RECAP: Hawks start hot, stumble late in 6-5 loss to Wild

A four-goal first wasn’t enough for Portland to take two points as Wenatchee rattled off five goals in just over 40 minutes for a 6-5 win.

Game #1: Portland (5) at Wenatchee (6)

SOG: POR (42) – WEN (32)

PP: POR (0/3) – WEN (0/7)

Saves: Maric (20/26), Brunen (6/6) – Hauser (37/42)

COMPLETE BOX SCORE

SCORING:

• POR – 4:00 – First Period – James Stefan (1) from Gabe Klassen
• POR – 9:52 – First Period – Kyle Chyzowski (1) from Nick Johnson and Alex Thompson
• WEN – 11:15 – First Period – Oscar Lovsin (1) from Steven Arp and Miles Cooper
• POR – 12:54 – First Period – Marcus Nguyen (1) Jack O’Brien and Josh Zakreski
• POR – 14:30 – First Period – Diego Buttazzoni (1) from James Stefan and Gabe Klassen
• WEN – 18:56 – First Period – Steven Arp (1) from MIles Cooper and Oscar Lovsin
• WEN – 0:32 – Second Period – Briley Wood (1) from Evan Friesen and Karter Prosofsky
• POR – 6:21 – Second Period – Gabe Klassen (1)
• WEN – 10:37 – Second Period – Oscar Lovsin (2) from Miles Cooper and Jonas Woo
• WEN – 0:48 – Third Period – Dawson Seitz (1) from Kenta Isogai and Landon Young
• WEN – 3:14 – Third Period – Landon Young (1) from Kurt Rookes

The Story: 

The Winterhawks roared out of the gates, but a steady Wild attack potted three unanswered goals in the final 30 minutes to take a 6-5 victory at Town Toyota Center on Friday.

Portland posted a 4-2 lead through the first 20 minutes, quieting the crowd early in Wenatchee’s WHL debut. Gabe Klassen (1G, 2A) and James Stefan (1G, 1A) led the Hawks’ attack from the start, combining for a beautiful shorthanded 2-on-0 goal just four minutes into the contest. Six minutes later, Kyle Chyzowski tapped home a Nick Johnson cross-crease feed to make it 2-0.

The game began to go back and forth from there as the Wild responded on Oscar Lovsin’s first of the night (and first of his career), Portland again flexed its muscle as Marcus Nguyen and Diego Buttazzoni found twine just over 90 seconds apart, and Wenatchee finished off the period with a Steven Arp strike to get within two.

Briley Wood made things interesting for the hosts 32 seconds into the middle stanza, but a Klassen penalty shot conversion again put the Hawks ahead by a pair. Four minutes later, though, Lovsin’s second of the night kicked off Wenatchee’s comeback in earnest. The Wild tied the game just 48 seconds into the third with a Dawson Seitz marker, then grabbed the eventual game-winner – at 3:14 of the third as Landon Young lit the lamp.

Cohen Massey, Kayd Ruedig and Luke Brunen made their WHL debuts for Portland on Friday. Brunen entered the game in the third period and stopped all six shots that came his way after Justen Maric went 20-for-26 through 43 minutes.

Daniel Hauser picked up the win with 37 saves for Wenatchee.

–

–

The Winterhawks trust Riverside Payments for all of their credit card processing as the team’s official credit card processors.