Portland Winterhawks/Keith Dwiggins

Winterhawks close out 2019 with 3-2 win over Thunderbirds

December 31 marks the annual New Year’s Eve game between the Seattle Thunderbirds (13-19-2-1) and the Portland Winterhawks (25-6-2-3) at the Moda Center. 

The two rivals just met on Saturday and a similar script was written again on Tuesday. 

Portland emerged with two points, thanks to 50 shots on net, defeating Seattle 3-2 in front of a sold out crowd. 

Winterhawks forward Jack O’Brien commented, “It was an exciting one there, the crowd was into it. I think the boys battled hard, we didn’t score on all the chances we wanted, but pushed through and got the big win on New Year’s.” 

Jaydon Dureau described the shoot first mentality, “We are just throwing everything at the net, not trying to get the perfect shot or playl. We are just getting everything there, goalies can’t stop everything.”

Head coach Mike Johnston talks about wanting his team to get ten shots in the first ten minutes, and Portland accomplished the goal, and more, in the first period. 

On Saturday the Winterhawks sent 23 shots onto the net of Roddy Ross. Tuesday was more of the same as the home side funneled 22 towards the 19-year-old netminder. 

Johnston said, “I thought it was a really good game, it was close right to the end. I thought there were some key turning points in the game. I really liked our start again, we had a good start in Seattle the other day, think that is important to get the jump, I know they scored first, but we seemed to have the territorial advantage.” 

Cade McNelly (Photo- Portland Winterhawks/Keith Dwiggins)

Cade McNelly opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds after the Winterhawks failed to exit the zone cleanly. Keltie Jeri-Leon got the puck to the front of Isaiah DiLaura and the rebound went to the stick of McNelly who was crashing the net. The goal was McNelly’s first of the season. 

Portland began to take control of puck possession which led to multiple Seattle penalties. On a delayed penalty Jack O’Brien scored his second goal in as many games as the Thunderbirds. “Similar goals going to the net hard,” the 16-year-old center explained. “The rebounds are just coming onto my stick, and I’m in the good scoring areas, it is paying off.” 

Less than a minute later, 18-year-old rookie forward Kishaun Gervais gave the Winterhawks the lead. Mason Mannek made a strong pass outside of the blue line to Lane Gilliss who drove wide right of the net. The overage forward spun around and sent a forehand pass for Gervais to redirect into the top corner of the net. 

A native of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Gervais removed the proverbial monkey off his back as he celebrated his fourth goal of the season.

Kishaun Gervais (Photo- Portland Winterhawks/Keith Dwiggins)

Portland took a 2-1 lead into the locker room and started the second period on the power play. McNelly’s busy night continued as he was called for roughing after the opening 20 minutes expired. 

Again, similar to Saturday, Seattle’s penalty kill was a key factor in them staying in the game. In the last two games against Portland, the Thunderbirds have killed ten penalties in a row.

While the Winterhawks did not officially score on their third man advantage, the sequence started while Jared Davidson was serving a hooking penalty. Ross stopped Newkirk’s initial shot. Jaydon Dureau retrieved the puck behind the net feeding captain Johnny Ludvig at the point. The Florida Panthers draft pick passed to Newkirk who held onto the puck a second longer than Ross, or a sliding Thunderbird defenseman, expected. Instead of shooting, Newkirk elected to pass across the seam to fellow 18-year-old Dureau. The primary assist extended Newkirk’s point streak to 11 straight games. 

On the goal, Dureau mentioned how they “run that play through practice, so I kind of have an idea where he (Newkirk) is going to be if he gets it. I know where I should probably stand if I want to get that pass. He made a really good pass, thankfully Jake (Gricius) kept the goalie screened so I had an open net to shoot at.”

Jaydon Dureau (Photo- Portland Winterhawks/Kendra Frankle)

To be expected in any game between the two teams, especially on New Year’s Eve, the physical play also escalated. 

McNelly and Nick Cicek dropped the gloves after a Portland skater was hit into the Seattle bench 13 seconds after Dureau gave the Winterhawks the lead. 

The Thunderbirds capitalized on the momentum and scored about 50 seconds later. 

Andrej Kukuca led a rush along with Conner Bruggen-Cate. The former Kelowna Rocket followed the pass which was actually put on DiLaura by his teammate Tyson Kozak who was backchecking hard on the play. Bruggen-Cate spotted the small rebound and got the puck across the goal line. 

