What: The Portland Winterhawks (6-4-1) take on the Tri-City Americans (4-3-1) in Western Hockey League action.
When: Sunday, October 20, 4pm PDT.
Where: Toyota Center, Kennewick, Washington.
Watch: You can stream the game via the CHL TV pay per view (about US$7.50 for one game).
Listen: Winterhawks and Americans audio.
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It’s four losses in a row for the Portland Winterhawks after their 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Everett Silvertips. They played a pretty good game, especially defensively, where they held Everett 10 shots below their average. But it came with an offensive sacrifice, and they couldn’t find the goal to really get them in the game.
They’re still trying to figure out a winning plan. Their wins so far have mostly been about 3rd period comebacks and the opposing goalies being below par against them. Which isn’t going to work long term. Their biggest issue remains at even strength, where they have the worst numbers in the league. They’ve been better defensively the last two games, but then the offense has slid.
Not the best scheduling spot here, having to travel at the end of a 3 game-4 day stretch. With a loss, the concern will be that in the 5-game stretch they’ve lost to Seattle, Kamloops, and Tri-City–three teams they will likely be fighting for a playoff spot. This is their most important game of the weekend.
[stats are subject to late adjustments]
| Forwards | (Career games – season points/games) |
|---|---|
| 20 | 19-Kyle Chyzowski (256 – 17/11) |
| 19 | 8-Braeden Jockims (55 – 0/10) 28-Josh Zakreski (187 – 5/9) 39-Tyson Yaremko (88 – 10/11) |
| 18 | 17-Carsyn Dyck (14 – 5/11) 29-Hudson Darby (84 – 4/11) 61-Brodie Hankel (7 – 0/7) 90-Diego Buttazzoni (159 – 11/9) |
| 17 | 18-Kyle McDonough (74 – 4/11) 23-Ryan Miller (75 – 7/11) 37-David Hoy (7 – 1/7) 42-Nikita Mikailhov (2 – 0/2) |
| 16 | 9-Jordan Duguay (11 – 6/11) 72-Reed Brown (11 – 3/11) |
Zakreski had 8 shots against Everett Saturday, all in the first 2 periods. He leads the team in shots per game.
McDonough missed the last half of Saturday’s game, so his status is questionable.
Chyzowski has dropped into a tie for 3rd in the league in scoring. He’s also 3rd in power play points.
One more game to miss for Buttazzoni to miss because of suspension. They’ve really missed him and hopefully this is a lesson.
| Defensemen | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 27-Tyson Jugnauth (68 – 11/9) 43-Ryder Thompson (245 – 5/11) |
| 19 | 59-Carter Sotheran (166 – 4/9) |
| 18 | 4-Cohen Massey (4 – 0/2) 12-Cole Slobodian (16 – 1/11) |
| 17 | 7-Kayd Ruedig (13 – 4/11) |
| 16 | 22-Griffin Darby (11 – 1/11) |
Jugnauth had a good game on Saturday despite a minus-3 plus/minus. Cameron Schmidt of Vancouver has passed him for the league lead in power play points.
| Goalies | (Career games – season save%/games) |
|---|---|
| 18 | 36-Luke Brunen (13 – .792/2) 74-Marek Schlenker (3 – .910/3) |
| 17 | 1-Ondrej Štěbeták (9 – .881/9) |
We would expect Štěbeták to get the start after a night off. Schlenker has gotten two starts in sort of sacrificial lamb situations against two conference contenders, and has acquitted himself well. So he is pushing for some more playing time and the pressure might be on Štěbeták.
They’ve won 3 in a row and have gotten themselves to 7th in the conference with fewer games than everyone around them. 2 of the wins on the streak are home games with Kamloops, but, hey, the Winterhawks couldn’t turn Kamloops into a win.
Surprisingly, they’re a break even team with who you’d expect to be their top players having slowish starts. Jordan Gavin and Jake Sloan were both over a point per game last season, and Max Curran is an NHL draft pick; they’re all under a point a game. Lukas Matecha in goal had a good rookie season last year; his numbers this season are awful. They’ve gotten contributions elsewhere, and you would expect those players to get going, so the outlook is somewhat positive.
