WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winterhawks Close Regular Season With 3-1 Win In Seattle

Published on March 13, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Portland Winterhawks wrapped up the regular season in Seattle Saturday with a 3-1 win over the Thunderbirds. With the victory, the Winterhawks earned a sweep of the season series, going 12-0 against their I-5 rival this season. Portland finishes the regular season with a record of 44-25-2-1, for 91 points.

Portland opened the scoring midway through the first period when Brad Ross notched his 27th goal of the season at the 10:48 mark to make it 1-0. It would be the only goal of the first period, as Portland goaltender Mac Carruth stopped all 16 shots he faced in the first.

Carruth was equally good in the second period, turning away all 11 Thunderbirds shots as the two teams were scoreless in the period, keeping Portland's 1-0 lead intact going into the third.

In that third period, Ryan Johansen scored his third goal in the last two games and 25th of the season when he pounced on a rebound off a Taylor Aronson shot and put it past Seattle netminder Calvin Pickard at the 7:13 mark to make it 2-0. Seattle got on the board with a power play goal by Brendan Rouse at the 12:56 mark, cutting the Winterhawks' lead to 2-1. Then with less than a minute to go the Thunderbirds pulled Pickard for an extra attacker as they tried to tie the game, but Nino Niederreiter sealed the win with an empty net goal to give Portland a 3-1 victory.

The Winterhawks had swept the Thunderbirds just once before, going 10-0 in the 1980-81 season. The 12-game winning streak also marks their longest streak over Seattle in franchise history.

Carruth played extremely well Saturday, stopping 39 of the 40 shots he faced to earn his 14th victory. The Winterhawks fired 36 shots at Pickard.

The Playoffs are set to begin next weekend, and the Winterhawks will play the Spokane Chiefs in the first round. By virtue of the Chiefs' win over Tri-Cities Saturday, Spokane finishes fourth in the conference and will have home ice advantage over the Winterhawks, who finish fifth in the conference.

The first round schedule will be announced early in the week following the conclusion of the WHL's regular season tomorrow.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 13, 2010


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