Winterhawks sweep Silvertips to reach WHL Western Conference finals

EVERETT — The Portland Winterhawks rode a dominant second period and a 27-save shutout from Jan Špunar to a 5-0 victory over the Everett Silvertips in Game 4 of their second-round Western Hockey League series, completing their second straight sweep.

The Winterhawks advance to the Western Conference Championship for the first time since 2015.

James Stefan, an Edmonton Oilers prospect, scored the first Portland goal five minutes into the second period at Everett’s Angel of the Winds Arena.

Tyson Jugnauth, a Seattle Kraken prospect, doubled the lead six minutes later.

Portland then added a third goal through Ryder Thompson at 15:07 as he tapped home a Stefan rebound at the side of the net.

Jack O’Brien and Kyle Chyzowski chipped in third-period goals — O’Brien’s on a breakaway move and Chyzowski’s on a net-front tap-in on the power play — to wrap up the dominant showing on the road.

Winners of eight consecutive playoff games for the first time in club history, Portland will now face No. 1 seed Prince George in a best-of-seven series.

The Cougars finished off their series Friday against Kelowna by winning 6-3 in game 5. It’s the first time since 2007 Prince George has reached the third round of the WHL playoffs.

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Games 1 and 2 of the Western Conference Championship will be at Prince George’s CN Centre in British Columbia. The series opens at 7 p.m. Friday, April 26, and game 2 is 6 p.m. the next night.

The series shifts to Portland for games 3-4 (and 5 if necessary) on April 29 and May 1-2. All are 7 p.m. puck drops at the Memorial Coliseum.

The Winterhawks and Prince George were 2-2 against each other this season.