Shane Farkas and the Portland Winterhawks (18-10-0-2) shut out the Prince George Cougars (11-16-1-2) to sweep the two game series in Portland.
Jake Gricius, Ryan Hughes, and Jaydon Dureau scored for the Winterhawks and Farkas’ made 22 saves, 19 over the last 40 minutes, giving the Winterhawks their fourth straight victory.
Farkas spoke after the game saying, “I think as a team everything has been going really well. It is always nice to get a couple of wins in a row, makes everyone feel good from the office down to the players. Just a really good feeling all the way around.”
Winterhawks associate coach Kyle Gustafson said, “As we told the guys, it was a good test for us. A two game set like this you get a little bit of a chess match. Prince George came out hungry. I thought they were real hard; on the forecheck, circles, at their net, and at our net.” Kyle continued talking about being able to battle through games like tonight, “If you look at some of the games that we’ve had some relapses, some of those teams were heavy on our team. This was a great test to just stay with it.”
Jake Gricius opened the scoring after overage defenseman Jared Freadrich’s point shot was blocked. Gricius collected the puck and fired a shot by Taylor Gauthier for his 14th goal of the season. After the goal there was a quick conference in the referees’ circle about possible goaltender interference, but the goal counted.
The second period was penalty filled, a combined 20 minutes between the teams. The Winterhawks have been shorthanded the second most in the WHL with 153 times shorthanded in 30 games (5.1 average per game). Gustafson said, “It is something we talked about with the team too. We can’t continue giving up these kind of penalty minutes; it is getting a little bit too much.”
However, Portland was a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill on Saturday night. Former Winterhawks forward, and current Prince George Cougar, Ilijah Colina said, “It is just a matter of us working hard on the power play; our power play working harder than their penalty kill. I don’t think we really did that to perfection tonight.”
Friday and Saturday were the first games Colina played in Portland since being traded last season. After the game on Saturday he talked about returning, “Honestly, it was pretty emotional, but I got through the games. It was fun to play here, but have to look forward to our next games now.” Colina built some strong relationships during his time with the Winterhawks, “Seeing everyone from staff, to ticket lady, to players, to coaches, just the relationships that will last a lifetime; it is nice to have.”
Before the second period horn sounded Portland scored twice via Hughes and Dureau. Hughes’ power-play goal came via a cross-ice pass from Cody Glass who extended his scoring streak to 16 games. Dureau’s goal came after Freadrich kept the puck alive at the blue line and flipped a puck over the Cougar defenseman which Seth Jarvis bunted out of the air. The puck ended up at Gauthier’s net, but the 17-year-old goalie couldn’t quite clear the puck beyond Dureau’s reach. Jaydon’s goal with 25 seconds left in the period was a back breaker for the Cougars.
The Cougars opportunity to cut into the Winterhawks’ lead started right away in the third period. Mason Mannek was called for roughing at the end of the second period. Prince George had a couple of good looks at the net, but Farkas made several saves right away. “You are trying to do your job,” Shane said. “When we go on the penalty kill like that, just trying to step up the game; make a big play.”
Farkas did not face many shots in the opening period, but faced 19 over the final 40 minutes. Shane spoke about the challenge of not seeing the puck as often, “You can see ten shots in two minutes, or no shots into the third period. Just staying focused and not let your mind wander and enjoy the time.”
After the game, Prince George head coach Richard Matvichuk said, “We didn’t play the way we were supposed to; just got away from it. We have to play a north south game that finds a way to protect pucks and manage the puck properly. We get away from what we want to do, or without our system we don’t become very successful.”
Over the last four games the Winterhawks have outscored their opponents 26-6. The offensive outburst, brings “a lot of confidence defensively” Farkas said. “At times when you start to get running around, you have faith and confidence in the team to get more goals getting back in it.”
The Winterhawks travel to Victoria for games on Tuesday and Wednesday in their only road games against the Royals this season. Portland will now be without their captain, Cody Glass, for at least the next nine games as he departs to represent Team Canada at the World Juniors Tournament.
Notes:
– Brendan De Jong was listed as a game-time decision, but ultimately ended up missing the game due to injury suffered on Friday night. Gustafson provided an update, “It was more just precautionary. With the two games going into Victoria, we wanted to make sure; it is kind of a nagging injury. I anticipate he will be fine.”
– Kade Nolan took De Jong’s spot in the lineup. Fellow rookie defenseman Nick Perna took his rotation in the lineup.
– Tyson Kozak will be added to the roster within the next day or two and will join the team in Victoria.
