Hawks Zero In on Second Place with Win
Published on January 31, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release
Dan Da Silva (Duh-SILVA) scored his 15th goal in his last 17 games, and his team-leading 27th goal of the season, early in the third period as the Portland Winter Hawks edged the Everett Silvertips, 3-2, in front of 10,542 Friday in the Rose Garden.
The Hawks, who played a near flawless game, had to nail down the win with numerous clutch defensive plays in the final minute after Everett had pulled its goalie for an extra attacker.
Portland dominated territorial play, outshooting Everett 36-16, but Hawks' goalie Krister Toews made a big save on Everett forward Barry Horman on the Silvertips' best chance to tie the game as time ran down.
Brad Priestlay and Robin Big Snake also scored for Portland and John Dahl (DOLL) and Mitch Love scored for Everett in the closing minutes of the second period to rally the Silvertips from a 2-0 deficit.
Da Silva stole the puck from an Everett defender and scored, unassisted, 3:50 into the third period for the winner.
The Hawks have won 5 of their last 6 games. They travel to Tri-Cities tomorrow, Saturday, (airtime at 6:35 on 970-AM KUPL) and then host Prince George in Memorial Coliseum next Wednesday at 7:00.
Portland, (24-21-4-1) for 53 points, is now just 1 point behind second place Everett, (23-19-7-1). The Hawks are still 5 points behind first place Tri-Cities, who beat Kamloops Friday night on home ice.
The Hawks have had a harder time winning at home lately than on the road. Portland snapped a 6-game home ice winless streak, (0-4-1-1), with a 5-4 win over Spokane in the Rose Garden last Friday. The Hawks had won 3 in a row, and 7 of their last 9, on the road until losing, 6-0, at Kelowna in their last game last Saturday.
Everett has had the best record of any team in the U.S. Division recently, (10-5-3) in its last 18 games. They were missing two key players in 20-year-old forward Chad Bassen, who is tied for the team scoring lead with 31 points, and Slovak defenseman Ivan Baranka, a 3rd round pick of the New York Rangers, who is one of the reasons Everett came into the game second in the league behind Kelowna in team defense, allowing just 2.22 goals per game.
Portland, which is healthy right now, has 23 players on the roster and only 20 can dress for any one game. So, the Hawks scratched 17-year-old defenseman Taylor Sutherlin, 17-year-old forward Kyle Bailey and 16-year-old forward Frazer Mc Laren on Friday.
It is significant to score first against the veteran, experienced, defensive, system- oriented Silvertips, who are (15-3-3) when scoring the first goal. It only took Portland 1:58 to put a dent in the âTips' net. Richie Regehr, who was a force at both end of the ice while setting up the game's first two goals, came through center ice, appearing as though he was just going to send the puck into the Everett zone. Instead, he found Priestlay with a perfect up ice pass, full speed into the Everett zone. Priestlay fired from the right wing, beating Everett goalie Jeff Harvey clean. Portland had to weather quite a bit of Everett attack time early in the game, but only allowed one decent chance as Toews came up with a solid pad stop on Everett forward Marc Desloges (Duh-LOHJ) after an extended battle along the boards in the Portland corner. The Hawks made it 2-0 at 13:05 of the period after Everett forward Martin Ruzicka (Rooz-EECH-kuh) lost his stick along the right wing boards. Regehr, given a little extra time and space, successfully stickhandled into position for a solid entry shot with Big Snake on the door step for the deflection. The Hawks outshot Everett 9-4 in the period, which had quite a bit of pace and several good hits, led by Regehr, again, with a crunching check on âTip forward Jeff Schmidt at center ice.
Portland completely dominated most of the second period, giving the Silvertips no scoring chances, and owning territorial play, until the last few minutes of the period. But, the Hawks did not finish off a couple of decent chances on a power play midway through the period. Still up 2-0 and looking for the kill, good board work provided a quality chance in the low slot for Alex Aldred, but his backhand was kicked out by Harvey. The Silvertips broke on a transition rush that looked harmless as it came through center ice. The Hawks had three players back in decent defensive position, but a missed assignment allowed Dahl, Everett's leading goal scorer, to get to the net unchecked. Desloges drove wide, down the right wing boards, and sent the puck to the crease for Dahl to tip past Toews with 4:43 left in the second period. Portland came back and a good pass at the Everett line created a partial breakaway for Brandon Dubinsky, but the puck was on edge. As Dubinsky tired to settle it down for a good shot, the puck continued to bounce, so he had to just bat it toward the goal on his backhand. Harvey made the save and the Hawks went to the net to look for a rebound. Harvey was shaken up in the collision and Da Silva was sent to the penalty box for roughing. Harvey would later leave the net and limp to the Everett dressing room as back-up Michael Wall finished the period. Meanwhile, the Hawks killed the entire two minutes of the power play without giving up any high quality chances, but just as Da Silva stepped back on the ice from the box, Mitch Love lifted a wrist shot from the right point that hit Hawks' defenseman Michael Funk's stick and ricocheted into the top corner of the net, high blocker. After totally ruling almost all of the first 40 minutes, the Hawks found themselves tied, 2-2, and very frustrated.
But, the Hawks shook it off and went back to work in the third. Before Da Silva scored the winner, Darrell May was robbed by Harvey, who shook off the cramp or whatever ailment had forced him out of the game in the second period. Harvey made a terrific glove save, along the ice, on May, who appeared to have an open net off a pretty feed by Big Snake. Again, the Hawks just kept working, kept their composure, and finally were rewarded with a critical Everett mistake. Dubinsky actually forced the error as he sped in behind the net on a Silvertip defenseman, causing a quick outlet pass that Da Silva picked off on left wing, cut to the net, and waited out Harvey with a nice deke, lifting it in for what proved to be the winner. Portland's near perfect game continued as the third period unfolded. The Hawks, in fact, did not allow a shot on goal for the first 15 minutes of the period. Then, down by a goal, Everett started to press and gain some play in the Portland zone. Still, nothing really serious happened until after Harvey went to the bench for an extra attacker. Even then, the only glorious chance came when Horman fired from the inside of the right circle, low slot, and Toews made the stop on the short side with his glove. Braydon Coburn poke checked away the rebound and Toews also relieved pressure on another occasion with a deft pokecheck.
All in all, a very exciting way for the Hawks to become only the fourth team to beat Everett by one goal in regulation all season. The Silvertips are now (12-4-0-1) in one-goal games.
Western Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2004
- Silvertips Blaze to Victory - Everett Silvertips
- Brandon Wheat Kings Game Notes - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Winter Hawks Edge Silvertips 3-2 - Everett Silvertips
- Seattle falls short on four-point goal - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Hawks Zero In on Second Place with Win - Portland Winterhawks
- Chiefs drop heartbreaker in OT - Spokane Chiefs
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