After splitting two tight-checking battles at Victoria, the Portland Winterhawks will try to finish off the Royals on Thursday at the Moda Center.
A win in the 7 p.m. game for Portland would send the Winterhawks to the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference finals for a fourth consecutive season. Portland leads this best-of-7 series 3-1 thanks to a come-from-behind 4-3 win on Tuesday at Victoria.
The Winterhawks won the first two games of the series at home, outscoring the Royals 14-5. Portland will try to dictate the tempo with their speed the way it did in Games 1 and 2.
Brendan Leipsic had two goals in Tuesday’s Game 4 win and has points in all eight playoff games this season. He has a league-best 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists) in the playoffs and has recorded at least one goal or one assist in 15 consecutive games.
Through eight playoff games, Portland has four of the top seven scorers in the WHL. Oliver Bjorkstrand (8 goals, 7 assists), Derrick Pouliot (4 goals, 10 assists) and Taylor Leier (3 goals, 10 assists) are also among the league leaders.
