Winterhawks dismantle Silvertips 6-1 in division showdown

EVERETT — The Portland Winterhawks made an emphatic statement Wednesday night:

The WHL’s U.S. Division is still ours to lose.

In what could be the decisive moment in the race for the division title, the Winterhawks left little to doubt as they blew out the Everett Silvertips 6-1 at Xfinity Arena.

Everett came into Wednesday’s game with a four-point lead in the standings over Portland. A victory would have put the Tips in position to end the reign of the Winterhawks, who have won the last two division championships and three of the past four.

But the showdown anticipated heading into the game never materialized as Portland outclassed Everett with its skill and speed. The Tips still lead the division race by two, but given the schedules the rest of the way — the Winterhawks have two games in hand and a considerably easier schedule in terms of opponents — Everett’s chance at raising its first banner since 2007 may have just slipped away.

“For the first time this year the ball is out of our hands,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine lamented. “Now Portland controls its destiny and we need other teams to win.

“It certainly wasn’t a lack of a team that wanted to do well,” Constantine added. “This was very important to our players. I just thought it looked like they had a better ability to play in a big-game environment, probably based on the fact that’s where they’ve been the past five years. A big game is a normal game for them. I didn’t think we had a great response to a big game, not because we didn’t care but because didn’t have much experience at it.”

Portland’s star duo of Oliver Bjorkstrand and Nicolas Petan plagued the Tips throughout. Bjorkstrand continued his high-flying ways, scoring two goals — including one that powered its way through the net — to bring his total to a league-leading 54 on the season and 23 in his past 14 outings. Petan had a goal and two assists, giving him multiple-assist performances in seven straight.

Adam Henry added two goals and Keoni Texeira also scored for Portland (40-20-2-3), which blew the doors off the game after Everett scored first. The Winterhawks have won four straight and is now 17-1-2-0 in its past 20 games.

“We got off to a little bit of a slow start,” Portland coach Jamie Kompon said. “Giving up the first goal is never a good thing, especially in an opponent’s building when they’re good at home. I was happy with the way we responded and I thought we played well for 56 minutes.”

Despite now being in pole position for the division title, Kompon downplayed the importance of the victory.

“We don’t want to put any more importance on one game over another game,” he said. “We know it’s an important game, and we can’t lose sight of where we want to get to. Yeah, it’s a big game against a division rival, but we still have seven games to go besides this one. We take care of business tonight and do the right things that made us successful in the past, then the results will take care of themselves.”

Adin Hill earned the win in goal for Portland with 27 saves.

Dawson Leedahl scored the lone goal for Everett (40-20-3-4), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Carter Hart, the reigning Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Week, was pulled midway through the second period after allowing four goals on 23 shots. Austin Lotz saved 10 of 12 in relief for the Tips, who lost their cool in the game’s final minutes.

It started well enough for the Tips. After a few nervous shifts to start the game, Everett opened the scoring at 3 minutes, 18 seconds. The Tips worked the puck to Cole MacDonald, open in the left circle. MacDonald looked up, closed on goal, then fed it out front where Leedahl put it away to make it 1-0.

Portland picked up the pace after that and scored twice in four minutes to go ahead 2-1. Evan Weinger shrugged off a defender in the corner, then fed Texeira all alone in the high slot. Texeira picked out the corner to tie it at 8:29. Then the Tips got long shifted, and Bjorkstrand came off the bench, collected the puck behind the Everett net, circled out front and beat Hart at the near post, giving the Winterhawks the lead at 11:39.

The Winterhawks then put the game away in the second. Henry scored twice to put Portland in control. He collected the puck in his own zone, found a seam in the neutral zone as he sped up the ice, then lifted a backhander over Hart at 4:16. Then at 12:04 the Winterhawks created a turnover in the Everett zone, and Petan made a visionary pass to find Henry cutting in from the point to make it 4-1 and send Hart to the bench. Petan scored one of his own at 17:46 when his shot off the rush went off his marker’s stick and over Lotz to make it a four-goal game and end any thoughts of a Tips comeback.

“They’re very gifted players, they are able to skate and move the puck,” Constantine said of the Winterhawks. “That’s the combination of skills that makes them dangerous. They do a lot of things offensively very well, centered on their top line. We didn’t do a good enough job defending them.”

Bjorkstrand finished things off with a shot that went through the net on the power play at 13:44 of the third period, and after that the game got heated as the Tips lost their composure.

Tips sign Astasiewicz

The Tips announced Wednesday the signing of defenseman Alex Astasiewicz to a WHL education contract. Astasiewicz, a 16-year-old from Salmon Arm, B.C., was a third-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. The 6-foot, 195-pounder just completed his season with the Golden Rockets of the junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, where he had five goals and 20 assists in 46 games. Astasiewicz is spending the next couple weeks in Everett and has been added to the Tips’ roster.

Winterhawks 6, Silvertips 1

Portland 2 3 1 — 6

Everett 1 0 0 — 1

First Period—1, Everett, Leedahl 14 (MacDonald, Stadnyk), 3:18. 2, Portland, Texeira 7 (Weinger, Iverson), 8:29. 3, Portland, Bjorkstrand 53, 11:39. Penalties—Davis, Everett (high sticking), 12:38.

Second Period—4, Portland, Henry 6 (Weinger, Iverson), 4:16. 5, Portland, Henry 7 (Petan, Overhardt), 12:04. 6, Portland, Petan 12 (Bittner, Hanson), 17:46. Penalties—Heinrich, Portland (tripping), 1:22; De Leo, Portland (interference), 19:00.

Third Period—7, Portland, Bjorkstrand 54 (Petan), 13:44 (pp). Penalties—Texeira, Portland (boarding), 8:03; Wharrie, Everett (kneeing), 10:26; Scherbak, Everett (interference), 13:25; Scherbak, Everett (10-minute misconduct), 13:44; Mykitiuk, Everett (goaltender interference), 14:02; Aasman, Everett (roughing), 14:02; Petan, Portland (high sticking), 14:12; McKenzie, Portland (roughing), 17:46; Mykitiuk, Everett (roughing), 17:46; McKenzie, Portland (fighting), 20:00; Mykitiuk, Everett (fighting), 20:00; Betker, Everett (roughing), 20:00.

Shots on goal—Portland 17-10-8—35. Everett 11-11-6—28. Power-play opportunities—Portland 1 of 5. Everett 0 of 4.

Goalies—Portland, Hill 29-8-1-0 (28 shots, 27 saves). Everett, Hart 16-5-2-1 (23 shots, 19 saves), Lotz (12 shots, 10 saves).

A—4,033.

Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.