Hawks Play Well, but Fall Short in Overtime
Portland Winterhawks (2) vs Tri-City Americans (3)
Toyota Center, Kennwick, WA– Saturday, December 15th
Portland played strong for the majority of the night, but allowed Tri-City to come back in the final few minutes and pick up a 3-2 overtime win.
After not facing each other in the last 30 games, the Hawks and Americans got off to a slow offensive start. Shane Farkas was dialed in during the first period and warded off a slew of long range shots from the Americans’ attack. On the opposite side of the rink, Beck Warm turned aside all 12 shots he faced in the first period, including a couple odd-man rushes.
The Hawks scored the lone goal in the second period, coming in the final two minutes of the frame. Joachim Blichfeld swarmed a puck at the blue line on the penalty kill and Jake Gricius fed it up ice for a breakaway chance. Blichfeld slapped it in for his 30th goal of the season to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
Portland came out sharp in the third period. Three minutes into the frame, Michal Kvasnica had two prime scoring chances set up with Lane Gilliss and rang one off the crossbar. A few moments later, Jake Gricius hit the corner bar to keep it a 1-0 game. The relentless pressure eventually paid off as Kvasnica buried a wrist shot blocker side of Warm on a zone rush to make it a 2-0 Hawks’ lead.
Momentum changed, however, two minutes later when Tri-City scored their first goal of the night on a fluke bounce. A backdoor pass from behind the net ricocheted off Nick Perna’s skate and into the net to cut into the Hawks lead. With the net empty in the final minute of regulation, Joachim Blichfeld sent a puck out of play from his defensive zone for a delay of game minor penalty and the Americans scored on the ensuing power play.
With 9.6 seconds on the clock and a 6-on-4 advantage, captain Nolan Yaremko scored the power play goal on a one-time shot from the right post to force overtime. Shane Farkas faced 18 shots in the third period alone. He finished with 31 saves on the night.
The Winterhawks took the first four shots of the overtime period, but Warm turned them all aside. Aaron Hyman netted the game winner in the third minute of the overtime period one stride in front of Farkas’ crease to give the Americans the home win.
Portland returns home Sunday, December 16th against the Tri-City Americans. Be sure to visit winterhawks.com/tickets for full details on pricing and availability.
Scoring Summary:
- 2nd @ 18:27 – POR – Joachim Blichfeld (30), Jake Gricius (SH)
- 3rd @ 12:47 – POR – Michal Kvasnica (4), Clay Hanus, Jake Gricius
- 3rd @ 14:34 – TC – Parker AuCoin (18), Paycen Bjorklund
- 3rd @ 19:50 – TC – Nolan Yaremko (15), Parker AuCoin, Kyle Olson (PP)
- OT @ 3:26 – TC – Aaron Hyman (8), Connor Bouchard, Sasha Mutala
SHOTS ON GOAL:
POR: 34
TC: 34
POWER-PLAY:
POR: 0/4
TC: 1/6
SAVES:
POR: Shane Farkas with 31 saves
TC: Beck Warm 32 with saves
