Moose Jaw Warriors at Portland Winterhawks, Game 2: Preview ...

What: The Portland Winterhawks (60-18-4-1) take on the Moose Jaw Warriors (57-25-0-3) in Game 2 of the best-of-7 Western Hockey League Championship Series. Moose Jaw leads the series 1-0.

When: Saturday, May 11, 7 p.m. PDT.

Where: Memorial Coliseum.

Watch: TV locally on Portland’s CW. You can stream the game via the CHL TV pay per view (about US$7.50 for one game).

Listen: Winterhawks and Warriors audio.

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It was a tough loss for the Portland Winterhawks Friday in Game 1, losing to the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-2 on a Matthew Savoie goal with 3 minutes left. It was the first 50-50 game they’ve lost in the playoffs, which is pretty good when you’re into your fourth round.

They had some positives. One was on the injury front, where things weren’t as bad as feared. Luca Cagnoni and Josh Davies, while not at 100%, at least hit the scoreboard with assists on Portland’s tying goal. Jack O’Brien played and did seem close to 100%. Gabe Klassen had a goal and the Winterhawks’ top line had more of an impact than they had in the previous series.

The question is if they can jump up to another level. Either way, this could be the last game in Portland this season. But if Portland goes down 2-0, it’s likely this series won’t come back for Game 6.

Stefan is scoreless in his last 3 games, the first 3-game scoreless streak he’s had all season. He’s gone 7 games without a multipoint game; Klassen has gone 8, easily the longest streaks for both. With Davies hurt they’ve struggled to find a third linemate for them. Definitely an area they could move to another level.

Danielson had some moments but Moose Jaw did a good job against his line and he was held to zero shots.

Buttazzoni chipped in with Portland’s first goal. To win they need just a little bit more from their bottom 6-8 forwards.

Leading forwards: Klassen (121 points/82 games), Stefan (116/82), Danielson (88/69), Davies (72/65), Nguyen (71/81).

First point for Cagnoni since Game 3 of the Everett series. Of course he’d missed 5 of the 7 games since.

Alscher had a good game but it was struggles for the rest of the group.

Leading defensemen: Cagnoni (101/75), Jugnauth (56/56), Sotheran (51/80).

Špunar was solid, stopping 34 of 37 in a game where the Warriors had more quantity than quality.

Save percentages: Špunar .917, Avakyan .876, Maric .871.

For the Moose Jaw Warriors, it was the script they wanted. Their best players were their best players on Friday. Even though they’re only getting 1s and 2s in the points column instead of the 3s and 4s like they’ve done all season, it’s how they beat the Saskatoon Blades in the Eastern Conference championship, and they pulled out another close game.

Probably the biggest question is if their top players are going to wear down following a 7-game series that was more like 8 games with all the overtimes. Their best path to victory is probably to end the series by Game 5 in Moose Jaw before those issues can be raised. The best path for that is with another win in Portland to go up 2-0 with the next three at home.

Savoie continues to kill the Winterhawks. He now has 14 points in 5 career games against them, and along with the winner he made the play leading to Atley Calvert’s penalty shot that he doesn’t get an assist on. So he was responsible for 2 of the 3 goals.

Calvert was the other big star with the penalty shot goal and the interception leading to Savoie’s winner.

Firkus had a great setup on the 2nd goal for the Warriors, with Yager getting a secondary assist.

Leading forwards: Firkus (154/80), Yager (117/74), Calvert (112/85), Savoie (92/50), Rysavy (56/80).

A very strong game for Mateychuk culminating in a goal.

Their bottom four defensemen--Brenton, Wilson, Ziprick, and Port--didn’t give up a goal. If that continues they probably win the series easily.

Leading defensemen: Mateychuk (103/69), Parker (50/82), Brenton (23/85).

Unger did his part with 31 saves on 33 shots. As the underdog in the goalie matchup, that’s a good win.

Save percentages: Unger .907, May .883, Fortin .904.

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