The Portland Winterhawks’ miracle season continues thanks to Hudson Darby’s 30-second stretch in the 3rd period, scoring a goal and then creating one, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead, and the Winterhawks beat the Everett Silvertips 4-2 in Game 7, moving on to the Western Conference Final.
It’s the 2nd straight series where Portland has won a Game 7 on the road. It’s the 1st time in their history where they’ve won 2 Game 7s in the same season. It’s their 3rd straight season they’ve eliminated the Silvertips, who will be shocked losing Game 7 in front of their home fans after finishing with the Western Hockey League’s best record during the regular season.
Ondrej Štěbeták took top honors for Portland, stopping 40 of 42 shots, helping to get Portland a win in a series where they were outshot in every game.
Kyle Chyzowski had a tying goal for the Winterhawks to help keep his junior career alive. At the other end of the age spectrum, 15-year-old Landon DuPont finished his amazing series with the game’s 1st goal. DuPont and Chyzowski finished 1-2 in points in the series.
The Winterhawks take on Spokane in the conference championship, starting Friday in Spokane.
| 2nd 9:57 EVT Landon DuPont (Dominik Rymon, Eric Jamieson) 0-1 | A long one-timer straight on by Rymon gets stopped by Ondrej Štěbeták but it goes behind him over his shoulder into the crease. DuPont, who had moved down to the net for the shot, knocks it in. Jamieson collected the puck off the faceoff and got it to Rymon. |
| 2nd 19:21 POR Kyle Chyzowski (Diego Buttazzoni, Tyson Jugnauth) 1-1 | A amazing long pass out of his own end by Jugnauth finds Buttazzoni at the Everett blue line. He slips a short pass by Eric Jamieson to Chyzowski, behind the defense and 1 on 1 with Raiden LeGall. Chyzowski stickhandles past LeGall and ties it. |
| 3rd 3:03 EVT Lukas Kaplan (Austin Roest, Kaden Hammell) 1-2 | Kaplan wrists one in from beyond the top of the left circle, probably one Štěbeták would have liked to have stopped. Hammell passed the puck up to Roest at center ice, and Roest made a short pass to the line to Kaplan. |
| 3rd 7:37 POR Hudson Darby (Carter Sotheran, Max Pšenička) 2-2 | A very long outlet from Sotheran deflects toward the corner in the Everett zone. LeGall and Rylen Pearce get mixed up trying to collect the puck, and it goes to the corner. Darby is first to it, and from the corner behind the goal line, he throws the puck toward goal, where it goes off LeGall’s shoulder and goes in shortside. One suspects LeGall wasn’t completely settled getting back in the net. Pšenička from behind his net got it to Sotheran. |
| 3rd 8:07 POR Kyle McDonough (Hudson Darby, Carter Sotheran) 3-2 | After Everett gets it deep off the next faceoff, it’s a great rush by Darby. He takes a pass from Sotheran at his own blue line and takes it all the way to the net, splitting Tyler MacKenzie and Brek Liske. LeGall stops him, but is way out of position on the rebound and McDonough has an empty net left over. |
| 3rd 19:39 POR (EN.PP) Diego Buttazzoni 4-2 | After a Silvertips win on the faceoff, Buttazzoni intercepts a pass from Smith at the top of the right circle, and fires it all the way down into the empty net to clinch the series. |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:21 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 11:32 |
| Tied | 34:09 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 13:58 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Pregame: Game 7. For Everett, Dominik Rymon was back in the lineup after missing 3 games. For Portland, Diego Buttazzoni avoided a suspension for a late penalty in Game 6 and was cleared to play.
1st period: A scoreless period, where Everett outshot Portland 12-7.
2nd period: Everett started the period better, with Portland making some nervous plays, and even though they caught themselves eventually, the Silvertips got the 1st goal. Everett’s defense, very strong for the 1st 15 minutes, broke down near the end, and Kyle Chyzowski got the breakthrough in the final minute to make it 1-1. Ondrej Štěbeták had a good period overall, even though he couldn’t stop the goal.
3rd period: Everett got the early lead, and again looked poised to run away with it, starting the period up 8-2 in shots, with Štěbeták continuing to keep the Winterhawks in it even with the goal allowed.
Then, a famous 30 seconds in the history of both teams. First, Hudson Darby’s goal, a howler by Raiden LeGall and the Everett defense, but also a well-placed shot. Second, a great rush up the ice by Darby, setting up Ryan McDonough. Incredibly, 3-2 Winterhawks.
The Winterhawks defended well from there, Štěbeták only have to make a couple of more big saves while his teammates blocked shots. A too many men on the ice penalty with 2 minutes left helped, and then Diego Buttazzoni hit the empty net to finish it off.
How it was won: 1) The Winterhawks stuck to it like almost no team has. They trailed twice, giving up a goal in the 3rd period, and twice looked on the verge of going under. But you can’t kill them.
2) Ondrej Štěbeták won the goaltending battle, which is the biggest surprise in the series. For now, anyway. Maybe in a few years it won’t be a surprise.
