Sunday evening was the second game of a back-to-back series between the Kelowna Rockets (21-20-1-2) and the Portland Winterhawks (33-6-2-3).
After getting out to a 3-0 lead, Portland hung on for a 3-2 win, and a weekend sweep of Kelowna.
The first game belonged to the Winterhawks as they dominated puck possession and defeated the Rockets 7-0. Seth Jarvis led the way with two goals and one assist.
The 17-year-old followed up his Saturday performance by assisting on the game’s first goal, and finished the game with two assists.
A Rockets holding penalty sent Portland to the power play after failing to score on five opportunities last night.
Kyle Gustafson – coaches the Winterhawks power play – mentioned yesterday about wanting to improve the power play. “We have to take a look at our power play, don’t think it really generated much. We had possession in the zone, but as far as clean looks, just thought we could clean that up.”
Jarvis fed Reece Newkirk from the half wall for a one-timer goal. The goal was the 21st of the season for the New York Islanders prospect and exactly what Gustafson was talking about.
Kelowna put together two good back-to-back shifts getting the first four shots on goal. Portland’s puck possession game took over after the first two minutes however. The next Rockets shot did not come until 3:39 left in the first period.
Before the horn sounded, Mason Mannek doubled the Portland lead to two. The Herriman, Utah, native led a two-on-one rush with Lane Gilliss. Electing to shoot, Mannek’s wrist shot hit Cole Schwebius in the mask before bouncing into the net.
“I’ve been looking pass a little bit every two-on-one I’ve gotten, so I decided to shoot this one,” Mannek explained. “I got a little bit of a lucky bounce off the defender and it went in. It was nice to get that one for sure.”
Jonas Brøndberg was happy to see his close friend get rewarded. “He is such a good guy, and I love him from the bottom of my heart. I know all the guys are the same way. He is a hard-working guy and wants the best for the team not only on the ice but also off the ice. When he makes a goal, or a point, I’m happy for him. I wish him the best.”
Don Hay, Winterhawks assistant coach, commented on Mannek getting on the score sheet after he continued to do all the little things right, “I thought he had a really good game (Saturday) night and didn’t get rewarded, sometimes how it goes. He plays hard, plays an honest game, never cheats the game, so it is nice to see him get a goal too. You always seem to find a way to get rewarded.”
Schwebius was far busier than Joel Hofer as he faced 23 shots in the opening 20 minutes.
The middle frame moved along at a quick pace despite no goals being scored by either team.
Portland out shot Kelowna for the fifth straight period (16-6).
Brøndberg scored shortly after the teams came out of the locker room to give the Winterhawks a 3-0 advantage. Jarvis showed off his vision distributing the puck to the import defenseman. With his head up, the 18-year-old defenseman used a wrist shot to score his fifth of the season.
“I just got in from a good change, so a good change I would say,” the Denmark native said when asked what led to his goal. “Jarvis gave me an amazing pass, and I was way open, and I put it in.”
Elias Carmichael helped get the Rockets on the board for the first time against the Winterhawks. Joel Hofer was screened on the play, and the 16-year-old sent a shot towards the net. Forward Ethan Ernst deflected the shot for his second goal of the season.
Kelowna had an opportunity to close the gap to one with their third power play of the game with just over five minutes left in the game. Several first-time clears and shot blocks helped Portland get the important penalty kill.
Hay thought this was a key moment, “Kade Nolan blocked a big shot for us. He is turning into a real important defenseman for us. He can kill penalties in and makes plays in real critical situations. Him and Nick Cicek have really stepped up their game as far as penalty killing is concerned. They have blocked shots, cleared pucks under pressure, all really important things on that kill there.”
Mannek mentioned chemistry as to why the penalty kill has been so successful. Portland did not allow a power-play goal in any of the three games this weekend. “We now exactly what we are doing and talk a lot. Granted, we go out with the same guy. I go out with Gilliss every time, so we have built this chemistry. We have been going out together for two years and can read off each other without needing to talk too. I think chemistry like that on the penalty kill is huge because you are playing against some of their top players.”
Adam Foote used his timeout with 58.2 left in the game after a Portland icing. A series of icings by the Winterhawks resulted in several faceoffs in their defensive zone.
Jonas Peterek found a loose puck to the left of Hofer for a rebound goal. The 18-year-old’s 11th of the year got the Rockets within one with 18.3 to play. Matthew Wedman created the opportunity with a chance at the top of the crease.
Joel Hofer took a shot at the empty net, but the puck went just wide with under five seconds left in the game. Hay said, “When it gets a little tight you wish he would have hit the net, that would be great for everybody if he scored a goal, I think it would be neat. I think it is an exciting part of the game. We would probably be mad at a player if he tried that and created an icing. We are not quite as mad at Joel because he is the guy who is going to have to stop the shot that is coming at him as a result.”
Kelowna won the ensuing faceoff, but was unable to get a shot off before the game ended, so no harm, no foul.
Portland was able to hold on for the 3-2 victory and won all three games of their three-in-three.
Tri-City is next on the schedule on Friday night.
A focus this week is going to be rest according to Hay. “We have had quite a stretch here as we played four games this week and then had two up in Victoria last weekend. It has been a good stretch though for us. I think it is really important for us to get some rest, a day off (Monday), and then back to have some real, good, solid practices.”
Notes:
– Kelowna is still battling significant injuries to several key members of its roster. Sean Comrie, Trevor Wong, Mark Liwiski, Kyle Topping, Liam Kindree, Nolan Foote, and Roman Basran were all again scratched due to various injuries.
– Kaedan Korczak served the third and final game of his suspension after an incident in Kamloops earlier this month.
– The Winterhawks won the battle of special teams going 1-for-3 on the man advantage. Meanwhile Kelowna finished the night 0-for-3 on the power play.
