On Saturday evening, the Portland Winterhawks scored three first-period goals en route to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Victoria Royals.
After scoring three goals in the third period on Friday, in a come-from-behind effort, the Winterhawks protected a lead in the final 20 minutes on Saturday to hold serve at home and go up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series as the games now shift to Victoria.
Portland’s president, general manager, and head coach, Mike Johnston, was pleased with his team’s overall performance but especially liked the third period.
“We’ve talked a lot about it during the year. If we have a lead going into the third, don’t feed the other team through penalties or turnovers. I thought we managed the puck well. We had that we gave them two chances. It is so important how you play in the third period. (Friday night), we had to come back, and (Saturday) we had to hold the lead. We had two different scenarios, and I thought we handled both of them well,” he said.
From Victoria’s perspective, head coach James Patrick felt the Royals’ defensive zone coverage and special teams made the difference in the game.
“For me, the defensive zone coverage was something that we’ve worked on a lot and I just thought we were so passive in our defensive zone. Our F1 forward and our first defenseman were standing around all night. Someone has to take the lead and challenge someone so we can get set on how we defend. We didn’t do a very good job, and they spent way too many 30-40 seconds shifts generating chances, and we were just standing still,” Patrick said.
During Game 1, the officials let the two teams battle on the ice, where Game 2 saw a lot more infractions called which changed the complexion of the contest.
“It was called a lot tighter,” Patrick said when asked about the difference between how the game was called on Saturday compared to Friday. “It was the opposite end of the spectrum from last night, but it was fair both ways, and it had no factor in the game. After the first (penalty), I went, ‘Oh, this is going to be a different game.’ You have to put that aside and focus on our team, focus on our system, and focus on how hard you can compete.”
For Johnston, the biggest difference in a special-teams game compared to one where the majority of play is five-on-five is managing the minutes of players who are not on the special teams units.
“I think you just have to be ready for anything in the playoffs. During the season, you get used to there being some nights where there are eight or nine power plays and nights where there are two. It is a little bit more challenging because you really have to work your bench to try to make sure the guys who are there that aren’t getting on the ice very much, you have to find a way to fit them in,” Johnston said.
James Stefan, who had two assists in Game 1, scored two of the three goals for the Winterhawks in the opening 20 minutes.
“We were going straight from the start,” the recently signed Edmonton Oilers prospect said. “I felt like we didn’t really let off the gas. Last night, we struggled at the start, but we played a full 60 (minutes). My first (goal) all I saw was a great play by Gabe (Klassen) and him hitting the seam. I just had to put it in. Similar to the first, on the second, I was in the same spot and saw (Carter) Sotheran with the puck as a righty on the far side. I screamed for it and he got it over to me, which was a nice play by him.”
Stefan’s first two goals of the 2024 playoffs sandwiched Luca Cagnoni’s third of the postseason on another assist by Klassen, who finished the night with three assists.
According to Patrick, the second period was the visitors’ best.
“We outshot them, we limited them, and they didn’t have many chances, maybe three,” he said.
Former Winterhawk forward Dawson Pasternak registered his first goal of the playoffs on a one-timer from Cole Reschny on the power play to get the Royals on the board and within two.
A few minutes later, while shorthanded, 16-year-old superstar Reschny had a shorthanded breakaway, but Winterhawks goaltender Jan Špunar made the save.
The import netminder from Czechia acknowledged after the game the timeliness of that save.
“It just hit me somewhere. I didn’t know what he was going to do; I just wanted to stay big and let it hit me,” Špunar said.
Patrick felt Špunar’s save was the turning point in the game, “I really felt when we got it to 3-1, and we had a breakaway, a clear breakaway shorthanded, and you never know in these games. I thought that changed the game totally.”
Johnston agreed, saying, “That save might’ve been a game changer. If they had scored there, it would’ve turned a bit and given them some juice and momentum. Špunar took that away from them, and we continued to play well towards the end of the second period.”
Stefan was not surprised to see Špunar rise to the occasion.
“That was a huge save and gave us a lot of energy on the bench. He’s been spectacular for us all season, so we can’t say enough good things about him,” he said.
Josh Davies, who again was physical but more in control in Game 2 compared to Game 1, answered Pasternak’s power-play goal with his first career WHL Playoff goal.
Klassen was again the setup man, feeding the puck to Davies on a turning play to the side of Royals goalie Braeden Holt. Having to respect an open James Stefan on the backdoor, Davies was able to power the puck through to restore the Winterhawks’ three-goal advantage heading to the second intermission.
As they did in the first period, the Winterhawks scored within the first five minutes of the frame when Nate Danielson picked up his first of the series.
“We gave up a goal in the first three minutes of two of the three periods,” Patrick said with a frustrated tone. “You talk about being ready to play and focused and attention to detail; you don’t give up goals like that.” ‘
With a four-goal lead, Špunar felt a little pressure was taken off him, saying, “It is easier getting (goal) support because when you have the lead, if they score one goal, it won’t matter. My game doesn’t change. I just want to catch as much as I can. We are feeling good. The first game was really hard as they played really well, same tonight. It was another close game.”
After 4,972 fans made their way through the Veterans Memorial Coliseum gates on Friday, another solid turnout of 5,868 showed their support on Saturday.
Špunar said he could hear the cheers and “Spoon” chants when he made the saves and called the crowd “The 7th player on the ice.”
In the third period Victoria was only credited with two shots on goal, a big part because of all the shot blocks by Winterhawks defenders.
Špunar smiled from ear to ear when asked about the sacrifice the skaters in front of him were making and the fine line between blocking the shot and a screen.
“Sometimes it is hard for me because I can’t see anything. I’m trusting them that they can block the shot while they are trusting me to save it. It is a (mutual) trust out there.”
Patrick felt the number of shot attempts and quality looks towards the net were there for his team, but adjustments will be needed going forward to get more through onto Špunar.
“We have to do a better job of getting pucks (on net). You have to shoot it quicker or pump fake. There was some zone time by us, maybe some plays made, but at the end of the day, someone has to make a play, and someone has to come through with a big play if you want to stay in the game or win a game,” Patrick said.
The series shifts now shifts to the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria starting with Game 3 on Tuesday evening.
Patrick was hopeful being at home would lead to some adjustments in ice time.
“Sometimes (playing at home with last change) allows you to get guys on the ice you might normally not get out as often. That might take a bit of a load off our top guys. I felt like I played our top two lines too much (on Friday). I tried to get our third line out more (on Saturday), and if you are doing that, you might end up playing them against of their top two lines. One of the strengths of Portland is they have the edge in depth.”
Johnston trusts all four of his lines and three defensive pairings in most situations, so was less concerned about matchups on the road. Instead, he was more focused on the habits and taking away the Victoria crowd.
“We’ve played there recently, which is really important because I think if you are familiar with the building, what it is like over there, and having that experience will help. They are going to get some momentum from their fans, so we have to be able to handle the ebbs and flows with maturity,” he said.
