Winterhawks Weekly: Division Rivals Clawing Away

The Portland Winterhawks started the week on top of the U.S. Division and ended the week the same way...barely.  Tuesday, the Winterhawks welcomed a Seattle Thunderbirds squad that hasn't fared so well since the trade for Jaimen Yakubowski and Sam McKechnie a few weeks ago (their former team Lethbridge has since traded another disgruntled player Ryan Pilon to Brandon and just now cracked the double digit point total for the season).  It was not a good night if you were a goaltender for Seattle this night, as the Winterhawks skated out to a 5-0 lead after one period on goals from Brendan Leipsic, Paul Bittner, Chase De Leo, Derrick Pouliot, and Nic Petan, with Pouliot's goal forcing the Thunderbirds to switch goaltenders, as Justin Myles was chased for Danny Mumaugh.  Bittner would put Portland up 6-0 before Shea Theodore would finally put Seattle on the board to make it 6-1 heading into the third period.  Taylor Leier would get in on the scoring, making it 7-1, with Bittner making the hats fly on his third goal of the night to make it 8-1.  Oliver Bjorkstrand and De Leo would sandwich a Justin Hickman goal to make the final 10-2 and give Brendan Burke the win in a relatively easy game for the team as they hit the road for the weekend.

Friday, the Winterhawks travelled to Everett to take on the Silvertips, who finally have the results (again) to go with their tough play that has identified them through their existence.  Manraj Hayer and Tyler Sandhu put Everett up 2-0 after one period, with Sandhu (who was the key player for Everett in a trade that saw Seth Jones go to Portland a couple of seasons ago) adding another in the second period to make it 3-0.  Bjorkstrand and Pouliot made it a game for the Winterhawks, but they could not get any closer, falling 3-2 and into a first place tie with Everett...for the evening.  Burke took the loss.

Saturday was expected to be a tough game at Kamloops with the shortened time for preparation, as the Everett game started later than most games the previous evening.  However, special teams lived up to its title, as the Winterhawks crushed a Blazers team that doesn't have the offensive talent of recent years.  It was close early on, as the Winterhawks and Blazers combined for five goals.  Leipsic opened the scoring, but Chase Souto and Cole Ully would put Kamloops ahead. midway through the period.  However, it would not last, as Leier and Leipsic would give the Winterhawks the lead after the period.  Souto tied the game, but that would be where the good for Kamloops ended, as the Winterhawks dominated the rest of the way.  Pouliot and De Leo added goals on the power play to make it 5-3 after two periods.  Petan and De Leo would add shorthanded goals 27 seconds apart to give the Winterhawks a 7-3 win and Burke his second win in three contests for the week.  Combined with the SIlvertips' loss to Prince George the same evening, the Winterhawks escape with the U.S. Division lead for the week.

The Winterhawks play on Friday against Spokane and on Saturday against Seattle, with the Winterhawks looking to pad their lead on their division rivals.