Winterhawks Weekly: Portland secures three wins and playoff berth

The Portland Winterhawks captured three wins this past week, inducted two legends into its Hall of Fame, and secured postseason berth for a 14th consecutive year. It is safe to say the week of March 2 – 9 was a big one in Portland. With that success in the rearview mirror, the club eyes up its final five regular-season games.

Hot Hawks:

• Forward Kyle Chyzowski co-led the Winterhawks with four points (G-3A) in four games this past week. On Sunday night against Everett, he helped set up the game’s first goal to bring his season point totals up to 100. He follows in the footsteps of Gabe Klassen and James Stefan from 2023-24 as the latest Winterhawk to reach the 100-point season milestone.
• Forward Josh Zakreski hammered in two goals and two assists for a productive week, brining his career totals up to 140 points. Zakreski’s goal on Wednesday against Kamloops was also the WHL’s Highlight of the Night.
• Goaltender Marek Schlenker impressed in his Saturday night start in Seattle. Schlenker denied 37 of the 38 shots he faced in the 4-1 victory against the Winterhawks divisional rival.
• Goaltender Ondřej Štěbeták started three of the club’s four games this week and earned two victories against Western Conference foes. In the wins, the Jihlava, Czechia native turned aside 40 and 37 shots.
• Forward David Hoy picked up his second goal of the season on Saturday night and it was his goal that started a stretch of six unanswered goals this weekend for Portland.

Play of the Week: 

Tyson Jugnauth impressed everyone in the VMC with an eye-popping, shootout goal on Sunday evening against the Western Conference-leading Everett Silvertips. Jugnauth, a prospect of the Seattle Kraken, cut from right to left atop Raiden LeGall’s crease to put the puck on his forehand and score his unofficial second goal of the night. It marked Jugnauth’s third shootout-winning goal of the season, tying him with Jannik Hansen for the most deciding goals in a shootout in Winterhawks history.

WHAT A MOVE, WHAT A GOAL! pic.twitter.com/VhPcZFXViZ

— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) March 10, 2025

Save the Date – March 22

The Winterhawks will host their final regular-season watch party event at Cartside on Saturday, March 22 when the Winterhawks face the Seattle Thunderbirds at the ShoWare Center. The I-5 Rivalry Series game presented by ZoomCare will also be televised locally on Portland’s CW.

Weekly Rewind: 

Portland 4, Kamloops 3 (Wednesday): 

The Winterhawks beat the Blazers 4-3 on Wednesday night to secure their spot in the 2025 WHL Playoffs. Joel Plante scored 30 seconds into the game and Diego Buttazzoni and Josh Zakreski each netted their 33rd goals of the season to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead after the first period. Kayd Ruedig netted a power-play goal in the second frame, the eventual game winner, and Ondřej Štěbeták made 40 saves in the win, including all 16 he saw in a one-goal third period.

Portland 2, Seattle 7 (Friday): 

This was the Hawks’ lone loss of the week as Seattle jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. Ryder Thompson and Diego Buttazzoni each scored for the Winterhawks and Josh Zakreski tacked on two assists, but seven different T-Birds recorded multiple points in the road win. Seattle goaltender Scott Ratzlaff stopped 42 of the 44 shots he faced on Friday night, including all 23 the Hawks fired at him in the second period.

Portland 4, Seattle 1 (Saturday): 

Portland responded well in Seattle on Saturday night, rattling off four, unanswered goals from four different scorers to give the Hawks a 4-1 win over the Thunderbirds. Kyle Chyzowski and Alex Weiermair each had a goal and an assist and Marek Schlenker was tremendous in net, turning aside 37 of 38 shots to pick up his 12th win of the campaign. It was the Okotoks, Alta. product’s first 60-minute effort this season where he allowed one or fewer goals in a start.

Portland 3, Everett 2 SO (Sunday): 

Tyson Jugnauth and Josh Zakreski each scored shorthanded for the Hawks during the same penalty to give Portland a 2-0 lead after the first period. Everett battled back with second period power-play goals from Tyler MacKenzie and Julius Miettinen to even the score at 2-2 after two. Neither team found the back of the net in the third period or overtime. Jugnauth scored in the shootout (see clip above) and Alex Weiermair put it out of reach with a goal in round two. Meanwhile, Ondřej Štěbeták made 37 saves in 65 minutes of work and he stopped both shootout attempts to lift the Hawks to a 3-2 win over the U.S. Division leaders.

Upcoming Promotional Games:

Saturday, March 15 – Fan Appreciation Night – BUY TICKETS

Sunday, March 16 – Local Sports Night – BUY TICKETS

Sunday, March 21 – Jersey Off The Backs Night – BUY TICKETS

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