(Prince George, British Columbia) The Portland Winterhawks scored three goals in the third period to defeat the Prince George Cougars 5-3 on Saturday night at the CN Centre, evening the best-of-seven series at one.
“Everyone was really fired up,” Winterhawks Jack O’Brien said via phone after the game. “We weren’t backing down, and we wanted to get the split going home.”
For most of the first 20 minutes, the action was in the Prince George zone as the Winterhawks came out on their front foot looking to solve netminder Joshua Ravensbergen.
Following a 33-save shutout on Friday in Game One, the 2006-born goalie was keeping everything sent his direction out.
Undrafted in the WHL Prospects Draft, Ravensbergen denied a pair of shots from James Stefan and Marek Alscher, along with three from Marcus Nguyen. Nguyen had arguably the best chance to beat Ravensbergen after Nate Danielson slid a pass across, but the deflection went wide. Danielson generated his own quality chance when he used a defenseman as a screen, but his shot hit the post and went out of play.
Jan Špunar only faced five shots in the opening frame but made an important save off Borya Valis on a partial breakaway set up by a 2-on-1.
“He was amazing tonight,” O’Brien said of Špunar. “That is what we need from him right there. I think our team feels so confident when we see our goalie playing like that. We just feel so good about our game, and props to him. He showed out tonight, and that was key to our success.”
With 59 seconds remaining in the first period, Diego Buttazzoni committed an interference infraction in the neutral zone while the Winterhawks were behind their own net, trying to establish a breakout play. Ryder Thompson blocked a pair of shots to help get Portland to the intermission.
The start of the second period went back and forth, with both goalies coming up large. However, a hectic 1:47 broke the game open.
With Danielson in the penalty box for slashing, Zac Funk got behind the Winterhawks defense for a breakaway on the power play. The signed prospect of the Washington Capitals beat Špunar with a wrist shot to open the scoring at 10:40. He scored 31 power-play goals during the regular season and then converted for his 4th of the playoffs.
The Prince George lead only lasted 27 seconds, though, before Kyle Chyzowski finally solved Ravensbergen. Portland’s third line of Chyzowski, Buttazzoni, and Josh Zakreski combined for a three-way passing play before the 19-year-old from Surrey, British Columbia, simply tapped the puck across the line.
O’Brien mentioned how he and his teammates made an adjustment on the amount of communication between shifts in Game Two compared to Game One, saying, “There wasn’t enough talk on the bench (Friday). Yeah, they scored one, but we felt like we were in a really good spot with how we were playing in the first (period) and then in the second (period) until that goal. We were just telling the boys on the bench to not back down, keep going, keep pushing, we were going to get it, one was going to drop for us, and it did.”
Then, on the next shift, and only 17 seconds later, the line of Nguyen, Danielson, and O’Brien gave the Winterhawks their first lead of the series. Ravensbergen made an initial save, but the rebound was loose in the slot for O’Brien to gather, spin, and shoot it into the empty net for his 3rd goal of the postseason.
Prince George responded on its next shift when Oren Shtrom won a board battle and cut to the slot. With his head up, passed to his left, and connected with 19-year-old Borya Valis. Špunar appeared to be in a good position, but the puck went through glove side to tie the game and get the 6,016 fans back engaged.
By 12:27 of the second period, the 0-0 game became a 2-2 contest.
With the energy back in the building, tensions, and aggression continued to boil over seemingly after every whistle. Discipline started to become an issue for the Winterhawks, as they were shorthanded four straight times in the second period.
Entering the third period tied, it was the Winterhawks’ turn on the power play. They earned their second opportunity on the man advantage when Stefan had his stick slashed by Becher at 7:23.
The top power-play unit only needed ten seconds to convert despite missing two players due to injury.
Signed Florida Panthers prospect Josh Davies missed Game Two after playing through an injury in Game One. Luca Cagnoni, a prospect of the San Jose Sharks, missed his second-straight game. As a result, Johnston used Chyzowski and Tyson Jugnauth in their place.
Danielson maintained possession of the puck along the half wall and moved it to Jugnauth at the point. The Seattle Kraken prospect, in turn, then dished to the wheelhouse of Stefan, who signed with the Edmonton Oilers late in the season. The Laguna Beach, California, native’s 7th of the playoffs broke the tie.
Mike Johnston, Portland’s president, general manager, and head coach commented on his team’s next-man-up mentality, saying, “I think your team gets used to it a little bit over the course of the year when you have to deal with injuries. People have to step in, and Tyson Yaremko jumped up for Davies tonight and had a really good game. I thought he managed the puck well and played well with those guys (Stefan and Klassen). We feel we have some depth that can step up and can take some more minutes.”
O’Brien agreed and shared more about his team’s mentality coming into the game knowing Davies and Cagnoni would not be available, “When you have two guys that are key parts of our team that aren’t playing, you have to step up. That can also drive a team as well. This is what drove our team tonight. We have those two guys out, but we are a confident group. We had all our lines rolling, our fourth line was more involved tonight, and that is pretty hard to play against. Our defense were great and moved pucks up the ice well so the forwards could go to work.”
With the Cougars ramping up their forecheck pressure, it was once again the third line that came through for Portland to give the visitors some breathing room with just over five minutes to play.
Zakreski got the puck to Buttazzoni, who atoned for his two earlier penalties as he snuck a shot through the five-hole of Ravensbergen, who was caught between standing up and being in the butterfly position.
The Cougars pulled Ravensbergen for the extra attacker with 2:31 left on the clock. Nguyen forced a turnover at his defensive blue line. The trio of Danielson, Nguyen, and O’Brien worked their way into the Prince George end. Danielson had an opportunity to shoot towards the empty net, but instead made the unselfish play passing over to Nguyen who essentially walked the puck into the net. The assist was the Detroit Red Wings prospect’s third of the game.
Oren Shrtom deflected in a Bauer Dumanski shot with seven seconds to play, but it was too little too late as the Winterhawks earned a split.
Now, both teams make the 13-hour, 727 miles (1,175 kilometers), bus ride down to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It is a quick turnaround as Game Three is Monday evening.
“There is a physical aspect to it obviously as it is tough our your body, but we are all strong enough mentally to handle this situation,” O’Brien said about the trip. “We’ve been through situations this season where we are having tough three-in-threes with tough travel. Everything with those during the season prepared us for this moment. I think we are all ready for it.”
Johnston looks forward to having the Veterans Memorial Coliseum rocking for the next three games and said, “Our home crowd is great. I thought (Prince George) fed off their crowd (Friday) night. We are going to feed off our crowd on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It should be exciting in Portland.”
For O’Brien, the confidence of playing in the Rose City is something he’s looking forward to. “I just know when we are going, and we are rolling lines, getting those offensive zone possessions, playing fast, I wouldn’t want to play against us at home. I’m fried up to get back to Portland and know how good we can be in our own building. It is tough when we are playing our game in any barn, but we are feeling confident going back home.”