They made a big trade with Prince Albert in the offseason, swapping Lukas Dragicevic for Terrell Goldsmith, an offensive defenseman for a defensive one to try to shore up their goal prevention. It actually has worked; they’ve cut their goals against from 4.5 to 4.0, and where they were giving up a ton of shots last season, they’re right at average this season. It will be even better if they get their goaltending together.
| Forwards | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 15-Jake Sloan (217 – 7/8) 27-Brandon Whynott (218 – 9/8) 29-Carter MacAdams (216 – 10/8) |
| 19 | 10-Shaun Rios (5 – 2/5) 19-Jake Gudelj (145 – 3/6) |
| 18 | 12-Nick Anisimovicz (81 – 2/6) 13-Jordan Gavin (153 – 4/8) 23-Kale Margolis (10 – 1/5) 28-Grady Martin (126 – 0/7) 66-Gavin Garland (8 – 10/8) 73-Max Curran (46 – 4/6) |
| 17 | 11-Cash Koch (83 – 2/8) 18-Ryker Rougeau (5 – 0/2) |
| 16 | 34-Cruz Pavao (16 – 7/8) |
Gavin, of course, is a 2nd overall pick and in his draft year as a late birthday. He’s had 5 games with 2 shots or fewer, and his assists have been down. You would expect he breaks out soon.
Whynott and MacAdams have made the most of their 20-year-old seasons so far as they have increased their scoring significantly. Pavao was good in a short stint as a 15-year-old, and he’s continued that. They recruited Gavin Garland from the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he had 43 points in 52 games. He’s had a good start although with some puck luck.
MacAdams and Garland have 4-game point streaks. Whynott, Pavao, and Curran have 3-game streaks.
| Defensemen | |
|---|---|
| 19 | 5-Austin Zemlak (156 – 7/8) 21-Carter Savage (126 – 1/8) 22-Terrell Goldsmith (197 – 1/5) |
| 18 | 6-Merrek Arpin (76 – 1/8) 71-Ismail Abougouche (89 – 0/0) |
| 17 | 3-Jaxen Adam (19 – 2/6) 7-Jackson Smith (78 – 8/8) 20-Kainoah Brankovic (17 – 1/5) |
With Goldsmith, 4th-round pick and newly signed by The Hockey Club, Tri-City is 3-2.
Smith is 2nd in scoring by 17-year-old defensemen. More importantly for TC, he’s +2 after being -29 last season.
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| 19 | 30-Lukas Matecha (42 – .877/7) 31-Nathan Preston (5 – .861/1) |
The Ams have had two back-to-backs so far this season, and Matecha has both starts in both. He’s had one game at .900 and one over .900 in his 7 games.
| Winterhawks | Americans | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | 6-4-1 (.591) | 4-3-1 (.563) | .549 |
| Scored/allowed (diff) | 40-46 (-6) | 29-32 (-3) | 36-36 |
| Goals/game | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| Goals allowed/game | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Power play | 26.9% | 15.6% | 22.1% |
| Penalty kill | 83.3% | 78.8% | 77.9% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.7 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
| Power plays against/game | 3.3 | 4.1 | 3.9 |
| Outshooting opponents | 2-8-1 | 6-2 | 5-5-1 |
| After 1 period | 2-6-3 | 0-3-5 | 5-5-1 |
| After 2 periods | 2-6-3 | 1-4-3 | 4-4-2 |
| Score, last 10 games | 35-44 (-9) | 34-42 (-8) | 36-36 |
| Score, last 20 games | 65-75 (-10) | 63-101 (-38) | 66-75 |
| Total WHL games | 1578 | 2134 | |
| WHL drafted top 60 | 7 | 11 | |
| NHL drafted | 2 | 2 | |
| NHL drafted top 80 | 0 | 0 | |
| Players 6′2 or over | 6 | 15 | |
| Players 5′10 or under | 8 | 1 |
