For the Portland Winterhawks, Saturday’s 8-5 loss to the Kelowna Rockets was eerily similar to the final game of last season’s WHL Western Conference finals.
Both games were played in a sold-out Moda Center, and in both the Winterhawks built a 3-0 lead only to see the Rockets rally. On Saturday, Kelowna outscored Portland 4-0 in the second period and 4-2 in the third.
“The second period was one where we had a false sense of security,” Winterhawks coach Jamie Kompon said. “There were a lot of similarities to that game and Game 6 last year.”
Kelowna’s two-game sweep in its only visit to Portland this season was built on power-play success. The Rockets were 5 for 9 with the advantage, including 3 for 3 in Friday’s 5-4 win.
The Hawks entered last weekend with a penalty kill that had allowed only one goal in its previous 28 chances. Kompon said Portland did not play well short-handed against Kelowna, but said the Blazers’ power-play (which ranks second in the WHL and has helped Kelowna score a league-leading 77 goals through 19 games) deserved credit, too.
Winterhawks
This week: Host Swift Current, 7 p.m. Friday (VMC); at Vancouver, 7 p.m. Saturday; host Tri-City. 7 p.m., Nov. 20 (VMC).
Last week: Lost to Kelowna 5-4, lost to Kelowna 8-5, beat Tri-City 6-2.
Where they stand: At 8-9-0-0 (16 points), the Winterhawks are in fourth place in the U.S. Division behind Seattle, Spokane and Everett, and have the eighth most points in the Western Conference.
Hill vs. Russia: Winterhawks goalie Adin Hill made 18 saves on Tuesday for Team WHL in a 4-2 win over Russia, helping the WHL win both games of the CHL Canada-Russia Series for the first time in six years. Hill said his toughest stop was a glove save against Daniil Vovchenko on a two-on-one rush early in the third period with the score 2-2. He also made a stop on a point-blank shot by Semyon Afonasevsky in the final minute, with Team WHL adding an empty-net goal immediately after that save.
The Russians, Hill said “always have their heads up looking for one extra play and they all have a really quick shot.”
Playing in a sold-out Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C., Hill was glad he performed well in front of coaches who will select the Team Canada roster for the World Junior Championships that take place Dec. 26 through Jan. 6 in Finland. The Team Canada roster should be announced in early December.
Assistant coach update: Kompon said he is comfortable with splitting the coaching duties with assistant coach Kyle Gustafron, which indicates he is not looking to immediately hire a second assistant coach. The Winterhawks last week accepted the resignation of assistant coach Keith McKittrick. McKittrick, who joined the Winterhawks last season, had been on paid leave since he was arrested in August following a domestic disturbance in Beaverton.
Lineup notes: Rookie forward Austin Gray played for the first time on Friday and Saturday. He and Igor Larianov II had their seasons delayed by health issues. Larianov is practicing but not quite game-ready according to Kompon. But having 14 forwards competing for ice time ramps up the urgency throughout the lineup, Kompon said.
Among those is Cody Glass, who Kompon said performed well over seven games in nine days at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. “It was a real good experience for him,” Kompon said. The coach said he had several people tell him that Glass “got better and better as the tournament went on.”
Vancouver Rangers
This week: Host Lake Tahoe at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday (Mountain View Ice Arena).
Last week: Won three road games at San Diego, 7-4, 5-3 and 4-3.
Where they stand: At 12-2-1 (25 points), the Rangers are third in the Northwest Division of the Western States Hockey League. Missoula (15-2, 30 points) and Idaho (14-0, 28 points) are ahead of Vancouver.
San Diego recap: Coach Dave Daniello said the Rangers “played as a team and battled through” the challenge of playing three competitive games in southern California. He credited strong goaltending from Jamie Nanchen in Saturday’s 5-3 win and from Aaron Daniello in Sunday’s 4-3 win for protecting late-game leads. On Saturday, Nanchen stopped all 18 third-period shots from San Diego. On Sunday, Daniello made eight third-period saves after Paul Frys scored 50 seconds into the third period to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead.
Scouting Lake Tahoe: The Icemen are 0-15. They made a recent coaching change, and Daniello said he expects a strong effort from the Icemen this weekend.
Roster update: Defenseman Hayle Kincross was traded to Southern Oregon. The Rangers now have 26 players on their roster.
