WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winterhawks Defeat Kootenay 5-1 Friday Night

Published on October 23, 2009 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Portland Winterhawks capped their six-game road trip through the WHL's Central Division with a 5-1 win Friday night over the Kootenay Ice.

With the victory, the team's third straight, the Winterhawks finished the season-long trip 4-2, with wins over Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Kootenay, and they improved their record to 11-5 on the season, maintaining their hold on first place in the U.S. Division.

Portland opened the scoring Friday night just 3:50 into the game, when Luke Walker scored his ninth of the season, beating Kootenay goaltender Nathan Lieuwen to make it 1-0. It took just 20 seconds to extend the lead, as Riley Boychuk notched his sixth goal of the season to give the Winterhawks a 2-0 advantage. The Ice got one back at the 6:19 mark with a power play goal from Kevin King to make it 2-1, a score that would hold through the end of the first period.

The Winterhawks then fired 14 shots at Lieuwen in the second period, and got one past him when Brad Ross scored his eighth goal of the season at the 14:01 mark, making it 3-1 in favor of Portland.

Portland kept the pressure on in the third period, and Walker got his second of the game and 10th of the season to make it 4-1 in favor of the Winterhawks at the 4:21 mark. A few minutes later Winterhawks defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon scored his first career WHL goal with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle and gave Portland a 5-1 lead.

Following Wotherspoon's goal, the Ice pulled goalie Lieuwen and replaced him with Todd Matthews, and he stopped the five Winterhawks shots he faced, keeping the final score at 5-1.

Kurtis Mucha got the start in net for Portland, and stopped 33 of Kootenay's 34 shots. With the win he improved his record to 5-3. In addition to Walker's two goals, Chris Francis and Ty Rattie each had two assists on the night. Meanwhile, Nino Niederreiter had an assist, which extended his scoring streak to 10 games, a span in which he posted five goals and seven assists for 12 points.

The Winterhawks will return to Portland over the weekend, and their next game is Tuesday night at home against the Brandon Wheat Kings. The puck drops at the Memorial Coliseum at 7 p.m.

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Western Hockey League Stories from October 23, 2009


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