Malc
04-18-2011, 01:46 PM
By Doyle Potenteau
Ryan Johansen missed not once, but twice. Good thing Joe Morrow was spot on.
Sven Bartschi had a three-point effort for Portland, with a goal and two assists, as the Winterhawks erased the Kelowna Rockets from the WHL playoff picture with a 4-2 win on Sunday night.
The game, however, was much closer than Portland‘s two-goal victory. So close, in fact, that it took an empty-net goal by Morrow with three seconds left to seal the win after Kelowna came close to tying the contest several times in the dying minutes.
Johansen had not one, but two cracks to seal Portland‘s victory, yet came up short both times.
The first was with about six minutes left, a point-blank wrister into a wide-open net, but the puck rolled on the Winterhawks‘ top forward at the last second and his shot completely missed the target. The miss was so unbelievable that the pro-Rockets crowd groaned in disbelief.
Why, even Johansen couldn‘t believe it, as he looked upwards, his hands pressed against his head. His second chance, with 30 seconds remaining and Rockets goaltender Adam Brown pulled for an extra attacker, also missed the target.
But 24 seconds later, from Portland‘s zone, Morrow iced the game with a long shot into Kelowna‘s goal, and now the Winterhawks are off the Western Conference championship, having won this second-round series in six games, 4-2.
"I don‘t know what was happening," Johansen said with a smile when asked about his two missed empty-net shots. "The first one, the puck kinda rolled up on my stick and was flat against my blade and it went to the left. I had no words for that... this team needs me to step up and to miss shots like those, really, it‘s not a good feeling.
"Obviously, we got the big win and finished off the series, which is the main thing, and I‘m obviously happy about that, but that can cost you a game, those empty nets. You have to make sure you put those away. I‘m glad Morrow made the shot; he can have the empty-nets. That was a great play by him, especially late in the game like that. Definitely a relief, a big relief."
Ty Rattie and Craig Cunningham also scored for Portland. Geordie Wudrick and Brett Bulmer, with their fourth playoff goals, replied for Kelowna, which trailed 2-0 and 3-1 at the period breaks.
The Rockets drew to within one in the final frame, and had many chances to tie the game, but couldn‘t force overtime.
Brown made 35 saves for Kelowna, which was eliminated in the second round for a second straight year. Mac Carruth turned aside 45 shots for Portland, which advanced to the Western Conference championship for the first time since 2001.
"This was a real tough series, and I give a lot of credit to Kelowna," said Portland general manager and coach Mike Johnston. "They have a very good hockey team, and you can tell that some of their guys who drive their team - like their coaching staff and Evan Bloodoff and Tyson Barrie - are guys who have playoff experience. Our guys haven‘t had that experience, but you could see that (Kelowna) competed right to the end.
"They pushed this series, and we knew it was going to be a tough series, and it was. Now our team really has playoff experience. When you‘ve been through something like we‘ve just went through, it only makes you better, it makes you tougher, it makes you more hardened. We went through a lot of adversity in this series, losing Brad Ross (three-game suspension) and we lost Riley Boychuk early in this game; we lost Pearce Eviston earlier on, so we had to make some adjustments and adapt a little bit. But that‘s playoff hockey; that‘s what you have to do if you‘re going to make it through."
Carruth was simply solid in net for Portland when it counted, especially in the final period, when the Rockets outshot the Hawks 19-10.
"They had their backs up against the wall in the third, and they came out flying. They played a heck of a third period," said Carruth, who made 18 stops over the final 20 minutes. "As a goalie, you have to enjoy (the pressure). I loved it. The fans were on me and they were coming hard. Luckily, I didn‘t let any in and we came out on top.
"I think in the long run, this is something we‘re going to look back on and say this made us better. Losing in overtime in our own barn wasn‘t fun (2-1 in Game 5 on Friday), then having to get on the bus and come up here. But this will help us, especially if we go to Game 7 against anybody."
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=349698
Ryan Johansen missed not once, but twice. Good thing Joe Morrow was spot on.
Sven Bartschi had a three-point effort for Portland, with a goal and two assists, as the Winterhawks erased the Kelowna Rockets from the WHL playoff picture with a 4-2 win on Sunday night.
The game, however, was much closer than Portland‘s two-goal victory. So close, in fact, that it took an empty-net goal by Morrow with three seconds left to seal the win after Kelowna came close to tying the contest several times in the dying minutes.
Johansen had not one, but two cracks to seal Portland‘s victory, yet came up short both times.
The first was with about six minutes left, a point-blank wrister into a wide-open net, but the puck rolled on the Winterhawks‘ top forward at the last second and his shot completely missed the target. The miss was so unbelievable that the pro-Rockets crowd groaned in disbelief.
Why, even Johansen couldn‘t believe it, as he looked upwards, his hands pressed against his head. His second chance, with 30 seconds remaining and Rockets goaltender Adam Brown pulled for an extra attacker, also missed the target.
But 24 seconds later, from Portland‘s zone, Morrow iced the game with a long shot into Kelowna‘s goal, and now the Winterhawks are off the Western Conference championship, having won this second-round series in six games, 4-2.
"I don‘t know what was happening," Johansen said with a smile when asked about his two missed empty-net shots. "The first one, the puck kinda rolled up on my stick and was flat against my blade and it went to the left. I had no words for that... this team needs me to step up and to miss shots like those, really, it‘s not a good feeling.
"Obviously, we got the big win and finished off the series, which is the main thing, and I‘m obviously happy about that, but that can cost you a game, those empty nets. You have to make sure you put those away. I‘m glad Morrow made the shot; he can have the empty-nets. That was a great play by him, especially late in the game like that. Definitely a relief, a big relief."
Ty Rattie and Craig Cunningham also scored for Portland. Geordie Wudrick and Brett Bulmer, with their fourth playoff goals, replied for Kelowna, which trailed 2-0 and 3-1 at the period breaks.
The Rockets drew to within one in the final frame, and had many chances to tie the game, but couldn‘t force overtime.
Brown made 35 saves for Kelowna, which was eliminated in the second round for a second straight year. Mac Carruth turned aside 45 shots for Portland, which advanced to the Western Conference championship for the first time since 2001.
"This was a real tough series, and I give a lot of credit to Kelowna," said Portland general manager and coach Mike Johnston. "They have a very good hockey team, and you can tell that some of their guys who drive their team - like their coaching staff and Evan Bloodoff and Tyson Barrie - are guys who have playoff experience. Our guys haven‘t had that experience, but you could see that (Kelowna) competed right to the end.
"They pushed this series, and we knew it was going to be a tough series, and it was. Now our team really has playoff experience. When you‘ve been through something like we‘ve just went through, it only makes you better, it makes you tougher, it makes you more hardened. We went through a lot of adversity in this series, losing Brad Ross (three-game suspension) and we lost Riley Boychuk early in this game; we lost Pearce Eviston earlier on, so we had to make some adjustments and adapt a little bit. But that‘s playoff hockey; that‘s what you have to do if you‘re going to make it through."
Carruth was simply solid in net for Portland when it counted, especially in the final period, when the Rockets outshot the Hawks 19-10.
"They had their backs up against the wall in the third, and they came out flying. They played a heck of a third period," said Carruth, who made 18 stops over the final 20 minutes. "As a goalie, you have to enjoy (the pressure). I loved it. The fans were on me and they were coming hard. Luckily, I didn‘t let any in and we came out on top.
"I think in the long run, this is something we‘re going to look back on and say this made us better. Losing in overtime in our own barn wasn‘t fun (2-1 in Game 5 on Friday), then having to get on the bus and come up here. But this will help us, especially if we go to Game 7 against anybody."
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=349698