 10 and 6 respectively.
Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnston said, “We’ve had a lot of adversity lately with injuries. Then we lost Kade Nolan in the first period and Reece Newkirk in the first period. We were down to quite a few young guys. I give them credit. Four 16-year-old forwards, nine new players in the lineup — they just found a way. It wasn’t like Vancouver didn’t play well, because I thought Vancouver played really well, probably a little better than us.”
Despite being outshot 9-5 in the first period, Portland led 2-0 after the first 20 minutes. Kishaun Gervais and Jake Gricius scored 41 seconds apart.
Johnston stressed the importance of scoring first. “We were able to get a lead, and I find against that team, if you can get a lead, it helps your game against them. They were attacking hard. Hofer was good. I like the way our young guys are getting extra minutes now, more opportunities to play in different roles. It is only going to help us down the road once we start to get healthy bodies.”
The goal for Gervais was his third in the last four games.
“He plays to his identity, which is fast and puts the puck on the net,” Johnston said of the 18-year-old forward. “Things are falling for him. He is being rewarded for his work ethic, which is a really positive sign.”
Giants head coach Michael Dyck described his team’s performance on Wednesday, “We played well. I thought our first period was really good. The third period I thought we started to wear down a little bit. I thought we played well. Obviously, they took advantage of two mistakes we made. For the most part, we played the way we needed to play. They had a pretty good team game tonight.”
One aspect of the Giants’ game that Dyck thought they did well was turning pucks over on the forecheck. “We did a great job, but now it is just a matter of finishing and getting to the net. They kept us to the outside when we got pucks to the net.”
During the second period, Colorado Avalanche draft pick Bowen Byram used his speed and got to the front of the net for his third goal of the season.
“It was a great play,” Dyck said. “He showed a lot of speed and poise and then found a way to get to the net. It was great to see him finish.”
The 18-year-old defenseman described his goal, saying, “A young kid, Cole Shepard, made a nice pass to me on the far side. I managed to catch the defenseman flat-footed and drove the far post. It felt good. I hadn’t scored in a while, but the end goal was to get the win which didn’t happen.”
Holding a 2-1 lead entering the third period, the young Winterhawks held the reigning Western Conference champions to seven shots in the final frame.
Jake Gricius added a late power-play goal after Vancouver was caught with seven skaters on the ice after pulling netminder David Tendeck.
Johnston was impressed with his 20-year-old centerman. “I think he has had a great year and is really coming into his own as a player. For me, he is one of the top centers in the whole league. I don’t care what age he is; he is still an elite player in this league and can do everything for us. He is a penalty killer, a power-play guy, five-on-five top line. He is really good that way.”
The Winterhawks continue their homestand on Saturday when they host the U.S. Division leading Everett Silvertips.
Meanwhile, Vancouver faces the Edmonton Oil Kings, and Michael Dyck feels they “can take a lot of good things we did well (Wednesday)” into their contest on Saturday. “The forecheck, defensively we played pretty well, and need to build on some of those positives for a tough Edmonton team.”
Notes:
– The Giants held the Winterhawks to 21 shots on Wednesday — Portland’s second lowest of the season (20 against Lethbridge on October 4).
– Joel Hofer stopped 27-of-28 shots, while David Tendeck made 18 saves on the 21 Portland shots.
– Jaydon Dureau has a four-game point streak, good for a career high. He also has ten points in his last eight games as well.
– After the game Mike Johnston gave an update on Reece Newkirk:
Johnston continued on Reece Newkirk:
"It looked like a very deep cut to me on his wrist, it looked scary. It seems like he is okay, so whether that means will he be back in a week, or two, I don’t know, but he is okay."
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— Joshua Critzer (@jjcritzer) November 21, 2019
