Silvertips fall 5-3, lose sixth straight to Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Everett Silvertips were unable to derail the Portland Winterhawk train.

Portland won its 10th straight game as the Winterhawks defeated the Tips 5-3 Saturday night.

Paul Bittner scored both goals in the third period as Portland snapped what was a 3-3 tie through two periods.

Portland, which has the WHL’s best record, has won 29 of its past 31.

Troy Rutkowski, Nicolas Petan and Brendan Leipsic also scored for Portland (33-5-1-0), which is now 6-0 against Everett this season. Brendan Burke earned the win in goal with 23 saves.

Manraj Hayer, Joshua Winquist and Logan Aasman scored for Everett (16-24-0-2). For Aasman it was his first career WHL goal. Austin Lotz made 32 saves in net for the Tips.

The game was evenly played through two periods, but Portland controlled the third and created the winning goals. Bittner gave the Winterhawks the lead at 2 minutes, 7 seconds, putting a shot from the slot into the top corner after Portland got a steal along the boards. Bittner then put it away with 2:08 remaining, taking advantage of an Everett turnover down low.

Everett opened the scoring while short-handed 6:57 into the game. The Tips broke two-on-one, with Winquist setting up Hayer to give Everett a 1-0 lead.

But the Winterhawks were still on the power play and they converted 37 seconds later, Rutkowski’s slap shot from the point finding its way in through traffic to tie it up. Portland then made it two-for-two on the power play at 10:56 when Petan cleaned up a scramble in front to give the Winterhawks a 2-1 lead.

The teams then combined for a flurry of three goals in 1:47 early in the second period, and when the dust settled it was tied 3-3. Everett scored the first two goals of the sequence to take the lead. Winquist tied it at 5:37 when his centering feed banked under Burke off Rutkowski’s skate. Then Aasman gave the Tips the lead 40 seconds later, his shot off the rush going through a screen and beating Burke. Portland tied it back up again 1:07 later, Petan’s shot off the rush being blocked right to Leipsic, who made it 3-3.

Winterhawks 5, Silvertips 3

Everett120—3

Portland212—5

First Period—1, Everett, Hayer 7 (Winquist), 6:57 (sh). 2, Portland, Rutkowski 9 (De Leo, Petan), 7:34. 3, Portland, Petan 27 (Leier, Bjorkstrand), 10:56 (pp). Penalties—Bjorkstrand, Portland (boarding), 1:12; Low, Everett (tripping), 6:38; Winquist, Everett (roughing), 9:17.

Second Period—4, Everett, Winquist 16 (Hayer, Cox), 5:37. 5, Everett, Aasman 1 (Soumelidis, Cox), 6:17. 6, Portland, Leipsic 25 (Petan, Bittner), 7:24. Penalties—Bittner, Portland (goaltender interference), 1:17; Viveiros, Portland (tripping), 9:45.

Third Period—7, Portland, Bittner 6 (Leipsic), 2:07. 8, Portland, Bittner 7 (Leipsic), 17:52. Penalties—Harrison, Everett (cross checking), 7:12; Petryk, Everett (fighting), 10:50; Baker, Portland (fighting), 10:50; Oslanski, Everett (roughing-roughing-10-minute misconduct), 18:39; De Champlain, Portland (high sticking-high sticking-10-minute misconduct), 18:39.

Shots on goal—Everett 7-16-3—26. Portland 11-14-12—37. Power-play opportunities—Everett 0 of 3. Portland 2 of 3.

Goalies—Everett, Lotz 8-13-0-1 (37 shots, 32 saves). Portland, Burke 12-3-1-0 (26 shots, 23 saves).

A—8,252.