Winterhawks Weekly: Win, Lose, and Extra Time

The Portland Winterhawks began the week with an 11-game winning streak.  They ended it beginning a brand new winning streak, as Wednesday against Tri-City wasn't kind, particularly in the waning moments of the game.  Taylor Leier opened the scoring to give the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead after one period.  The second period would end up tied at two, thanks to goals from Chase De Leo and Connor Rankin and Brian Williams scored for Tri-City.  The game would be tied until the last 30 seconds of the game, when Parker Bowles scored the game winner for Tri-City and handed Portland and Brendan Burke a 3-2 loss.

Saturday, the Victoria Royals came calling, and they would jump to a 2-1 lead on goals from Austin Carroll and Brandon Magee, with Leier scoring in between for the Winterhawks.  The score would remain the same for the second period and would also remain that way until six minutes remaining in the third period, when Oliver Bjorkstrand would force overtime and give Portland at least a point in the standing.  Unfortunately, that would be all they get, as Magee would get the game winner in the extra frame, giving Victoria a 3-2 win despite another solid effort from Burke in goal.

Sunday, the Winterhawks welcomed the Regina Pats for the only meeting of the season, and from the start, the Winterhawks were the better team, as they peppered the Pats goaltending with 58 shots.  Nic Petan and Brendan Leipsic scored in the opening frame to make it 2-0.  Dryden Hunt and Leier exchanged goals in the second period to make it 3-1 for the Winterhawks.  Kyle Burroughs kept the Pats in the game with a goal to cut the lead to one, but De Leo and Leier would shut the door for the Winterhawks and give Jarrod Schamerhorn a win in a relatively easy and much needed 5-2 win for the Winterhawks heading into next week.

The Winterhawks welcome their I-5 rival Seattle on Tuesday before hitting the road on Friday against Everett and on Saturday at Kamloops.