Paul Bittner registered his first career hat trick as the Portland Winterhawks beat Seattle 10-2 Tuesday at the Moda Center in front of 5,854 fans.
The Winterhawks (16-4-1-1) came out of the gates flying, scoring five goals in the first period from five different scorers. They wasted no time getting on the board, as Brendan Leipsic scored just 53 seconds into the game. They struck again at the 7:20 mark when Leipsic fed Bittner at the side of the net, who banged it in for a 2-0 lead.
Portland then made it 3-0 at the 14:24 mark when Chase De Leo scooped up a loose puck and fired it in, followed just 28 seconds later by Derrick Pouliot scoring on an end-to-end rush to make it 4-0. Down four in the first period, Seattle replaced starting goaltender Justin Myles with Danny Mumaugh. The Hawks didn’t let up, and Nic Petan scored a power play goal at the 18:35 mark to make it 5-0 going into the second period.
The Winterhawks continued forcing the action in the second, with Bittner scoring his second of the game at the 6:04 mark to make it 6-0. Seattle got on the board at the 13:35 mark when Shea Theodore scored on a shot from the point, as Portland took a 6-1 lead into the third.
