September 19, 2026 | Away | Winterhawks Record: 1-0-0-0
The Numbers
Goals: Winterhawks 3, Silvertips 2
Shots: Winterhawks 31, Silvertips 41
Power Play: Winterhawks 1/2, Silvertips 1/4
Penalty Kill: Winterhawks 3/4, Silvertips 1/2
Faceoffs: Winterhawks 33, Silvertips 36
Three Stars: Rhys Jamieson (EVT) | Luke Wilfley (POR) | Ondřej Štěbeták (POR)
The Game
The Winterhawks opened the season with a 3-2 overtime win in Everett, and they did it with their defense and goaltending. Portland came out physical and aggressive, finishing checks and forechecking hard, but that edge faded as the night went on. Through the neutral zone, the Hawks leaned too much on individual efforts, couldn't complete a pass, and turned pucks over. Their success came on counter rushes.
The 1st period stayed scoreless, but the chances weren't equal. Kraus was making high-danger saves while Štěbeták mostly saw shots from the outside because Portland's defense held good gaps and kept the Everett rush wide. Everett took over midway through with aggressive neutral zone setup. Cole Slobodian took a hooking penalty to stop a grade A chance late, leading to Štěbeták having to scramble in the crease to keep it 0-0.
Portland struck 39 seconds into the 2nd. Avery Laliberte crashed the net from the corner and squeaked one short side past Kraus, with Slobodian and Jordan Duguay assisting. From there the period went back and forth; it got chippy, and Everett started jumping passing lanes and countering fast off of broken plays.
The Turning Point:
With 44 seconds left in the 2nd, Reid Nicol drove the net with a Portland defender draped on him and forced a rebound, and Henri Ament buried it while falling to tie the game. Portland had the lead and was about to take it into the room. Instead, Nicol's effort erased it and gave Everett life heading into the 3rd.
Ament then gave Portland a chance to retake control with a high-sticking double minor early in the 3rd, and Luke Wilfley cashed in at 3:14, batting a bouncing puck in off a broken play from the corner. The lead didn't last. Sam Spehar took a holding penalty at 6:08, then Wilfley went to the box for hooking 51 seconds later, putting Everett up two men. Štěbeták knocked the net off its moorings, bringing out the rink crew with a drill and buying his tired penalty killers a breather, but it still ended with a goal: Rhys Jamieson one-timed it from the right circle at 7:45 to tie it 2-2.
In overtime, Portland caught all three Everett skaters low. Stevie Grumley broke out on a clear, drew Kraus out to respect the shot, and slid it backdoor to Duguay for the winner at 1:57.
What Worked and What Didn't
With the Puck
Early on, it was forcing turnovers in the offensive zone and turning them into high-danger chances. When the Hawks did get set up, they cycled the perimeter looking for players driving downhill into the slot.
Getting there was the problem. Breakouts were slow to stretch the zone, and zone entries were mostly one player trying to beat everyone, without the neutral zone pass that creates space. Late in the 3rd, they couldn't connect on those passes at all, and they spent too much energy looking for the counter instead of breaking out clean. In the offensive zone, the D needs to walk the blue line more so the forwards have time to get to the net for tips and rebounds or look for another passing option.
The power play looked organized once it had control, running an umbrella and a 1-3-1 The powerplay would end the night 1-for-2.
Without the Puck
Portland set the tone physically early, and the D held strong gaps through the neutral zone in the 1st, forcing Everett to shoot from the outside. That slipped in the 2nd, when the D started backing off the rush. The forecheck was the best thing Portland’s forwards did tonight.
The penalty kill went 3-for-4, but the structure is worth watching. In the 1st they played a very small box and let Everett cycle freely. On the 4-on-3 in the 2nd, a tight triangle clogged the middle but gave Everett's D room to step up and shoot from the tops of the circles. On the 5-on-3, a passive triangle got burned from open passing lanes. In 3-on-3 overtime, they played man-on-man and didn't switch when Everett swapped, which opened space.
Between the Pipes
Ondřej Štěbeták: 8/10
Štěbeták stopped 39 of 41 and gave Portland the chance to win a game where they were outshot 41-31. He saw through traffic well and was catching and swallowing pucks to stop play.
What stood out: His composure. When Everett pushed late in the 1st, he stayed calm while scrambling. His one knock was puck handling, where he played it right to Everett players a few times and created chances against himself.
The big save: The late-1st scramble, when he came up with big saves in tight to keep it 0-0 and sparked a Portland push the other way.
The goals against: Neither was on him. On Ament's goal, he made a good low save in tight, and the puck bounced to Ament, who made a great play to bury it while falling. On Jamieson's goal, a 5-on-3 one-timer from the right circle, he had no chance. As for the net coming off during the 5-on-3, that was smart. It could pass as an accident, so there was no penalty, and his team got a nice break.
Across the ice, Jayden Kraus (7/10) made 28 saves on 31 shots and was strong on high-danger chances all night. But he gave up a bad first goal, hugging the post and letting Laliberte's shot slip through a small gap, and he was caught swimming in his crease multiple times throughout the night. On the overtime winner, Kraus made the right read by challenging Grumley. The pass got through because the Everett defenseman on Duguay wasn’t able to break up the pass.
What It Means
Portland leaves Everett with a win because of their defense and goaltending. The forwards need to figure out their neutral zone passing and stop trying to make individual plays that end in turnovers.
There's something to like in how the winner came together. Duguay held on too long on a 2-on-1 in the 3rd and shot into Kraus's chest. In overtime, he got the puck and put it in right away.
Looking Ahead
Next: Kamloops Blazers
September 26, 2026 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum
I'm curious to watch how they handle the neutral zone in the home opener, and whether they start making passes to open players to set up better in the offensive zone.
Final Thought
If the Winterhawks are going to play run and gun hockey, they need to clean up their neutral zone and use dump and chase when they're entering with speed.
Be curious.
