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Portland Winterhawks

Winterhawks Take Point in Rubber Match with Chiefs

April 15, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


A 51-shot performance by Portland only earns a point after Spokane ties it late on the power play and wins it in overtime.

Game #12: Spokane (4) at Portland (3) - OT

SOG: SPO (27) - POR (51)

PP: SPO (1/3) - POR (0/2)

Saves: Beaupit (48) - Giannuzzi (23)

SCORING:

POR - :51 - First Period - Simon Knak (8) assisted by Nick Cicek

POR - 15:01 - First Period - Kyle Chyzowski (3) assisted by Luca Cagnoni

SPO - 6:17 - Second Period - Blake Swetlikoff assisted by Erik Atchison and Matt Leduc

SPO - 5:35 - Third Period - Adam Beckman

POR - 9:10 - Third Period - Tyson Kozak (1) assisted by Seth Jarvis and Jaydon Dureau

SPO - 19:29 - Third Period - Eli Zummack assisted by Bobby Russell and Adam Beckman

SPO - 3:27 - Overtime - Eli Zummack assisted by Bobby Russell

The Story:

Putting a bow on the first half of their season schedule, the Winterhawks welcomed the Spokane Chiefs to Veterans Memorial Coliseum Wednesday.

The third meeting in a row between the two teams opened with the most dominant period of the season to date for Portland. Just 51 seconds in Simon Knak started the attack with his eighth goal of the season. The Hawks leading goal scorer entered the offensive zone one-on-four and put a puck on net that found it's way to the perfect placement, beating Chiefs netminder Mason Beaupit for a 1-0 lead.

The home team stepped comfortably in the driver's seat from that point on, eventually winning the first period shots battle 17-5.

Prior to reaching the end of the first 20 minutes, rookies Luca Cagnoni and Kyle Chyzowski connected to make it 2-0 Portland. Cagnoni stepped up to steal a clearing attempt by Spokane and shuffled a puck down low to his fellow first-year player for his second goal in as many games.

The Winterhawks hot start forced the visiting crew to make some adjustments, guiding them to cut their deficit in half in the second and then start the third with an equalizer.

As time wound down in the third though it looked as if a capitalized two-on-one between Seth Jarvis and Tyson Kozak for Kozak's first of the year was going to be the game-winner. The Carolina Hurricanes first round selection fluttered a pass over to Kozak on the near-side boards, where he dropped to a knee and blasted a one-timer high to make it 3-2.

Hanging onto that lead, the home team then found themselves in hot water when they took a penalty with 1:05 to go, subsequently leading to Spokane pulling their goalie.

Then, six-on-four, the Chiefs cashed in on their opportunity and sent the game to overtime at 3-3.

In the OT, they claimed the extra point, as Eli Zummack beat Dante Giannuzzi for the win.

THEY SAID IT

"You never like to give up a lead in the third. I talked to the team and said we have to be more mature, we can't take a penalty like we did at the blue line late in the game. In the neutral zone we turned the puck over twice and that gave them good opportunities. For the majority of the game I thought we did the games we wanted to do and we did the things that'll make us successful - but for those brief moments, they took advantage."

Winterhawks Vice President / General Manager /Head Coach Mike Johnston providing his assessment of the game.

NOTES

- Wednesday marked the 200th WHL game for forward Mason Mannek. All 200 have come as a member of the Winterhawks.

- Forward Gabe Klassen returned to the lineup after missing five games due to injury.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics

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