WHL Portland Winterhawks

Kootenay Finally Overcomes Portland Goalie to Win 5-1

Published on February 15, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Portland goaltender Kurtis Mucha made a bundle of phenomenal saves, but he could not stop Kootenay's Ryan Russell on a third period, shorthanded breakaway.

With the Winter Hawks only trailing 2-1, Russell stormed in alone on Mucha and it looked like the Portland goalie was going to stop him too. But, the goal light came on and the Ice added two more late goals for a 5-1 win Wednesday in Memorial Coliseum.

Steve DaSilva scored twice, the second into an empty net, and added a beautiful assist on a second period power play goal for Kootenay. Matt Schmermund (SCHMEER-mund) scored the Hawks' only goal on a power play deflection and was probably Portland's most dangerous player throughout the game.

Portland, (15-41-1-1), hosts the 26th annual Fred Meyer $10,000 Dash for Cash as the Tri-City Americans are in town this Saturday at 7:30 in Memorial Coliseum (TV on Comcast CNW-14, Audio Webcast at winterhawks.com, In-Arena Audio at 96.5 FM). The Lethbridge Hurricanes make their only visit on Monday for a special 2:00 President's Day afternoon matinee.

Kootenay, (39-13-3-3), came into Wednesday's game in second place in the Central Division, 8 points behind Medicine Hat with 3 games in hand. The Ice was unbeaten in 5, (4-0-1-0), and (19-3-3-0) in its previous 25, but has still not managed to gain much ground on Medicine Hat, who is just about as hot as Kootenay has been. Kootenay only has three NHL draft picks on its roster and a couple that are rated for the upcoming draft. But, they are a team that prides itself in a lot of depth. Six of their players boast of 3 or more winning goals. They are led in scoring by former Winter Hawk Dan DaSilva's little brother, Steve, who came into Wednesday's game with 29 goals and 69 points, sixth in the league. Eight players on Kootenay have 17u goals or more. The top scorers for the Hawks, Frazer McLaren and Nick Hotson, each came into Wednesday's game with 16 goals.

Kootenay has shown off its depth recently as probably their most dynamic player, forward Ben Maxwell (2nd round, Montreal Canadiens) has not played since January 2 with an elbow injury and yet they have been one of the league's most successful teams while he has been out. Portland scratched Colton Sceviour for the 20th straight game, still out for 2-3 weeks as he recovers from a broken foot. Doctors want to make sure his bone heals completely before he plays again. Defenseman Stefan Langwieder is still out "day to day" with a head injury suffered in last Friday night's loss in Prince George.

The Ice has been one of the most consistent, winning franchises in the league. They are current in their 8th straight winning season, tops in the WHL, and will win 40 or more games for the 3rd straight season and for the 5th time in the last 8 years. They seem to never miss an age level when they make their choices in the annual WHL Bantam draft, and if their draft is a little on the weak side, they seem to be able to add players after the draft that have impact.

The Hawks had trouble moving the puck out of their end right from the opening face off and it resulted in a couple of early penalties. Kootenay got a couple of good chances on its first power play, but Portland goalie Kurtis Mucha stoned Curtis Billsten in tight. The second Portland penalty kill kept Kootenay from getting a shot on net, but the Hawks were not able to get any pucks on Ice goalie Kris Lazaruk, even with the power play, which also had great difficulty getting up the ice setting up lately. On Kootenay's third power play, with Frazer McLaren in the box for a check from behind penalty assessed on one of Portland's few forechecking shifts. Mucha stopped Dustin Sylvester point blank range. On the next sequence, he stopped the initial shot by Paul Kurceba, but the Ice flooded the net and created a big scramble. Mucha stopped Clayton Bauer, Andrew Bailey, and DaSilva at least once, all in the crease, before DaSilva had time to lift it in at 15:03. If was all Kootenay would get in that period. Mucha made an incredible stop on Trent Fussi, sweeping the puck right off his stick as it appeared he would slam home an automatic goal. He also stopped Billsten again, point blank range. The "Mucha Show" kept Portland in the game as shots were 16-2, but the score only 1-0.

Portland had more territorial play in the second period, but not many shots actually got through to Kootenay goalie Kris Lazaruk. Teegan Moore nearly tied it up early in the period as Matt Schmermund made a nice play under pressure on the boards in his own zone, chipping the puck to center ice and sending Nick Hotson and Moore away on a 2-on-1. Hotson fed Moore, driving down the slot, but he hit the crossbar with a wrist shot. Mucha made another terrific save on Andrew Bailey's backhand and also stopped Billsten again in the low slot on the power play. Portland had another good sequence as Tristan King put a nice cross-ice pass on the stick of Max Gordichuk, who fired a hard slapshot that created a dangerous rebound. King got there for a second chance, but his shot was blocked by Tylan Stephens. Just a few moments later, Schmermund forced a turnover and used his great speed to drive right to the net, lifting a point blank range backhand that Lazaruk's quick reaction flicked away. Then, a key moment. Portland was on the power play when Kootenay 20-year-old defenseman Mike Busto, the #4 defense scorer in the league with 52 points, jumped into a rush through center ice to create a 3-on-2, shorthanded, for Kootenay. Portland wound up taking two penalties on the transition, a slash to Gordichuk and a hook to Cameron Cepek. A perfect 5-on-3 passing play from Chad Greenan to DaSilva to Ryan Russell for an open net tap-in made it 2-0 after two. Shots were 9-3, Kootenay, although those numbers did not give Portland enough credit for attack zone time in that period.

The Hawks got within one at 5:57 of the third period as defenseman Luke Alexiuk did a good job of holding the zone, banking the pass to Viktor Sjodin on left wing for a quick shot that Schmermund neatly deflected under the crossbar to make it 2-1. The Hawks had one decent chance to tie it, a power play tip by Sjodin that Lazaruk fought off. Then, the killer goal. Russell took advantage of a power play breakout pass that did not connect just outside the Hawks' line. He absolutely flew by everyone on the way to Mucha, all alone, and stuffed a backhand, shorthanded goal with 9:38 left. King came right back for Portland with a power play shot from the slot that Lazaruk stopped, King following his shot and getting another backhand away from deep in the zone that just missed. Portland pulled Mucha with about 1:35 left and Sjodin chasing down a dump-in in the Kootenay zone. But, the agile, quick Ice defense won the race to the puck and moved it rapidly out of the zone, DaSilva getting his second of the game into an empty net. Michael Stickland completed the scoring, beating Mucha with a shot from the right circle on a developing 2-on-1.

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 15, 2007


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