Game Two between the Portland Winterhawks and Everett Silvertips was a similar result as Game One.
Portland scored first, and put up a crooked number in the opening frame to help pace itself to a 2-0 series lead by winning 6-1 on Saturday night.
As they did in Game One, the Winterhawks scored the first two goals to get out to an early lead.
Marek Alscher, a signed prospect of the Florida Panthers, activated from his defensive position to score his first career WHL playoff goal, which got the 6,226 Portland faithful on their feet.
“We had a faceoff play, which worked out. I saw there was a puck in front of the net, so I sweeped by and got an almost empty net goal,” Alscher said postgame with a huge smile on his face.
Approximately five minutes later, after the Winterhawks worked the cycle to perfection, Chyzowski scored his first of two goals.
Describing what he saw on the play, Chyzowski said, “I thought the first goal was a little bit scrambly across the boards, and I was just trying to get possession of the puck. I think Everett got a little mismatched with the switch with the defenseman; two guys went to one (Winterhawk) it kind of opened up a lane for me. And then, walking down the middle, I thought of just giving it a rip and seeing what I could do, and it kind of squeaked below the glove. It was a good shot. I think the slap shot is my hardest shot, so I may as well give it a rip.”
With the hosts up 2-0, back-to-back penalties put the Silvertips on the power play. After going 1-for-8 in Game One, Dennis Williams was looking for a better effort on the man advantage.
Beau Courtney one-timed a perfect pass across the slot. Winterhawks goaltender Jan Špunar denied his initial attempt, but the 19-year-old from Parker, Colorado, stayed with the play and put home the rebound to cut the Everett deficit in half.
The Silvertips did not score on their remaining power-play opportunities but generated several Grade-A chances.
Williams liked how the power play responded in Game Two, saying, “I said between the second and the third (periods). Jan Špunar made some big saves for them. I always joke that we always somehow give the goalie the highlight of the night; we have to bury some of those. It was well played by (Julien) Maze over to (Caden) Brown, and some good looks with (Ben) Hemmerling’s unit. The difference in it is they capitalized on their opportunities on the power play and we didn’t tonight again. The penalty kill has to be better, and we are going to need to play a pretty sound game to beat them.”
At 13:18, after a coming together after the whistle, Josh Davies and Kaden Hammell were each sent to the box, but it was Hammell who was given the extra two minutes, putting the Winterhawks on the power play for the first time.
Chyzowski’s second goal of the game restored the Winterhawks’ two-goal advantage and gave him back-to-back games with two goals.
“I think when you look at our top lines, they aren’t always going to produce. You’re going to have shutdown lines against them, so there’s got to be more depth scoring. I thought it was good this weekend. (James) Stefan and (Gabe) Klassen’s line was good in round one, but other lines got to step up too,” Chyzowski said.
Mike Johnston, Portland’s president, general manager, and head coach, praised the way Chyzowski plays the game. “Sometimes with Kyle Chyzowski, he doesn’t get rewarded with all the good things he does, rewarded as far as goals go. Right now, I think it is going for him. He’s starting to get rewarded. I felt the season he’s had is a great season. He’s played really well and probably could’ve had more goal production, but sometimes it doesn’t fall for you. Last series Stefan was scoring on every second shot; in this series, Chyzowski has the hot hand right now. We need that, and we need depth players to step up.”
In the final three minutes of the first period, Portland did not convert on its second power play; however, Everett could not clear the puck as the Winterhawks continued to cycle in the offensive zone. After a dominating shift, Tyson Jugnauth found enough open ice to snap a wrist shot by the screen in front of Silvertips goalie Tyler Palmer.
As deadly as Portland can be off the rush, it was the puck possession game that was working on Saturday.
“In the last month of the season, I thought our offensive zone game really started to take over in a lot of situations where our movement, how we spread the attack, reset the puck, but we also spread it up top, it has given teams trouble. You are always having to sort out coverage. I think it works both ways. We’ve talked a lot about it in our defensive zone. We know what gives us trouble, so we are trying to present some of those looks to Everett to create some confusion,” Johnston said.
Jugnauth’s third goal of the weekend gave Portland a 4-1 advantage heading to the intermission.
With the long break between round one and round two, there was debate between rest vs rush for Portland.
On Saturday, Johnston shared how he is proud of how his team has started both games of the series after his team outscored the Silvertips by a combined score of 7-2 in the first 20 minutes.
“I think we worried coming into the series with the long layoff about what our energy and what our execution was going to look like. I thought we’ve been bang on. We’ve had the energy and the jump, which is giving Everett some trouble with the pressure we are putting on their defense,” Johnston said.
