Winterhawks Win Sixth Straight, Top Everett Silvertips 5-1

The Portland Winterhawks (32-12-2-3) won their sixth straight with a 5-1 victory over the visiting Everett Silvertips (25-16-6-1) Friday at the Moda Center in front of 9,322 fans.

The Hawks scored the lone goal of the first 10:03 into the game on a highlight reel goal. Nic Petan went into the Everett zone with a burst of speed, drew two defenders then found a wide-open Brendan Leipsic in front who scored for a 1-0 lead.

Early in the second Everett’s Jujhar Khaira tipped in a shot from the point on a power play to even the game at 1-1. The Hawks regained the lead at the 16:52 mark when a shot by Nic Petan went in off a Silvertips’ player’s skate to give Portland a 2-1 advantage after two periods.

From there the Hawks scored three times in the third, starting just 42 seconds into the frame when Derrick Pouliot snapped a shot from the left faceoff circle past Everett netminder Austin Lotz for a 3-1 lead. Seven minutes later it was Petan scoring from nearly the same spot for his second of the game and a 4-1 Portland lead. Matt Dumba rounded out the scoring on a blast with 47.3 seconds remaining to give the Hawks a 5-1 win.

Leipsic and Petan finished with three points each, while Brendan Burke was outstanding in net for Portland, picking up the win with 30 saves on 31 shots.

Both teams were 1-4 on the power play.

The Hawks and Silvertips meet again Sunday in Everett at 4 p.m.