Winterhawks Fly by Tri-City Americans

The Portland Winterhawks (5-3-0-1) earned a 4-1 win over the visiting Tri-City Americans (4-7-0-1) Wednesday at the Moda Center in front of 5,152 fans.

The Hawks carried the play through much of the first period and opened the scoring 3:31 into the game when Nic Petan forced a turnover in the Americans’ zone and fired a shot that was stopped by netminder Eric Comrie, but Brendan Leipsic was right there and put in the rebound to make it 1-0. It was the lone goal in a period in which Portland outshot Tri-Cities 17-6.

After a scoreless second period, the Hawks made it 2-0 early in the third when Adam Rossignol went hard to the net and banged in a rebound for his second goal of the season. Tri-Cities got on the board at the 8:27 mark when Philip Tot scored on a breakaway to bring the Americans within one, 2-1.

It remained a one-goal game until the 15:37 mark when Presten Kopeck scored to give the Hawks a 3-1 advantage, then Oliver Bjorkstrand scored into an empty net with just over a minute remaining to make it a 4-1 final.

Brendan Burke was terrific in net for the Hawks, turning away 29 of the 30 shots he faced. Comrie was busy all night with the Hawks firing 47 shots at him. He made 44 saves, with Portland adding the empty net tally.

The Hawks host the Swift Current Broncos Friday at the Moda Center at 7 p.m. before embarking on a season-high five-game road trip.

Courtesy of the Portland Winterhawks