The venue shifts to Comcast Arena in Everett. Do not expect much else to change from the Portland Winterhawks’ perspective today when they resume their Western Hockey League playoff series with the Everett Silvertips.
The teams split the first two games in Portland, so the top-seeded Winterhawks must win at least once in Everett if they are going to move beyond the first round. Not that the challenge figures to intimidate a team that won a WHL-record 29 games away from home during the regular season. In fact, their road record of 29-5-1-1 was better than their home mark this season.
“Our team has played well on the road the last few years,” acting coach Travis Green said. “A lot of it’s because they don’t get distracted by things that are bad, and they just go out and play the game.”
Everett, which won only one of 10 reguar-season games against Portland, could get an early energy boost from its home fans — depending on the size of the midweek crowd.
“They do have a good atmosphere in their building and they get really loud,” Portland’s Nic Petan said. “But we know what to do. We’ve just got to work harder than they do.”
Green said he is not at all concerned with the atmosphere.
“They might be a little more energized,” the coach said. “For us, there’s no sense worrying about it or talking about it. The game will play itself out, and we’ll be up to the challenge.”
Another aspect of playing on the road that does not concern Green is trying to get favorable matchups on the ice. Home teams get the chance to make the last line change before each faceoff, making it easier for that coach to get the matchups he wants.
“I’m confident with all of our lines that we can play against most lines in the league, so we have a luxury of not worrying about it so much,” Green said. “I believe that our team likes to get into the flow of the game, and likes a little bit of a pattern when they know when they are getting on the ice.”
Portland’s high-scoring offense has not yet broken out — at least in terms of pouring goals behind Everett goalie Austin Lotz — but the Winterhawks put 58 shots on goal in Game 1 and dominated territorially in Game 2. The key for Portland is to not become frustrated if the game is low scoring.
“They lock it down defensively and they feast on turnovers, so it’s never easy playing against those guys,” Portland’s Brendan Leipsic said.
Green said it is natural for his offensive-minded team to want to push forward, especially when the goals are not coming.
But he trusts his players to be defensively responsible.
“You just try to limit your turnovers a little bit, and make sure you keep the puck safe so you don’t give them odd-man rushes,” Leipsic said. “The way we were effective last game was keeping (the puck) down low and working the cycle type thing and bringing the puck to the net.”
