Nic Petan nets the winning goal five minutes into the third period Wednesday against Kamloops
The Portland Winterhawks beat Kamloops at its own game Wednesday night, putting up five straight goals to claim a 5-2 comeback win over the Blazers in a rematch of last years Western Conference finals.
They came back on us three times in the playoffs last year, but tonight we were lucky enough to get it done to them, Portland goaltender Mac Carruth said. It felt like a playoff game out there, so its a big boost to our confidence.
The Winterhawks (41-7-1-2) continue to lead the Western Conference seven points over Kelowna, while Kamloops (33-15-2-3) sits in third place.
After giving up two goals in the first period, Portland evened the score in a flash midway through the second.
Ty Rattie got the Winterhawks on the board, setting up out front and deflecting a pass from Nic Petan past Kamloops goalie Cole Cheveldave.
Portlands next rush down the ice also found the net.
Presten Kopeck fought for a spot in front of the goal, but failed to connect. The Winterhawks maintained possession, cycling the puck around the perimeter and allowing Joe Mahon to join the fray. The puck found his stick, and he pounded it home cleanly.
The Blazers earned a power play late in the period, but struggled to get much going. The team squandered the last 25 seconds of the man-advantage when Portlands Taylor Peters won the puck in the corner between two blue shirts. Kamloops eventually gained it back, but was tripped up again when Portlands Brendan Leipsic deflected a pass near the blue line not allowing the Blazers to escape their own zone.
Kamloops fired only four shots in the middle period and the game remained deadlocked 2-2 heading into the third.
It felt great going into that second intermission tied up, Petan said. We felt that our hard work was going to pay off. When you play good defense, the offense is going to come.
Petan supplied the nights winning goal, getting loose in the faceoff circle and putting the puck airborne through a tight window, sneaking between Cheveldaves legs and just inside the far post.
I went down the wing and had no one on me, so I just wanted to put a shot on net, he said.
Kamloops had several chances to pull even, but Carruth came up with a series of big saves.
The first chance came after the Blazers won a faceoff in Portlands zone, and Tyler Hansen put a quick slap shot on target only to see Carruth come up with the glove save.
A minute later, Carruth came out front to challenge the puck, which found its way through traffic and sat loose near the post. The Blazers Tim Bozon took a swipe at it, but Carruth twisted back and laid his stick across the ice to make the block.
Kamloops went on its final power play, as the clock ticked to under five minutes. Blazers left wing Brendan Ranford centered a slow sliding pass across the mouth of the goal but had no teammates in position to make a play. Instead, the puck came out the far side where Portlands Taylor Leier cleared it ahead. Peters was breaking past the blue line, coming onto the puck at center ice and escaping for a short-handed breakaway that put the game out of reach.
We stuck with the game plan and stayed focused, Portland coach Travis Green said. We played a good game start to finish.
Leipsic added an empty-net tally in the final minute.
The Winterhawks have taken two of three against the Blazers with the final game in the regular-season series coming Feb. 20, in British Columbia.
Portland travels to Seattle on Friday before returning to the Coliseum to face Spokane at 7 p.m. Saturday.