WHL Portland Winterhawks

T-Birds Take First Game of Home-and-Home Series, 4-2

Published on December 31, 2005 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Seattle, WA - Portland and Seattle played the first game of a home-and-home series on Friday night and the Thunderbirds took the first half of the weekend matchup with a 4- 2 win at Key Arena. Yashar Farmanara scored the game winner two minutes into the third period, his first goal of the season. The win ended the Thunderbirds 7-game losing streak. Frazer McLaren and Brandon Dubinsky scored for the Winter Hawks.

Friday was the fifth of a dozen meetings and Seattle now leads the season series 4-1. Portland will get a chance to cut into Seattle's series lead when they host the Thunderbirds for part two of the home-and-home series, Saturday for the annual New Year's Eve game in the Rose Garden at 5 PM.

In the previous four meetings, Portland outshot Seattle 170 (42.5 avg) to 88 (22.0 avg) but the Thunderbirds launched more rubber on Friday night, outshooting the Winter Hawks 38-25. Portland has now been outshot in its last seven games and 9 of its last 11.

Portland moves to 16-15-1-2 on the season (35 points). Portland snapped a 5-game losing streak with a 6-5 overtime win over Kamloops on Thursday night in the Rose Garden but with Friday's loss the Hawks have just two wins in their last ten games.

Goaltender, Dustin Butler, made his first start since December 11th, an 8-1 loss to the Spokane Chiefs. And it was Butler's first appearance since he briefly relieved Luke Shier in Portland's 5-2 loss to the Kelowna Rockets on December 16th.

The Winter Hawks came out hustling and scored the first goal of the game for the first time in five games. Seattle netminder, Andrew Pinsent, turned away Sasha Golin's initial shot but Frazer McLaren cashed in the rebound to give Portland the 1-0 lead at 2:01 of the first period. Golin and Lenny Thunderchild assisted on McLaren's third goal of the season. The Thunderbirds evened the score with a 4-on-3 power- play goal. Clayton Barthel retrieved an attempted clearing pass, and turned and fired a high slap shot past Butler's glove with five minutes remaining in the period. Seattle outshot Portland 10-6 in the first period.

Minutes into the second frame, Portland regained the lead with their second shorthanded goal in two games. Nick Hotson scored a shorthanded goal early in the second period in Portland's 6-5 OT win on Thursday night and Brandon Dubinsky scored while on the penalty-kill early in the second period on Friday night. Rookie defenseman, Scott Gabriel, was cited for checking from behind at 3:27 and 21 seconds later, Dubinsky picked up a turnover, came in on a partial break and beat Pinsent with a 5-hole wrist shot, giving the Winter Hawks a 2-1 lead at 3:48 of the second period. Seattle tied the game when Mitch Fadden lifted a backhand shot over Butler's glove on the short side at 10:09. The game remained tied after the first 40 minutes. In the second period, Portland scored one goal on 11 shots and Seattle had a goal on 16 shots.

Seattle took their first lead of the game just 2:05 into the third period when Yashar Farmanara scored his first goal of the season. After being on the losing end of a couple of shots that hit goal posts, Portland pulled goaltender, Dustin Butler, in favor of the extra attacker with 1:44 remaining in the game. Chris Durand iced the win when he blocked a shot from the blueline and skated in for an empty-net goal with five seconds left. Seattle outshot Portland 12-8 in the third period and 38-25 in the game.

Defenseman, Mike McDonald, was a healthy scratch. Cameron Cepek is still listed month-to-month with a broken wrist (Missed 15 games). Rookie right wing, Colton Sceviour, is also month-to-month with a broken jaw (Missed 5 games). Team Captain, Brian Woolger, is week-to-week with a shoulder injury.

The Hawks host the Thunderbirds for the annual New Year's Eve game in the Rose Garden, Saturday, December 31st, with the special start time of 5 PM. After the holiday, the Winter Hawks begin 2006 with four games in five nights. The Moose Jaw Warriors come to the Rose City on Wednesday, January 4th at 7 PM in Memorial Coliseum. Portland then travels to Kennewick on Friday to play the Tri-City Americans. The Kamloops Blazers come to Portland for the second time in nine days, Saturday, January 7th at 7 PM in Memorial Coliseum. And the Hawks end next weekend with a Sunday afternoon visit to Vancouver, taking on the Giants on January 8th at 5 PM. Call 236-HAWK (4295) for tickets.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2005


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