WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winterhawks Earn Big Comeback Win Saturday

Published on September 4, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Portland Winterhawks twice overcame four-goal deficits to earn a dramatic 6-5 comeback win over the Ontario Hockey League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in preseason action Saturday afternoon in Everett, Washington.

The Greyhounds scored the lone goal of the first period at the 2:54 mark with a two-man advantage, then scored three straight goals to open the second period to take a 4-0 lead.

The Winterhawks got on the board when Teal Burns scored a power play goal with a two-man advantage at the 12:37 mark, but the Greyhounds responded three minutes later to again go up by four goals, taking a 5-1 lead.

Second-year forward Gasper Kopitar narrowed the deficit to 5-2 with under two minutes to go in the second period giving the Winterhawks momentum heading into the third.

Portland cut the Greyhounds' lead to 5-3 when Oliver Gabriel scored a power play goal at the 4:33 mark. Gabriel now has three goals in two games after scoring two against Seattle yesterday. The Winterhawks completed the comeback with two goals in a span of 43 seconds midway through the period when Spencer Bennett and Brendan Leipsic scored in quick succession. Leipsic was Portland's sixth round pick in the 2009 Bantam Draft.

The score remained 5-5 through the end of regulation, setting up overtime. With 2:53 gone by in the extra frame defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon gave the Winterhawks the victory when he beat Sault Ste. Marie netminder Matt Murray with assists to Gabriel and Burns.

Portland outshot the Greyhounds 42-33 in the game. Keith Hamilton got the win in net for Portland, stopping 28 of 33 shots, including all 14 he faced in the third period and overtime. Murray finished with 36 saves on Portland's 42 shots.

The Winterhawks are back in action tomorrow morning when they take on the Spokane Chiefs at 11:30 a.m. in Everett.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from September 4, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central