WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winter Hawks Take First of Back-to-Back Games with Cougars 3-2

Published on December 29, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - The Winter Hawks probably asked for health and luck for Christmas and they certainly had the latter as Portland used three unanswered goals and a strong third period from goaltender Dustin Butler to route the Prince George Cougars 3-2. Butler denied 16 Cougar shots in the third period and 25 of 26 shots in the game. 20-year-old Cody McLeod did his part with a three-point night that included a pair of goals and an assist. The win closes a pair of six-game losing streaks for the Hawks, a six-game winless streak and a six-game winless drought on the road.

Portland continued their dominance over the Cougars this season on Tuesday night and it may be because of that elusive thing called confidence. Portland surely had it going into tonight as they not only led the four-game season series 2-0, the Hawks had completely shut them out, defeating Prince George 4-0 on November 3rd and 5-0 on October 16th. The shutout streak did not continue but the Winter Hawks prevailed due in large part to their penalty killing efforts. Portland had not allowed a Prince George power-play tally in eight attempts in the first two meetings and Portland continued to stifle the Cougar power-play by denying them nine times on Tuesday night. The fourth installment of the season series comes Wednesday night at 7:30 PM, when the Hawks could complete the season sweep.

The Prince George offense came in the form of Brett Parker, who scored both of the Cougar goals. Parker opened the scoring on the delayed penalty with his ninth of the season at 8:51.

The first period was then defined by a series of events with just over six minutes remaining. Portland wound up on the 5-on-3 following a pair of penalties by Adam Lukacovic (high-sticking) and Dan Gendur (slashing) at 13:51. But in less than two minutes Portland went from being down by a goal on the double man advantage, to being down by two goals while on the penalty kill. This is why they call hockey a quick transition sport. Portland's Michael Funk put a quality shot on net about a minute into the 5-on-3, but somehow he ended up in the penalty box after the Real Cyr save. Then Brett Parker broke free and just missed the net on a shorthanded chance, however referee Rob Matsuoka liberally determined that Alex Aldred interfered with Parker enough to justify a penalty shot...nothing like a little drama. Parker did not miss the net the second time and beat Butler with the forehand for his second of the game (shorthanded), giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead at 15:43.

The Hawks appeared a bit shell-shocked following what transpired over the last two minutes but would finally get it going on the power-play. The line of Darrell May, Brandon Dubinsky and Cody McLeod was clicking all night and they were first rewarded at 18:26. May initiated the play and fed the puck to Dubinsky, who put it on net with a backhand. McLeod jumped on the rebound like it was easy prey and put Portland on the board, making it a 2-1 game.

The trio had so much fun the first time that they decided to do it again early in the second period. McLeod tied the game at two with his second of the night just 21 seconds into the period. Again May and Dubinsky cooperatively prepared the scoring chance.

The goal set the tone for the entire second period and as Emmeril the television chef would say, they took it up another a notch. Dan Da Silva delivered the eventual game winner and has Adam Lukacovic to thank for it. Prince George was on the power-play following a Garrett Festerling holding penalty at 2:12. Lukacovic then gave away the puck by passing it right to a speedy Da Silva, who then fed McLeod on a give-and-go. McLeod returned the puck with a slap-pass and Da Silva filed it for his fifteenth of the season at 3:46. The shorthanded marker and third unanswered goal of the game gave the Winter Hawks the 3-2 lead. It was Portland's third shorthanded goal of the season.

The game included another strange series of events in about eight minutes into the second period. Portland defenseman Brendan Mikkelson received a double minor penalty for high-sticking when he inadvertently struck a Prince George player with his stick while following through on a pass. At the time Portland was on their own power-play, which was first cut short by the high-sticking call and then transitioned into what was supposed to be four-minute Cougar power-play. The details are a bit fuzzy but about half way through the man-advantage a Prince A Prince George player stole Cody McLeod's stick as McLeod skated by their bench. The maneuver resulted in another penalty on Kris Deines, who had just returned from the sin bin after a delay of game penalty. Deines was cited for roughing at 10:05, which nullified Mikkelson's double minor. The turn events were huge as the Hawks' held onto the one goal lead that would have most definitely been threatened during a four-minute man-advantage.

Cougar netminder Real Cyr kept his team in it in the second as Portland poured on 20 shots. Portland had to be disappointed Going into the second intermission as they didn't have more than a one goal lead to show for their dominating second period effort.

Portland fell back on their heels a bit in the third period and much of play was in the Portland end. Portland had a couple of chances to seal the win but the third period belonged to the goaltenders and both Cyr and Butler answered each call.

Prince George went on their ninth man-advantage of the night with 1:22 left in the game. They then pulled the goalie for the extra attacker, which proved to be frivolous as Butler stoned a handful of Prince George scoring opportunities to preserve the Portland victory.

Portland was missing a large part of their defensive core as Coburn and Sauer were absent. The multi-talented Alex Aldred played defense for the second consecutive game and rookies Jordie Fike and Cameron Cepek stepped up to fill the void.

Braydon Coburn missed his fourth game due to his role on Team Canada in the World Juniors Tournament in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Team Canada skated to a dominating 9-0 victory over Germany on Tuesday night. Coburn will miss a total of 9 games, returning to the Hawks lineup Friday January 7 in Saskatoon. The bit of good news in regards to health was the latest on goaltender Blake Grenier who has missed 17 games with a sprained ankle. Blake was the official backup goalie on Tuesday and shows signs of an imminent return. However, the team received some bad health news that more than cancels out the good. Rookie defenseman and team leader in plus/minus, Michael Sauer, who was sidelined a couple of games before the Christmas break with an ankle injury, is reported to have a hip injury that may require season ending surgery. Sauer had been bothered by his hip throughout the first half of the season but an MRI this week was not encouraging.

Portland plays their second of back-to-back games with Prince George on Wednesday December 29 at 7:30 PM. The Hawks then return to Portland for their first home game following the Christmas break, Friday December 31st against main rival Seattle in a special New Year's Eve meeting. The annual New Year's Eve game is in the Rose Garden and includes an early 5:00 PM face off. The event includes special holiday activities with carnival-like festivities on the concourse, ice-skating following the game and more. Portland is at Tri-City on New Year's Day (Game Time at 7:05 PM). Then Portland turns around and hosts the Americans the following night, Sunday January 2nd at 5:00 PM in the Memorial Coliseum.

Link to online game sheet: http://www.whl.ca/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=1000466

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 29, 2004


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