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WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winterhawks Pick up Historic 1000th Home Win in 6-5 Shootout Victory over Kelowna

November 20, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Portland Winterhawks cruised through the better part of two periods, but the Rockets bagged four straight goals to force overtime and a shootout, where Portland's Dante Giannuzzi shone with three consecutive saves to cap off another steady showing for #31 and seal the team's 1000th home victory.

Game #17: Portland (6) vs Kelowna (5) *shootout

SOG: POR (36) - KEL (39)

PP: POR (1/3) - KEL (1/4)

Saves: Giannuzzi (34/39 - 3/3 SO) - Boyko (13/18), Knight (18/18 - 2/3 SO)

SCORING:

POR - 2:30 - First Period - Jaydon Dureau (2) from James Stefan and Cross Hanas

POR - 12:00 - First Period - Kyle Chyzowski (1) from Luke Schelter

KEL - 17:29 - First Period - Nolan Flamand (3)

POR - 6:38 - Second Period - Aidan Litke (4) from Kurtis Smythe and Ryan McCleary

POR - 8:13 - Second Period - Tyson Kozak (6) from Cross Hanas

POR - 13:48 - Second Period - Cross Hanas (5) from Kyle Chyzowski

KEL - 18:26 - Second Period - Jake Lee (5)

KEL - 2:38 - Third Period - Caden Price (2) from Pavel Novak

KEL - 4:14 - Third Period - Nolan Flamand (4) from Noah Dorey and Tyson Feist

KEL - 17:50 - Third Period - Steel Quiring (3) from Turner McMillen

The Story:

The Portland Winterhawks' 1000th win on home ice was never going to come easy, but the script of Friday's game was as wild as they come. A rock-solid 38 minutes carried the Hawks to a 5-1 lead, but the Kelowna Rockets roared back with four unanswered goals in the final 22 minutes to force overtime and an eventual shootout.

Portland came out firing in this one, with Jaydon Dureau's power-play marker just 2:30 into the contest signifying the Hawks' intention to solve its slow-starting problem. Kyle Chyzowski added another 10 minutes later, and the Hawks held that two-goal lead until Nolan Flamand grabbed his first of the game before the end of the first.

The floodgates truly opened for the Winterhawks in the second period, with three goals in seven minutes. Aidan Litke got it started at 6:38, followed by Tyson Kozak and Cross Hanas tallies to make it 5-1. Litke and Kozak pounced on loose pucks around the crease, while Hanas joined a 2-on-1 rush from the penalty box and snapped a shot past the blocker of Talyn Boyko, marking the end of Boyko's night as he was relieved by Colby Knight.

The Rockets began to climb back into the contest, with Jake Lee making it 5-2 before the end of the second period, before suddenly taking over with two goals in the first five minutes of the third behind Caden Price's strike and Flamand's second of the game. Steel Quiring completed the comeback with 2:10 to play, forcing another overtime contest between the teams.

After a see-saw extra frame that included a reversed goal call for Kelowna following video review, Jaydon Dureau netted the lone goal of the shootout and Dante Giannuzzi stood tall with three straight saves to help the Winterhawks recover for a massive 6-5 shootout win. The win marks Portland's 1000th on home ice in club history.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT presented by BBF TECHNOLOGIES:

"It was an awesome win. The boys pulled it through at the end. We had a great start and we got the 1000th win. We were trying to come out fast, get pucks deep, and we came out with the win and we can hopefully win tomorrow, too."

Winterhawks forward Aidan Litke

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from November 20, 2021


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