Malc
04-16-2011, 12:01 PM
By Doyle Potenteau
Jessey Astles: Breakaway expert. Who knew?
The Portland Winterhawks certainly know now.
Astles scored the game-winning goal for Kelowna on Friday night, cashing in a breakaway opportunity in overtime, as the Rockets stunned the Winterhawks 2-1 at The Rose Garden. Kelowna‘s win extended this second-round series, which Portland leads, albeit 3-2 now and not the commanding 3-1 margin the Hawks had heading into Game 5.
"This was a tough one; we knew it was do or die," said Astles, who, at seven minutes of overtime, picked off a pass at Kelowna‘s blue-line, skated the length of the ice on a breakaway, then scored, going high blocker on Portland goaltender Mac Carruth. "We had to leave everything on the ice and that‘s what we did.
"We kept at it, and, luckily, I got that breakaway and capitalized on it."
The goal was Astles‘ second of this series, with his first also being a successful breakaway marker that went five-hole in Game 2 last Sunday.
"He‘s taking over from Geordie Wudrick in that category," said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. "I‘m happy for Jessey because he‘s a guy who doesn‘t get a lot of notoriety and it‘s nice to see him get a little bit of the spotlight. I thought he played a very good game for us tonight, and, to be honest, I felt a little bit of comfort with him going in (on a breakaway) because he does have a good skill set, too."
Yet, if it hadn‘t been for a lights-out effort from Rockets goaltender Adam Brown, who made 54 saves, this game wouldn‘t have went to overtime.
"He shut the door for us all night," Astles said of the game‘s first star. "He made some really key saves, and he was great for us."
"From the second period on, we relied on Adam very heavily," said Huska. "He made some very big saves for us, and when you look at your starting goaltender at this time of the season, there are some games where he has to go over and above the type of performance that he has to have, and he was very, very good tonight.
"He gave us everything that he had, and he allowed us to get the win."
Colton Jobke was handed a five minute major and game misconduct for boarding near the end of the first period after hitting Brad Ross into the side boards. The Winterhawks then had the luxury of a 5 on 3 after Kevin Smith fired the puck over the glass. While the Winterhawks kept the puck in the Rockets' zone in an attempt to open the scoring, few quality shots were taken on that extended power play.
Mitchell Callahan, with his fifth goal of the playoffs, also scored for Kelowna. Nino Niederreiter, with his seventh playoff goal, replied for Portland, which outshot Kelowna 55-38. Carruth made 36 saves for Portland, which, despite heavy pressure throughout the game, couldn‘t beat Brown.
"Tonight was a hard battle," said Portland general manager and head coach Mike Johnston. "We had enough shots, we had enough scoring chances; we just couldn‘t convert."
Asked if his bench was getting frustrated with Brown consistently turning Portland away, Johnston said "no, not really. I thought (Carruth) made some good saves as well, so it was going both ways.
"We had some opportunities around the net. I didn‘t think the ice was particularly good at certain times of the game, especially in the last 10 minutes. This ice gets pretty heavy and I thought that affected a lot of the play around the net; on heavy ice, it‘s more difficult to get your shot away."
ICE CHIPS: Games scratches - Kelowna: LW Zach Franko (head), C Gal Koren, RW Jason Siebert (wrist), C Andreas Stene and C Max Adolph (head). Portland: D Josh Hanson, D Brett Ponich (knee), C Chase De Leo, LW Oliver Gabriel (shoulder), C Pierce Eviston (undisclosed injury), LW Taylor Leier and C Jason Trott.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=349328
Jessey Astles: Breakaway expert. Who knew?
The Portland Winterhawks certainly know now.
Astles scored the game-winning goal for Kelowna on Friday night, cashing in a breakaway opportunity in overtime, as the Rockets stunned the Winterhawks 2-1 at The Rose Garden. Kelowna‘s win extended this second-round series, which Portland leads, albeit 3-2 now and not the commanding 3-1 margin the Hawks had heading into Game 5.
"This was a tough one; we knew it was do or die," said Astles, who, at seven minutes of overtime, picked off a pass at Kelowna‘s blue-line, skated the length of the ice on a breakaway, then scored, going high blocker on Portland goaltender Mac Carruth. "We had to leave everything on the ice and that‘s what we did.
"We kept at it, and, luckily, I got that breakaway and capitalized on it."
The goal was Astles‘ second of this series, with his first also being a successful breakaway marker that went five-hole in Game 2 last Sunday.
"He‘s taking over from Geordie Wudrick in that category," said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. "I‘m happy for Jessey because he‘s a guy who doesn‘t get a lot of notoriety and it‘s nice to see him get a little bit of the spotlight. I thought he played a very good game for us tonight, and, to be honest, I felt a little bit of comfort with him going in (on a breakaway) because he does have a good skill set, too."
Yet, if it hadn‘t been for a lights-out effort from Rockets goaltender Adam Brown, who made 54 saves, this game wouldn‘t have went to overtime.
"He shut the door for us all night," Astles said of the game‘s first star. "He made some really key saves, and he was great for us."
"From the second period on, we relied on Adam very heavily," said Huska. "He made some very big saves for us, and when you look at your starting goaltender at this time of the season, there are some games where he has to go over and above the type of performance that he has to have, and he was very, very good tonight.
"He gave us everything that he had, and he allowed us to get the win."
Colton Jobke was handed a five minute major and game misconduct for boarding near the end of the first period after hitting Brad Ross into the side boards. The Winterhawks then had the luxury of a 5 on 3 after Kevin Smith fired the puck over the glass. While the Winterhawks kept the puck in the Rockets' zone in an attempt to open the scoring, few quality shots were taken on that extended power play.
Mitchell Callahan, with his fifth goal of the playoffs, also scored for Kelowna. Nino Niederreiter, with his seventh playoff goal, replied for Portland, which outshot Kelowna 55-38. Carruth made 36 saves for Portland, which, despite heavy pressure throughout the game, couldn‘t beat Brown.
"Tonight was a hard battle," said Portland general manager and head coach Mike Johnston. "We had enough shots, we had enough scoring chances; we just couldn‘t convert."
Asked if his bench was getting frustrated with Brown consistently turning Portland away, Johnston said "no, not really. I thought (Carruth) made some good saves as well, so it was going both ways.
"We had some opportunities around the net. I didn‘t think the ice was particularly good at certain times of the game, especially in the last 10 minutes. This ice gets pretty heavy and I thought that affected a lot of the play around the net; on heavy ice, it‘s more difficult to get your shot away."
ICE CHIPS: Games scratches - Kelowna: LW Zach Franko (head), C Gal Koren, RW Jason Siebert (wrist), C Andreas Stene and C Max Adolph (head). Portland: D Josh Hanson, D Brett Ponich (knee), C Chase De Leo, LW Oliver Gabriel (shoulder), C Pierce Eviston (undisclosed injury), LW Taylor Leier and C Jason Trott.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=349328