Ty Rattie scored the equalizer late in the third period and completed a hat trick with a shorthanded goal 7:58 into overtime as the Portland Winterhawks took a 5-4 win over Tri-City on Saturday in Kennewick.
Portland leads the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference finals series 2-0 after back-to-back 5-4 overtime wins.
Portland trailed 4-2 in the third period Saturday.
Defenseman Derrick Pouliot had four assists on the night, picking up helpers on all four of Portland’s goals in regulation.
The Winterhawks controlled play through much of the first period, outshooting Tri-Cities 14-6.
But it was the Americans who opened the scoring 4:27 into the game on a power play goal by Jordan Messier, then made it 2-0 at the 8:50 mark when Adam Hughesman scored.
The Hawks got on the board with a 5-on-3 power play goal from Rattie at the 13:39 mark to make it 2-1 going into the second period. Early in the second Tri-City went back up by two when Patrick Holland scored a power play goal 46 seconds in to make it 3-1.
Portland again got within one when Brad Ross put a backhand past Americans netminder Ty Rimmer to cut the deficit to 3-2 at the 13:01 mark.
Tri-City went ahead 4-2 when Justin Feser tipped in a point shot by Zach Yuen at the 4:52 mark of the third period. Joey Baker banged in a rebound at the 9:55 mark to pull Portland back within a goal at 4-3.
With just less than two minutes to play and the Hawks on a power play, Rattie scored his second of the game to tie the game at 4 and force overtime, then scored the shorthanded winner 7:58 into the extra frame.
Rattie has a WHL-leading 27 points in the playoffs, with 16 goals.
Portland outshot Tri-City 48-38 as Mac Carruth made 34 saves, while Rimmer had 43 stops. Portland was 2-4 on the power play and 5-7 on the penalty kill.
The series comes back to Portland for Game 3 Wednesday and Game 4 Thursday, both at 7 p.m. in the Rose Garden.
