The Portland Winterhawks break their 4-game losing streak by protecting a 4-3 lead over the Kamloops Blazers for the last 33 minutes of the game, including a 3rd period where they were doubled in shots.
Ondrej Štěbeták stopped 40 shots for the win.
With the win, Portland jumps back over Tri-City for the 5th spot in the Western Conference.
|---|
|1st :30 POR Joel Plante (Tyson Jugnauth, Alex Weiermair) 1-0|
|1st 8:37 KAM (PP) Jordan Keller (Tommy Lafreniere, Emmitt Finnie) 1-1|
|1st 15:13 POR Diego Buttazzoni (Carter Sotheran, Ryder Thompson) 2-1|
|1st 16:06 POR Josh Zakreski 3-1|
|1st 19:55 KAM (PP) Jordan Keller (Emmitt Finnie, Harrison Brunicke) 3-2|
|2nd 2:42 POR (PP) Kayd Ruedig (Max Pšenička, Joel Plante) 4-2|
|2nd 7:11 KAM Emmitt Finnie (Vit Zahejsky, Oren Shtrom) 4-3|
|---|---|
|Portland leads by 2+|8:18|
|Portland leads by 1|44:36|
|Tied|7:06|
|Portland trails by 1|0:00|
|Portland trails by 2+|0:00|
Pregame: A rematch of Kamloops’s win last Wednesday in Kamloops. The Blazers were coming off a big win in Seattle on Tuesday and trying to consolidate. But Portland, despite a 4-game losing streak that dropped them to 6th in the conference, was a good-sized favorite.
1st period: Portland combines nice finishing with poor Blazers defending to pick up 3 goals, while Kamloops gets 2 power play goals from the league’s leading power play goal man, Jordan Keller, for a 3-2 lead. Portland probably should have been ahead by more.
2nd period: The teams traded goals in another offensive-oriented period.
3rd period: Kamloops controlled it, outshooting Portland 16-8 and missing near-wide open nets twice. But they could never get another one past Štěbeták, and Portland survived.
How it was won: 1) Ondrej Štěbeták. Kept Kamloops off the board in the 3rd period despite all odds.
Portland’s bottom defensemen. The top defensemen for both teams had rough nights defensively, but for Portland, Kayd Ruedig, Ryder Thompson, Max Pšenička, and Cole Slobodian picked up the slack.
Key stretch/moment: Tommy Lafreniere misses an empty net after Štěbeták makes a big blunder, and Portland keeps the lead with under 4 minutes left.
Surprising: Portland, for once, jumping out to a 1st period lead, with 3 goals and 18 shots.
Not surprising: Kamloops, in the bottom 3 in the league in shooting percentage, winning the shots but losing the game because they only had 3 goals on 43 shots.
Controversies: Kamloops had a goal waved off that was near the goal line; video review didn’t overrule it. Neither team was very happy with the officiating as the game went on.
Best team won?: Marginally.
Injuries/suspensions: None.
|Top 10|Stat line|
|---|---|---|---|
|Ondrej Štěbeták|POR|40 saves-43 shots|Saved Portland’s bacon in the 3rd.|
|Dylan Ernst|KAM|36 saves-40 shots|The goals were more on the defense than on him. Good enough to win on most nights.|
|Kayd Ruedig|POR|1 goal||
|Emmitt Finnie|KAM|1 goal, 2 assists|Although his double-minor for boarding got Portland their only power play goal.|
|Jordan Keller|KAM|2 goals|2 more power play goals, leading the league.|
|Joel Plante|POR|1 goal, 1 assist||
|Ryder Thompson|POR|1 assist||
|Oren Shtrom|KAM|1 assist|4-game point streak.|
|Diego Buttazzoni|POR|1 goal|5-game point streak.|
|Max Pšenička|POR|1 assist||
|Other notables|Stat line|
|---|---|---|---|
|Alex Weiermair|POR|1 assist|I don’t agree with Jugnauth and him getting assists on Portland’s first goal, but it gives him a 3-game point streak.|
|Kyle Chyzowski|POR||5-game point streak snapped.|
|Harrison Brunicke|KAM|1 assist|Winterhawks dodged a bullet as Kamloops’s best defenseman didn’t have a good game defensively.|
|Tyson Jugnauth|POR|1 assist|6-game point streak.|
|Winterhawks|Blazers|
|---|---|---|
|Record|32-24-3-1 (.567)|22-34-4-1 (.402)|
|Goals/game|3.9|3.1|
|Goals allowed/game|4.0|4.1|
|Team shooting %|.111|.093|
|Team save %|.884|.882|
|Power play|25.8%|26.2%|
|Penalty kill|75.9%|76.2%|
|Power plays for/game|4.1|3.5|
|Power plays against/game|3.7|3.1|
|Outshooting opponents|27-31-2|26-34-1|
|After 1 period|17-26-17|20-24-17|
|After 2 periods|22-30-8|17-31-13|
|Score, last 10 games|34-43 (-9)|27-34 (-7)|
|Score, last 20 games|70-84 (-14)|56-78 (-22)|
Portland Winterhawks
Portland draws even with Tri-City on points for 5th spot, and at the moment the Winterhawks have all the tiebreakers.
Kamloops Blazers
The race for the last playoff spot continues, with Seattle on 53 points, Wenatchee 50, and Kamloops 49. Seattle has one fewer game than the other two. You wouldn’t expect Kamloops to pull it off, but as of now they’re still in it.
Friday 3/7 vs. Seattle, 7pm PST
Saturday 3/8 at Seattle, 6pm PST
Sunday 3/9 vs. Everett, 4pm PDT
Looking ahead: Sunday 3/16 vs. Vancouver, 4pm PDT
Next game with Kamloops: 2025-26