Winterhawks Soar to Victory: Consecutive Triumphs Over Tri-City

KENNEWICK — Kyle Chyzowski’s goal with 2:27 remaining in the second period served as the decisive score as the Portland Winterhawks withstood the Tri-City Americans 4-3 on Saturday at the Toyota Center.

This marks the sixth consecutive Western Hockey League win for Portland (20-12-2-0) and a clean sweep of back-to-back matches against Tri-City (19-10-2-1).

The Winterhawks commenced the scoring 5:26 into the match with Reed Brown’s fourth goal of the year. Just two minutes later, Tri-City leveled the score with Jake Sloan’s goal.

The remaining goals occurred within an approximate eight-minute period of the second frame.

Josh Zakreski’s 20th tally advanced Portland to a 2-1 lead, but Tri-City quickly tied it once again at 2-2 only 1:12 after the Winterhawks had taken the advantage.

Tyson Jugnauth gave the Winterhawks the lead again with an assist from Alex Weiermair, but Tri-City countered yet again with Max Curran’s second goal of the match.

Marek Schlenker recorded 40 saves on 43 attempts for Portland. Nathan Preston halted 27 of 31 shots for Tri-City.

Portland currently leads the season series 2-0-1-0 with three additional encounters pending.

Looking ahead

Portland will host its annual New Year’s Eve celebration at Memorial Coliseum with a game at 5 p.m. on Tuesday against the WHL-leading Everett Silvertips.