PORTLAND — Two games into the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference finals, there is almost no area that separates the Portland Winterhawks and the Kelowna Rockets — on the stat sheet or on the ice.
After two, tense, tight checking battles saw the teams split 3-2 verdicts, the teams hit the Moda Center ice on Tuesday and Wednesday for 7 p.m. games that figure to gain intensity as they progress.
“It’s a tight checking series. There’s not much space out there — on both sides,” Winterhawks coach Jamie Kompon said. “We’re trying to get going and we’re running into road blocks just the way they are.”
Portland has scored three goals on the rush and two on the power play through two games. Kelowna has two power-play goals, one short-handed goal and one on a partial breakaway as Portland has succeeded in keeping the Rockets on the perimeter of the attack zone.
“I think our defensemen are playing great,” Winterhawks forward Miles Koules said. “When their points are shooting our defense are doing a good job boxing them out and (Adin) Hill is doing a good job of making those first saves. And when there are rebounds there Hill’s been playing great for us.”
Statistically, the only noticeable difference is that the Rockets outshot the Winterhawks 86-64 in the first two games. But Kompon said that number is misleading since many of Kelowna’s shots came during power plays, and few of them on high-quality scoring chances.
“They’re going to get shots. They’re the No. 1 team in the league,” Kompon said. “At the end of the day you expect that from the best.”
The Winterhawks believe the Rockets bring out the best in their game.
“They have a great toughness to their team and they finish their checks,” Koules said. “That’s something that we like because when the game gets tough I think that we’re the kind of team that can rise to that situation.”
Kelwona plays faster than Seattle or Everett, and the Rockets speed means they can slow down the Winterhawks transition game better than Seattle or Everett did in the first two series.
“When you’re playing against Seattle and Everett you have a little bit more time,” Portland’s Nic Petan said. “In this series time and space is limited so I think smart puck decisions are a key to this series.”
In other words, don’t try to get cute around the blue lines or between them.
“Keep it simple through the neutral zone,” Petan said. “If we’re trying to dazzle and dangle, it’s not really going to work against these guys, so we’ve got to put pucks deep and go after their D.”
Petan, though, scored a dazzling goal that turned into the winner in Game 2. His spin-around backhander came with friend and fellow Winnipeg Jets prospect Josh Morrissey defending the play. Petan said he didn’t say anything to Morrissey after the goal.
“If it was the other way around I wouldn’t want him to say anything, so I didn’t say anything,” Petan said.
NOTES — For the second week in a row, Portland’s Adin Hill is the WHL nominee for the Canadian Hockey League Goalie of the Week award. Hill has made 81 saves on 86 shots in this series. He has not allowed a goal after the second period in his last four playoff games. … “Awesome” is the way Petan described Hill’s play.
Petan today will play his 85th career playoff game, tying Derrick Pouliot as the all-time leader in playoff games played for the Winterhawks. The WHL record is 87 playoff games for Red Deer’s Shay Stevenson, who played 2000-2004. Petan has points in all 13 playoff games this season (eight goals, 13 assists).
Prior to today, the Hawks have played only once this playoff season at the Moda Center. Koules, for one, is looking forward to it. “I love (Veterans Memorial Coliseum), but there’s something about the Moda Center that when you’re playing in that rink it seems to give your legs a little extra jump.”