Initially, there was no indication from the referee, but video review confirmed the puck crossed the goal line getting Seattle within a goal. 

Bruggen-Cate now has three goals in his last three games.

11 seconds later Matthew Rempe put a knee-on-knee hit on Dureau prompting Clay Hanus to come to the aid of his teammate.

“I really like Clay, honestly love him,” Jaydon said postgame. “He is a great guy on and off the ice. We hang out a lot so we are always talking. It put a smile on my face when I heard he stepped up.” 

Matthew Rempe (Photo- whl.ca)

Rempe stands 6-foot-8, 206 pounds while Hanus (5-10, 174 pounds) is ten inches and 32 pounds lighter. The Excelsior, Minnesota, native did not hesitate to drop the gloves to defend his teammate. 

“Clay really stepped up, big of him to do,” O’Brien said. “Obviously, if a teammate gets hurt, you have to protect your teammates. That just showed how tight of a group we are. We are willing to stand up for one another when something like that happens.” 

Rempe was given a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for the hit. Hanus received 17 minutes worth of penalties as the instigator of the fight. 

Dureau limped off the ice and did not return until the third period, where he then played a regular shift. However, he did miss several shifts in the second frame. 

In the final 20 minutes, Portland continued to pressure offensively while Seattle chased for an equalizer. 

Trailing by a goal, Seattle’s head coach Matt O’Dette elected to not utilize a 6-on-4 advantage when the Thunderbirds went on their first power play with 2:49 remaining. Instead, O’Dette called Ross to the bench when there was just one minute left. The Thunderbirds got a few good looks at the net, but DiLaura turned aside everything thrown his way in the third period. The St. Paul, Minnesota, native finished the evening with 17 saves on 19 shots. 

Portland’s duo of DiLaura and Dante Giannuzzi have answered the call while Joel Hofer is starting for Team Canada at the World Juniors. 

“It is good for our goaltenders to be getting that type of action while Hofer is away,” Johnston said. “I thought they have filled in well and handled the pressure. It is sometimes hard when you don’t get a shot for four or five minutes then you get a whole bunch of shots, quality shots too.”

Isaiah DiLaura and Kurtis Smythe (Photo- Portland Winterhawks/Keith Dwiggins)

Dureau said of DiLaura, “With Joel doing his thing at World Juniors, I think (Isaiah) has stepped up and is doing an awesome job. Sometimes we left him out to dry, but he held us in there.”

The win gave Portland 25 on the season. One of the key storylines to the 2019-2020 version of the Winterhawks is their depth of scoring. Mike Johnston’s group now has 13 different players with a game-winning goal this year. 

Johnston commented, “That is our team. This is not last year’s team where (Cody) Glass and (Joachim) Blichfeld carry our team, they scored big goals and dominated on the power play. With us this year, you never know who is going to score. Tonight it was Gervais and O’Brien, but you never know from night to night.” 

One way Portland attacks teams are rolling four lines which all can score. Johnston mentioned how “over the holidays we have balanced out our lines. Rather than have all 16-year-olds all on one line, we have them on different lines. I think it has made us a bit more of a threat. Now do you check Gricius’ line, or (Seth) Jarvis’ line, or do you check Gilliss and Mannek who have been hot lately or Cross Hanas? You have to make some decisions with your lineup, and I think we’ve been hard to play against over the holidays because teams find we spread out our lines so much.” 

Mike Johnston (Photo: Portland Winterhawks/Ben Ludeman)

Portland faced some internal adversity heading into Tuesday’s game – illness. 

“We have had a lot of guys sick lately,” Johnston mentioned. “It has been running through the team, so I was really proud of the guys. We only had two defensemen in practice yesterday. I was really happy the guys pulled through tonight and came to the game. (Jonas) Brøndberg and (James) Stefan couldn’t come, they are both sick. The other sick guys were able to come though.” 

Portland will hope to get everyone healthy before they depart for Spokane on Thursday. The Winterhawks face the Chiefs on Friday before returning back to Portland to host the Tri-City Americans. 

Leading into the weekend Johnston hopes to continue to see his team’s “pace, speed, and how we have been playing in the offensive zone” on display.