WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winterhawks Game Day Preview: Portland vs. Spokane

March 18, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Portland (44-22-1-4) vs. Spokane (40-25-3-3) - 5:00 p.m. - Moda Center, Portland, OR

Listen: http://winterhawks.com/listen

Tickets for Tonight: http://bit.ly/2FKisup

Playoff Tickets: http://bit.ly/2GutMrK

The Hawks finish their regular season against the team they will be facing in the first-round of the playoffs in the Spokane Chiefs. Portland leads the season series versus Spokane 5-2-0-0. However, Chiefs forward and Edmonton Oilers draft-pick Kailer Yamamoto dressed in just one of those games for Spokane. The last time these two teams faced one another was way back on January 5th in Spokane.

Reminder, prior to tonight's game, Portland will be handing out their team awards, including top rookie, best defenseman and most-valuable-player.

PREVIOUS GAME: Winterhawks 1 at Thunderbirds 5: The Thunderbirds took advantage of a penalty filled contest, as Seattle took down Portland 5-1 at the ShoWare Center in Kent.

Seattle got on the board 3:41 into the first period on a point-shot from Reece Harsch to make it 1-0 Thunderbirds. Then, with under five minutes left in the frame, Austin Strand converted on a one-timer on the powerplay to make it 2-0 Seattle.

In the second, the Hawks nearly got back within one on a shorthanded two-on-one with Alex Overhardt and Cody Glass, but Portland couldn't convert. With 4:08 remaining in the period, it was another Seattle defender, Turner Ottenbreit, burying a loose-puck in the crease to make it 3-0 Seattle heading into the third.

In the final frame, Henri Jokiharju got the Hawks on the board on a shot from the blue-line to make it 3-1. For Jokiharju, it was his third straight game with a goal. But Seattle would would come right back, scoring on the power-play with 6:40 left in the third to go up 4-1. Seattle would add one more late to make it a 5-1 final. Combined between the two teams, there were 15 powerplays in the game.

The Hawks end up taking the season-series versus Seattle 8-1-1-2.

TODAY'S OPPONENT: The Chiefs took down the Tri-City Americans to officially take the third-seed in the U.S. Division. With the win, Spokane sets up a first-round matchup in the playoffs with Portland.

After playing some of their best hockey of the season in the month of February (10-2-0-0), the Chiefs have struggled a tad in the month of March. Spokane is just 4-4-0-1 over their last nine games, and have averaged 3.9 goals-against per-game over that span.

After a slow start to his season, Chiefs forward Kailer Yamamoto has been one of the top players in the league in the 2018. In the new year, Yamamoto has 52 points in just 27 games, good for fourth most in the WHL over the span. Yamamoto has played in just one game against Portland this season, recoding a goal and an assist.

Goaltender Dawson Weatherill had also been playing some excellent hockey for Spokane for much of 2018. Between January 1st and March 1st, Weatherill ranked sixth in the league with a 2.56 GAA. But since the first of this month, Weatherill is 3-2-0-1 with a 4.15 GAA and a .853 SV%.

Against Portland this season the Chiefs goaltender is 1-3-0-0 with a 3.98 GAA.

WINTERHAWKS TO KEEP AN EYE ON: Henri Jokiharju enters tonight's game with goals in three-straight contests. The Finnish D-man has 71 points on the season, the most by a Winterhawks defenseman since Brandan Smith recorded 82 points during the 1993-94 season.

Alex Overhardt has played extremely well against Spokane this year, recording two goals and seven points over seven games. Heading into his final regular season game in the WHL, Overhardt has set career-highs in goals, assists, points and plus/minus this season.

Skyler McKenzie leads all Hawks players in goals (5) and points (13) versus the Chiefs in seven games. McKenzie enters tonight with 46 goals on the year, good for seventh in the WHL.

Tonight will also be the final WHL regular season game for over-age players Keoni Texeira, Alex Overhardt and Cole Kehler.

STAT OF THE DAY: When Ryan Hughes scores a goal, the Hawks are 11-1-0-2.

Here's how the two teams have played head-to-head this season:

Winterhawks: 5-2-0-0   Chiefs: 2-5-0-0

This Year's Season Series:

10/06/17 - Portland 6 @ Spokane 1

10/08/17 - Spokane 2 @ Portland 7

10/10/17 - Spokane 0 @ Portland 3

11/03/17 - Portland 4 @ Spokane 1

12/12/17 - Portland 4 @ Spokane 2

12/16/17 - Spokane 6 @ Portland 3

01/05/18 - Portland 3 @ Spokane 9

03/18/18 - Spokane @ Portland

This is the final game of the regular season for Portland! The first-round of the playoffs begin next weekend, with the Hawks hosting the Chiefs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum both Saturday and Sunday.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central