Friday began the Portland Winterhawks' attempt to break through to the Memorial Cup for the first time in three tries. Their first round opponent is the Everett Silvertips, and many (including this guy) expected the Winterhawks to roll over the Silvertips in both games. It didn't exactly go as planned, as the Silvertips took game one 4-3, thanks to a big effort by the Silvertips' Austin Lotz. 58 shots were fired upon him, yet he managed to save 55 of them, and the Silvertips found an offense that had been lacking for much of the season en route to a shocking win. Game two went more like many expected, with the Winterhawks taking a 4-1 decision on Saturday and the series will shift to Everett for games three and four.
And now, the coaching hat gets put on for both teams.
For Portland to win, they have to keep the pressure on Lotz and maintain a defensive pressure that was present for game two. For Everett to win, Lotz has to keep his team in the game and somehow hope that the Silvertips will have some offense to go with it as it was in game one. The Silvertips don't have a lot of pressure to win, so playing hard is something that they have to keep doing, as you never know what will happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment