It’s a dead heat in the U.S. Division heading into the final weekend of the WHL’s regular season.
The Everett Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks are all tied up after the Winterhawks defeated the Spokane Chiefs 7-4 Wednesday night.
Everett, trying to win its first U.S. Division title since 2007, went into the final week of the season leading Portland by two points for first place in the division. The Winterhawks, however, had a game in hand, which was played Wednesday in Spokane.
Spokane beat Portland at home 5-3 last Friday, but the Winterhawks got their revenge Wednesday. Defenseman Adam Henry scored a hat trick as Portland led from start to finish.
Portland’s victory put the Winterhawks even on points with Everett with 90. Both teams play three games this weekend. Everett has a home-and-home with Victoria on Friday and Saturday, with Saturday’s game at Xfinity Arena, then finishes off the season at Spokane on Sunday. Portland is at Tri-City on Friday, at Seattle on Saturday and finishes up with a home game against Tri-City on Sunday. Portland is 8-0 against Tri-City so far this season.
Portland, which is seeking its fourth division title in the past five seasons, currently holds the tiebreaker by virtue of having one more win.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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