The Portland WInterhawks (7-6-0-1) faced off against the Kamloops Blazers (6-6-0-1) looking to avoid losing three games in three nights. The Winterhawks lost Friday night in Spokane and were defeated by Kamloops last night 6-2. The Blazers on the other hand, were looking to sweep their three games in three nights. They played Friday night in Seattle before making the trip south on I-5 to Portland, and the Blazers were ready for everything Portland had to offer.
Kamloops used a balanced scoring attack, receiving goals from five different players, and a strong night in net from backup 16-year-old goalie Dylan Garand who made 32 saves in a 5-2 victory for the Blazers.
Blazers head coach Serge Lajoie was “proud of how our guys came prepared to work and prepared to play. Our guys played the game the right way tonight.” Two of the strongest players for Kamloops were 16-year-old rookies.
Josh Pillar worked hard and won a puck battle against two Winterhawks and emerged with the puck. “Another guy on the bench and I were thinking Josh was going to move the puck low-to-high to our defenseman, but he cuts back and released the puck on his forehand. He has a strong release and was rewarded for how he played” Lajoie said when speaking of Pillar’s goal which opened the scoring 1-0. Kobe Mohr said, “Pills [Josh Pillar] has been really hot lately, maybe something with the water down here or something, I don’t know? He has taken a huge step in his game.” Kamloops was able to finally breakthrough after seizing the momentum in the first period.
Mike Johnston, Winterhawks head coach, thought “our team came ready, but we took four penalties in a row, and then six to their one. We lost all our momentum there.” After Pillar’s goal, Kobe Mohr scored his second goal of the season. Mohr and Carson Denomie caught Portland in a bad line change and had a two-on-one. Denomie was able to get the pass across and Mohr doubled the Blazer advantage. Mohr said, “all credit goes to my teammates and linemates, one goal I’m on the forecheck and pass to a guy. My goal I get a perfect pass and was able to score. We were playing for each other out there and good things come when you do that.”
After the second goal, Johnston said, “we were really chasing the game at that point. Any time you are chasing the game I think it is tough against a big, heavy time like that.” One area of emphasis for Portland is the lack of scoring 5-on-5 and Johnston mentioned it again tonight, “we have to start scoring, especially 5-on-5. We had two power play goals tonight, but with our team we need to convert more.” Cody Glass and Ryan Hughes each had a power play goal, but few chances were had outside of Portland’s five power plays.
Hughes’ power-play goal came with Shane Farkas pulled as the Winterhawks trailed 4-1. The deficit was two only temporarily before Brodi Stuart scored Kamloops’ fifth goal giving the Blazers what they needed to complete the weekend sweep. Between Seattle and Portland, the Blazers outscored their opponents 18-6.
Cody Glass felt this was a “good learning opportunity for us being a young team going into our first three-in-three. We let frustration creep into our game, and once that happens you start forcing things which is what you don’t want to do. This is something we will learn from and move forward.” Johnston echoed Glass’ comments and hopes to see a better performance next weekend as Portland plays Friday and Saturday home against Victoria before going back to Spokane to face the Chiefs.
Seth Jarvis departs tomorrow for the U17 World Hockey Challenge and will miss the next two weeks. Cody Glass will play Friday and Saturday against Victoria; however, he will miss the game on Sunday in Spokane. Spokane will play against the Winterhawks without defenseman Ty Smith and forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan.
Notes:
– Jared Freadrich missed the game due to a one game suspension for his cross check last night on Luke Zazula. His loss on the back end was felt by the Winterhawks, especially on the power play
– Kade Nolan and Nick Perna each received playing time to fill in the void left by Freadrich
– Currently, Portland only has 12 healthy forwards. With Jarvis away representing Canada, the Winterhawks would be one forward short of a full lineup. Johnston told me at practice earlier this week he hopes Fromm-Delorme is ready to return next weekend keeping the group at 12.
