More than two thousand fans filled the seats on a Thursday night at Veterans Memorial Coliseum as the Portland Winterhawks welcomed the Kamloops Blazers for their second meeting of the Western Hockey League season. The Winterhawks and the Blazers traded goals throughout the game, with neither team decisively pulling ahead. However, the Blazers were able to sustain pressure and closed out the game with an overtime tally.
Before their second matchup of the season, the Winterhawks had a record of six and four (12 points), placing them towards the top of the Western Hockey League. In contrast, the Blazers had gone two and seven (four points), placing them at the very bottom of the table.
The game started off poorly for the Winterhawks as they gave up an early goal to the Blazers just one minute and 47 seconds into the first period. This lead was followed by several bouts of close calls on both sides, with each team recording 13 or more shots on goal in the first period.
The Winterhawks dominated the second period, only allowing three shots from the Blazers. However, they were unable to put the puck in the back of the net, with the Blazers still holding the lead by the start of the third period.
When asked about the Winterhawks’ defensive strength, forward Kyle Chyzowski said, “[Our defense] is getting better and better. I think our guys are really good at committing to the defense. That’s one thing, you know, we strive for this year as a team is to be hard defensively and to not play the game the wrong way.”
At the very start of the third period, Niko Tsakumis of the Blazers was penalized for tripping and sat out for two minutes, giving the Winterhawks a five-on-four man advantage. The Winterhawks seized this opportunity and capitalized on the power play, scoring two goals in less than two minutes: the first from Kyle Chyzowski and the second from Tyson Yaremko. This put the Winterhawks in control, with a 2-1 lead and fewer than 20 minutes left to play.
Tensions between the Blazers and the Winterhawks were high, with five penalties assessed to the Blazers and two to the Winterhawks. A fight broke out in the first four minutes of the third period; Samuel Borschowa of the Blazers and Hudson Darby of the Winterhawks received a five-minute major penalty each for fighting. The hostility on both sides began to taper off towards the end of the third, though physicality remained a big component of the Blazers and Winterhawks’ play.
The Blazers hadn’t given up yet, though. When Winterhawks forward Cole Slobodian was penalized for cross-checking in the middle of the third period, the Blazers were quickly able to net the equalizer, scoring only 10 seconds into the Winterhawks penalty kill.
Tied at the end of 60 minutes, the game went to overtime. As soon as the puck dropped in OT, the Winterhawks were pushed back by the Blazers. They played the defensive side of the puck for more than a minute and a half before the Blazers’ Tommy Lafreniere was finally able to put it away, spoiling Portlanders’ nights and ending the game with a win for Kamloops.
“We felt that we were making a lot of plays, and our puck movement was great,” said head coach Kyle Gustafson when asked about his message to the team after the tough loss. “We looked like a veteran team. You know, it was a battle of the special teams. We strike twice, they get one; you’d like to have a couple of saves here along the way.”