After five combined goals were scored in the first period, only a Nate Danielson power-play goal was added to the scoresheet in the middle stanza.
Then, in the third period, the Winterhawks played a shut-down style of hockey while still pushing the envelope on the offensive side of the ice.
Johnston has stressed all season long about how he wants his team to play with a lead in the final 20 minutes.
“I really feel during the course of the year we’ve been trying to work on when we have a lead in the third period, whether it is one goal, two, or three, that we are able to play with that lead comfortably. Not to give teams easy opportunities like an odd-man rush or an extra power play. I thought that’s where we’ve been good the last two nights,” Johnston said.
Carter Sotheran got his second goal of the playoffs 5:35 into the final frame to conclude the scoring. Again, the goal was scored after the Winterhawks had significant movement at the top of the zone. The brief hesitation gave the Philadelphia Flyers prospect enough of an angle to shoot a wrist shot. The puck took a favorable Portland deflection of Carter Bear’s stick and bounced all the way through the traffic screening Palmer.
As the clock counted down, the only penalty the Winterhawks took in the third period came with 1:16 left in regulation.
With the outcome already determined, Josh Zakreski blocked a shot in the final seconds to showcase the quality habits Johnston referenced.
“We’ve had some timely blocked shots. Even right at the end of the game, Josh Zakreski, with a couple of seconds left, blocked a key shot there on the power play. That is the extra commitment you like in the playoffs. The guys have been excellent there,” Johnston said.
The penalty kill for the Winterhawks finished the first two games of the series 11-for-13, something Alscher takes pride in.
“We were prepared really well before game 1,” he said. “We kind of knew what they were going to run, and all of the defenders know what to do. We feel a connection, especially Ryder Thompson. I play the penalty kill with him the most. We feel good in there. We got a couple good blocks today and of course, Spunar was playing really good so that helps us too. We feel pretty confident against their power play.”
Špunar, the U.S. Division’s goalie of the year, turned aside 32-of-33 Silvertips shots in Game Two.
“For us as defenders, we feel really confident,” Alscher said when asked about how Špunar’s play impacts the way Portland plays. “We don’t want to make mistakes, but if a mistake happens, we know we can rely on him, and he showed it today how good he can be and how calm he can be.”
Williams was proud of the effort on Saturday despite playing without four regulars in their lineup.
Nashville Predators 6th round pick Austin Roest (38 goals & 33 assists during the regular season) is a massive loss as he plays a solid 200-foot game. Overage forward Teague Patton has not played in the playoffs yet, so his 22 goals and 40 assists from the regular season are deeply missed. In Game One, Jesse Heslop left with an injury and was not able to play in Game Two. Lastly, stay-at-home defenseman Cameron Sytsma has yet to appear in the postseason.
“We battled, and we are light right now. We are missing four of our guys that we play and three guys we play in our top six (forwards). The kids battled, and that’s all you can ask. They didn’t quit, and that’s the hard part of these games. It is what it is this time of year. You have to have some good fortunes with good bounces, good health, and good luck. It seems like the last few years we’ve hit some injury bugs at the wrong time. It is not an excuse. Like I said (Friday), they are a good team, so it happens. We have to try to find a way and we go back home now,” Williams said.
With the series shifting to Everett for Games 3, 4, and 5 (if necessary), the Silvertips will have last change to assist with matchups and also have their rowdy fans helping generate momentum.
“It is always a fun place for us to play,” Williams said. “We know at the end of the day it is still going to be a tall challenge. It has been a couple of tough games for us, to say the least. Like I said to the guys, the two things you can always control are your effort and execution. You let me worry about the rest of the stuff and adjustments. If you bring in effort and execution, that’s all we can ask from these guys.”
From the Portland perspective, Chyzowski said to expect more of the same.
“I would say there’s no reason to change the game plan, right? To be honest two perfect games here at home, really good games. So I (think) we are probably going to stick to the same plan, come out hot, test their top guys, and see if we can get the first goal. I don’t think it’s going to change much just because it’s their building. Obviously, we want to quiet the crowd, it’s a big crowd there for sure, but not much is going to change,” he said.
Game Three is on Monday at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett.
“I feel like (the schedule) is a benefit for us,” Alscher said when asked if he feels the three games in four nights schedule is favorable to his team. “We work hard the whole season; I believe we work much harder than other teams. Sometimes we are not 100% ready for regular season games, but that’s because we are preparing for playoffs because that’s the real hockey. I feel really confident in our team that we are going to be prepared, and also we can see how much their top guys and goalie wear out. That motivates us because we still feel good; we are 100% prepared for the game.”
