SASKATOON, Sask. — The Portland Winterhawks found a way to beat the trap, and the London Knights were forced to play catch up.
The Knights played much of the first period with one forechecker and a string of four players blocking entrance into their zone. It resulted in some turnovers, but Winterhawks goalie Mac Carruth held his team in long enough until they could capitalize on their chances en route to a 6-3 Portland win.
With the Knights trailing, they were forced with no other choice than to change their plan.
“In the first period, I thought we turned over a lot of pucks due to their trap,” Winterhawks forward Taylor Leier said. “We kind of managed the puck a little bit better in the rest of the game. We haven’t seen a team like that yet this year and we got six goals, so I guess we kind of figured it out.”
Bo Horvat and Max Domi couldn’t take solace in the fact they shared a highlight reel goal when it didn’t result in a win. Domi made a nifty saucer pass between his legs to Horvat, who rifled it home to cut the Winterhawks’ lead to 3-2 in the second period.
“To be honest with you, that’s all I had,” Domi described the play. “I got really lucky. You grow up practising stuff like that and just having fun with it. That’s part of hockey, just having fun. A lot of luck there, though.”
“You have to expect the unexpected from him,” Horvat said.
The Knights battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game early in the third period. A Ryan Rupert penalty, however, led to the power-play goal from Chase De Leo that would stand up as the winner.
Another quick goal from Derrick Pouliot 23 seconds later put the Winterhawks up for good.
With the Portland win, all four teams are now 1-1. It’s the second time in tournament history since the four-team format was adopted in 1983 that all four teams are 1-1 through four games. It first happened last year in Shawinigan, Que.
Why the Winterhawks won: The Knights decided to take the Winterhawks’ top four defencemen out of the game, first with the trap, then by guarding the blue-line and forcing the play down low to the forwards.
“They’re a good team, they know how to play,” Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones said. “Against the power play, they had two high guys taking away any high plays or one-timers. We weren’t able to get those off tonight. Definitely they made our forwards work down low. We got some chances and we capitalized.”
“They were forcing our points when it went low to high for sure,” Portland head coach Travis Green said. “We did talk about that. We knew, especially early in the game, we noticed when it went low to high and D to D, they were forcing us, not letting us get pucks to the net. When that happens, we have to make an adjustment. We have to put pucks behind the net and work them down low.
“I thought a couple of our lines did a real good job. The (Taylor) Peters, (Paul) Bittner and (Keegan) Iverson line, I thought was fantastic grinding down low, laying heavy, hard minutes and De Leo’s line was big for us.”
Why the Knights lost: There was nothing wrong with the Knights game plan, other than its execution. Horvat had several scoring chances throughout the game and actually scored on what was probably the toughest chance he had. He hit at least one post, while many more of his teammates were also stymied on their chances.
“I thought we had quite a few chances,” Horvat said. “It sucks not burying them.”
“We had a ton of posts there by Bo, he had a couple there, so if that’s an inch or two the other way, that’s a goal and all the momentum’s on our way,” Rupert said. “Unfortunately, the breaks weren’t on our side tonight.”
“I thought we played well,” Knights head coach Dale Hunter said. “When you get chances, that means you’re playing well. If you don’t get no chances, that means you’re not.”
Player of the Game: Leier was a difference-maker all night, scoring the game’s first goal on a tipped shot while picking up two assists and finishing a plus-4. It was a special moment for him, since he’s from Saskatoon.
Unsung hero: The Winterhawks got the bounce-back game they needed from Carruth, who made several big stops in the early going when his team was conceding chances to the Knights following some neutral zone turnovers.
“He played really well tonight, right from the beginning,” Jones said. “They really tried to get pucks to him knowing he let in seven the last game (against Halifax on Saturday) and wasn’t so good. But Mac really stepped up to the plate tonight … he stopped pucks when he needed to for us.”
Game changer: Rupert took a penalty with the game tied midway through the third period. He closed his hand on the puck and threw it aside in the defensive zone, the type of play that wouldn’t have resulted in a penalty in the Ontario Hockey League. It led to the winner and the Winterhawks never looked back.
“I guess you can say that’s the game right there,” Rupert said.
Quote of the day: Prior to the Knights’ game-tying goal, Ty Rattie was practically mugged by a Knight defender in front of the London net. Both officials missed it, and the play went back up ice and resulted in Alex Broadhurst’s tying goal.
Asked what explanation Green received from the officials: “He said he didn’t really see him get punched in the face. That’s the explanation. I’m not quite sure how he couldn’t see it, but if he didn’t see it, I guess he can’t call it.”