3) Between Štěbeták and the defense, they slowed down Everett’s top players. No one had a multipoint game, and Tarin Smith, Julius Miettinen, Jesse Heslop, and Tyler MacKenzie all were scoreless.
Key stretch/moment: With the 4 NHL-prospect defensemen on the Silvertips, Hudson Darby made the 2 big plays in 30 seconds against their bottom defense pair, Brek Liske, and Rylan Pearce.
Surprising: The first 2-point game of Hudson Darby’s playoff career, at the clutchest time.
Not surprising: Everett outshoots Portland, as they did in all 7 games and for the 72nd time in 81 games. Another way Everett will wonder how they lost the series.
Controversies: None.
Best team won?: Let’s not dwell on that.
Injuries/suspensions: Alex Weiermair went hard into the boards in the 1st and missed the last half of the period. But he returned for the rest of the game. It might be something to watch with a short turnaround.
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ondrej Štěbeták | POR | 40 saves-42 shots | It wasn’t always pretty, not even in this game. But he did more for this upset than any other player. Finishes the series with a .915 save percentage. |
| Hudson Darby | POR | 1 goal, 1 assist | Came out of nowhere to claim a spot in Winterhawks history. A lucky but opportunistic goal, and a great play to set up the winner. |
| Landon DuPont | EVT | 1 goal | Wasn’t clear he’d play in the series, and he ends up leading with 12 points. Impossible to believe he’s 15. You just pray he doesn’t get hurt before he’s drafted in 3 years. 4-game point streak. |
| Kyle Chyzowski | POR | 1 goal | Another big moment for the captain. Not ready to close the door yet. 2nd in the series and led the Winterhawks with 11 points. 6-game point streak. |
| Kyle McDonough | POR | 1 goal | In the right place for the winner. |
| Carter Sotheran | POR | 2 assists | +3 and had assists on both goals in the 30-second spree. The long outlet set up the tying goal. 3-game point streak. |
| Austin Roest | EVT | 1 assist | Finishes a great career, for good this time, with points in all 7 games. |
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 1 goal, 1 assist | Set up Chyzowski’s goal bullseyed from long range into the empty net to finish it. 5-game point streak. |
| Tyson Jugnauth | POR | 1 assist | The long outlet in the 2nd that set up Chyzowski’s goal. 8-game point streak, and 10 points in the series. |
| Dominik Rymon | EVT | 1 assist | Made it back for one more game and played well. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Weiermair | POR | 4-game point streak snapped. Hopefully no injury concerns after his hit in the 1st. | |
| Tarin Smith | EVT | 6-game point streak snapped. | |
| Raiden LeGall | EVT | 29 saves-32 shots | He played decently, again. But the tying goal to Darby is going to haunt him. He’s expected to go NCAA next season, so this may have been his last game. |
| Tyler MacKenzie | EVT | 3-game point streak snapped. Held scoreless, a huge key. A great overage season nevertheless. | |
| Kaden Hammell | EVT | 1 assist | 5-game point streak. He’s unsigned by the Kraken. He might be back. |
| Winterhawks | Silvertips | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 44-34-3-1 (.561) | 55-18-4-4 (.728) |
| Goals/game | 3.9 | 4.0 |
| Goals allowed/game | 4.0 | 2.7 |
| Team shooting % | .108 | .102 |
| Team save % | .888 | .908 |
| Power play | 25.2% | 25.9% |
| Penalty kill | 75.0% | 77.4% |
| Power plays for/game | 3.9 | 3.8 |
| Power plays against/game | 3.6 | 3.4 |
| Outshooting opponents | 37-43-2 | 72-6-3 |
| After 1 period | 27-33-22 | 35-17-29 |
| After 2 periods | 32-36-14 | 47-22-12 |
| Score, last 10 games | 33-39 (-6) | 40-32 (+8) |
| Score, last 20 games | 77-74 (+3) | 71-58 (+13) |
Portland Winterhawks
At 28 points, it’s their biggest upset in a playoff series. And it comes on the heels of beating a team in the 1st round that finished 12 points ahead of them. In both Game 7s on the road they trailed, and in both games they needed a 3rd period winner. It’s one of the most mind-blowing playoff runs ever.
Everett Silvertips
What a tough series to lose, and to lose it again to Portland…This series might have been decided on March 9 in Portland, with 6 games left in the regular season, when Carter Bear suffered a season-ending injury. He’d have been what they needed to take out Štěbeták, a finisher. They had an incredible start to the season, but faded a little bit in the 2nd half. They probably weren’t favorites any more, but this isn’t where they thought they’d lose it.
Now, only 5 Scotty Munro Trophy winners have lost in the 2nd round, and the Silvertips have done it twice. Add in their 53-point upset loss 3 years ago, and the playoffs haven’t treated them well. With DuPont, you expect they’ll be back.
Friday 4/26 at Spokane, 7pm PDT (Game 1)
Sunday 4/28 at Spokane (Game 2)