WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winterhawks Game Day Preview: Portland vs. Calgary - Game #23

November 21, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Winterhawks host the Calgary Hitmen for the first and only time in 2018. The Hawks enter the game with wins in six of their last eight games.

Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m.

Venue: Moda Center

Tickets: Portland vs. Calgary

Listen: winterhawks.com/listen

Watch: WHL Live

PREVIOUS GAME - Winterhawks 4 vs. Thunderbirds 6: Portland's seven-game point streak came to a close in Seattle despite a big third period push inside the ShoWare Center. The Thunderbirds beat the Hawks 6-4 on Saturday night.

The Winterhawks got on the board early in regulation. During their first power play chance, Jake Gricius snuck in a shot to give the Hawks the early advantage on the road. The goal was confirmed during a stoppage of play via an official booth review. A few minutes later, Clay Hanus scored on a coast-to-coast play up the far wing. He banked a wrist shot off the right leg pad of Liam Hughes to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Goaltender Dante Giannuzzi picked up his first career WHL point on the goal.

The Thunderbirds stole the attention during the remainder of the period. Jared Davidson provided a lift for Seattle by shooting in a rebound to cut the Portland lead in half. That goal was the first in his Western Hockey League career. Before the first period closed, Samuel Huo whacked in a third chance opportunity on the right side post to even the game at 2-2.

Saturday night's middle period belonged to the Thunderbirds. Matthew Wedman scored a pair of goals separated by just 37 second to give Seattle a 4-2 lead. The pair of goals marked the end of a seven game goal scoring drought for the Edmonton, AB native.

In the third, Andrej Kukuca netted his fifth goal of the season and the fifth straight Seattle goal in the game to increase the T-Birds lead to 5-2. Portland did not go away without a fight. Nick Perna battled in the high slot through traffic and scored his first goal in his WHL career. Seattle increased their lead to three after the media timeout.

On the power play, with under two minutes to play, Portland scored the final goal of the night thanks to Jake Gricius' second. Seattle ended its seven game losing streak as goaltender Liam Hughes made a season-high 51 stops.

TODAY'S OPPONENT:

The Calgary Hitmen were on an offensive streak in mid-November, until they were silenced 4-0 in Everett on Tuesday night.

Down 1-0 heading into the third period in Everett, WA last night, Calgary was unable to find the back of the net. All 26 shots were denied, marking the fifth time the Hitmen were shutout this fall. Do not let the goose eggs fool you. When the Hitmen score, they connect in bunches. In the previous five games, the Hitmen scored 23 goals.

Fourth year skater Mark Kastelic is tied for second in the Western Hockey League with 19 goals. Only Portland's Joachim Blichfeld has more goals. The Phoenix native has ten multi-point games this year, including a hat trick against Spokane last weekend.

In late October, the Hitmen acquired forward James Malm (11-13-24) and a conditional draft pick for 2000 birth year forward Tristen Nielsen. The Hitmen made the move to solidify their top six. Calgary's 81 goals is tied for third in the Eastern Conference this weekend, but they sit two games back of a playoff spot as we approach the completion of the first third of the season.

Defensively, Carl Stankowski and Jack McNaughton have shared the work load roughly 50-50 this year. The Hitmen has struggled in recent years against Portland, suffering a 7-3 loss to the Hawks last year and a 9-2 loss in Portland in the spring of 2017. Cody Glass had eight points in those two games.

Wednesday will represent Calgary's fourth straight road game out of seven to end the month of November. Individual tickets are still on sale for the Hawks game tonight against Calgary. Be sure to visit winterhawks.com/tickets for full details on pricing and availability.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2018


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