Winterhawks fall to top-ranked Everett 4-1

The Everett Silvertips, who have the best record in the Western Hockey League, defeat the Portland Winterhawks 4-1 at home despite the Portland Winterhawks playing a respectable game.

With 34 saves on 35 shots, Raiden LeGall had a strong outing in the Everett goalie. Dominic Rymon scored twice.

Portland plays the Wenatchee Wild at home in the middle game of their three-game-in-three-day run.

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Scoring summary


1st 14:40 EVT Dominik Rymon (Eric Jamieson) 0-1	Jamieson intercepts a Tyson Jugnauth pass at center ice and quickly hits Rymon at the Portland blue line. Rymon carries it in and cuts by Jugnauth into the slot, where he beats Ondrej t bet k with a wrister through a screen by Cole Temple and Carter Sotheran.
2nd 17:51 EVT Jaxsin Vaughan (Caine Wilke, Brek Liske) 0-2	Portland gets caught sleeping and has a poor change after a long clear by Carter Sotheran goes on goal instead of being an icing. Raiden LeGall gets it to Liske, who from his own goal line hits a perfect long pass to Wilke for a 2 on 1. Wilke gets it in front to Vaughan, beating Hudson Darby to the net, and he beats t bet k 1 on 1.
3rd 6:56 POR Ryder Thompson (Max P eni ka, Josh Zakreski) 1-2	Thompson hits a long shot straight on from just in front of the blue line, LeGall s one blemish. Zakreski and P eni ka passed the puck before it got to Thompson, after a faceoff win by Kyle Chyzowkski.
3rd 9:00 EVT (PP) Dominik Rymon (Tyler MacKenzie, Rylan Pearce) 1-3	Rymon gets it below the net to MacKenzie, who fakes going around the net and then makes a great backhand pass back to Rymon, who has an empty net as t bet k got totally turned around by MacKenzie s pass. Pearce passed the puck to Rymon from the point.
3rd 17:38 EVT (EN) Landon DuPont (Tyler MacKenzie) 1-4	DuPont with a great shot into the empty net from the outside edge of his defensive right circle. MacKenzie won the faceoff back to him.


Portland leads by 2+	0:00
Portland leads by 1	0:00
Tied	14:40
Portland trails by 1	25:15
Portland trails by 2+	20:05

Narratives

Two teams that were in mediocre or worse form before the game. The Silvertips are attempting to finish the season with the Scotty Munro Trophy for the greatest regular season record, while the Winterhawks are attempting to maintain their lead over Tri-City in fifth place in the Western Conference. We were given Raiden LeGall vs. Ondrej t bet k, who had two bad games against the Silvertips in the past, but we could have had any of the four goalkeeper matches.

First period: Portland played as many minutes as Everett, although Everett won the shots 13–6. The Silvertips had their shots in spurts, particularly on their first power play, although they were unable to convert possession into shots. Dominic Rymon finally converted their shot advantage into a lead, despite K’s strong start.

Second period: Both goalies played well during a chaotic 18–16 period in Everett’s favor. Portland took the lead in the middle of the stanza, but LeGall’s outstanding effort kept them off the scoreboard. Everett then embarked on another offensive run, scoring a goal to give the Winterhawks a 2-0 lead when they were caught off guard.

Third period: After LeGall thwarted Portland’s opportunities to pull within a goal, Everett wins the final portion of the period, gets insurance with a power play goal, and ends with an empty-netter to seal the victory. Ryder Thompson’s goal had put the Winterhawks within a goal.

How it was won: 1) In a game where the Winterhawks had some strong moments, Everett scores 46 points after getting shots in spurts.

2) The Winterhawks were held to one goal on thirty-five shots thanks to a strong performance by Raiden LeGall in goal.

3) With LeGall’s assistance, Portland’s best offensive players—Alex Weirmair, Tyson Jugnauth, Kyle Chyzowski, and Diego Buttazzoni—were held scoreless.

4) Portland’s special teams are the one area where they might have an advantage over Everett, and they need that to win. However, the Silvertips scored one goal on a power play and gave up zero to win the special teams. Portland is currently in third place in the league after leading it for a considerable amount of the season in special teams goal differential.

Key stretch/moment: Portland nods off late in the second half, allowing the Silvertips to score a 2 on 1 after a fantastic feed from Brek Liske to make it 2-0.

Unexpectedly, despite Carter Bear scoring 0 points, the Silvertips prevail.

It should come as no surprise that Everett, who leads the league in shots per game, scores 46 more versus Portland, which is sixth-worst in terms of shots allowed. This season, they have only been outshot three times.

Disputes: Nothing.

Yes, the best squad prevailed.

Suspensions and injuries: Early in the third, Portland’s Reed Brown hit Everett’s Owen Cooper, who did not return.

The players

Top 10		Stat line
Raiden LeGall	EVT	34 saves-35 shots	Faced a lot of quality for his 35 shots, picking up his first win over Portland after losing to them in December.
Dominik Rymon	EVT	2 goals	The opening goal and an insurance goal.
Ondrej t bet k	POR	42 saves-45 shots	Justified the staff s confidence in starting him. He had a chance to stop all 3 goals, but none of them could be considered soft.
Landon DuPont	EVT	1 goal	Was having a great defensive game before the sealer.
Tyler MacKenzie	EVT	2 assists	Two big assists on the last two goals to clinch the win.
Ryder Thompson	POR	1 goal	First goal since January 11 in Regina.
Eric Jamieson	EVT	1 assist	Strong defensive game and an assist on the first goal.
Josh Zakreski	POR	1 assist	Portland s best forward before the assist.
Brek Liske	EVT	1 assist	Long pass created an odd man rush to make it 2-0, the game s key play.
Jaxsin Vaughan	EVT	1 goal	Scored to make it 2-0.

Other notables
Alex Weiermair	POR	5-game point streak snapped.
Tyson Jugnauth	POR	6-game point streak snapped.
Carter Bear	EVT	You would have thought Everett s top scorer going scoreless would have been key.
Diego Buttazzoni	POR	9-game point streak snapped.
Kyle Chyzowski	POR	4-game point streak snapped.

Postgame

	Winterhawks	Silvertips
Record	30-21-2-1 (.583)	40-10-4-3 (.763)
Goals/game	3.9	4.2
Goals allowed/game	4.0	2.7
Team shooting %	.112	.109
Team save %	.885	.904
Power play	25.9%	24.4%
Penalty kill	77.1%	79.0%
Power plays for/game	4.1	3.8
Power plays against/game	3.7	3.6
Outshooting opponents	23-29-2	51-3-3
After 1 period	15-23-16	26-10-21
After 2 periods	20-26-8	39-15-3
Score, last 10 games	35-37 (-2)	35-40 (-5)
Score, last 20 games	79-85 (-6)	71-64 (+7)

The Portland Winterhawks

The Tri-City Americans are just two points behind the Vancouver Giants, who defeated the Kelowna Rockets and are within one point of Portland for fifth place. They keep losing, winning, losing, and winning.

The Everett Silvertips

They continue to lead both the conference and the league by nine points, surpassing both Medicine Hat and Spokane.