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WHL Portland Winterhawks

Stefan Stars as Hawks Top Chiefs 8-5

December 9, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Portland, Ore. - James Stefan's first WHL regular-season hat-trick highlighted Portland's return to the win column as the Winterhawks took a wild 8-5 win over the Spokane Chiefs on Friday night. Portland's Justen Maric stopped 36 of 41 shots for the win.

Stefan scored twice in the first five minutes of the game, then tacked on another in the second period as the Hawks grew their lead. His first came just 50 seconds into the contest; after a Marek Alscher net drive resulted in the puck popping up, Stefan impressively batted it in with his back to the net for a 1-0 Hawks lead. After Hayden Pupanekis tied things up for the Chiefs at 3:57, the 20-year-old Stefan bagged his second of the night to restore Portland's lead with a shot along the ice from the high slot just 17 seconds later. The scoring flurry continued 29 seconds later as Josh Zakreski ripped a shot from the left wing into the top corner for a 3-1 lead, but Berkly Catton brought the Chiefs back within one before the end of the frame.

The Winterhawks boosted their lead with two goals early in the second, first from Marek Alscher. The Czech blueliner notched his second of the season 4:14 into the frame as he corralled a loose puck and fired a shot through Dawson Cowan that just snuck over the line. Stefan then completed his hat-trick four minutes later, taking a Gabe Klassen pass while flying through the center lane and coolly slotting it past Cowan. Still, Spokane pushed, and two goals bookending the second intermission from Conner Roulette and Chase Bertholet brought them to within a goal.

The back-and-forth rolled on through the third - Carter Sotheran first restored Portland's two-goal lead with a solo highlight-reel effort to weave through defenders and past Cowan, followed by Catton's second of the game for Spokane - but the Hawks held fast to a 6-5 lead as the game hit its final stretch, and were rewarded with two empty-net tallies by Marcus Nguyen and Josh Davies.

The Hawks are back to work tomorrow night for a sold-out Teddy Bear Toss game against the Seattle Thunderbirds. VMC doors open at 4:30 P.M. for a 6:00 P.M. puck drop to give fans time to arrive for the game with their bears. The game will also be carried on Portland's CW.

-- WINTERHAWKS.COM -

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