The Portland Winterhawks ended their 8-game losing streak last Saturday with a 5-2 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds. Carter Sotheran scored 20 seconds into the game, and Portland never trailed. Marek Schlenker stopped 31 of 33 shots.
They've had the week off, and now they have a big game against the Wenatchee Wild, a team right next to them in the standings. Other teams have played during the week off, and it's pushed Portland down to 8th in the conference. To stay above the playoff line they'll need a good record against the teams ranked 7th through 11th.
Chyzowski is tied for 3rd in the league in power play points with 11; Buttazzoni is tied for 8th with 10. But Chyzowski, Miller, and Yaremko are Portland's leaders in even strength points with 8, which is tied for 92nd in the league. An illustration of how the Winterhawks have the league's worst numbers at even strength.
Jugnauth is 2nd in the league in power play points with 12, one off the league lead. He has a 3-game point streak.
Sotheran's 20-second goal was his first of the season.
Is it too simplistic to say that whoever gets the start in this game is considered Portland's number one goalie for the moment? Probably not. Schlenker and Štěbeták both had good games last weekend.
The Wenatchee Wild have won two straight against Central Division teams, 7-3 over Edmonton and 5-2 over Red Deer. That came after a 4-game losing streak against Everett and Tri-City, the top two teams in the conference at the moment. They had an 8-game stretch where top goalie Daniel Hauser was out, and they went 1-7. He's been back in the two games that they won. So from their point of view, with Hauser back they might be a playoff team.
The Wild are still paying the price for the win-now moves of their ancestors the Winnipeg Ice. They punted last season from a contending position due to a fear that they would be really bad down the road. They look to have shored that up, but most of the help from those trades are still a few years away.
They've spent more time on special teams than any team in the league. Their power play is dead last, and their penalty kill is dead first.
Isogai is heating up with a 4-game point streak where he has 10 points. Friesen has a 4-game point streak with 9 points. Saab has a 3-game point streak.
They picked up McMillan from Victoria this week, and he had an assist in his first game on Friday.
Joudrey at 6-foot-4 is tied with five others as the tallest 16-year-old in the league.
Andresen is tied for the team lead in power play points with Isogai with 8.
Fluker, one of the "now" players Wentachee got in their "cut bait" trades last season, has missed 7 straight games with a lower body injury. They picked up Mannix from Edmonton to try to pick up some of that slack.
Hauser is 2nd in the league in save percentage.
Zahara had average numbers for Medicine Hat last season but has struggled this season. Gee played a lot of games last season when Hauser was hurt but hasn't played at all this season with his own injury.