Three-goal third pushes Hawks past Hurricanes 5-2

A first goal for Chaz Lucius and three tallies in the final frame highlighted a second win in as many days for the Winterhawks.

Game #41: Portland (5) vs Lethbridge (2)

SOG: POR (41) – LET (30)

PP: POR (2/3) – LET (1/3)

Saves: Špunar (28/30) – Meneghin (36/40)

COMPLETE BOX SCORE

SCORING:

• LET – 14:21 – First Period – Logan Wormald (18) from Jett Jones and Tyson Laventure
• POR – 9:54 – Second Period – Robbie Fromm-Delorme (24) from Chaz Lucius and James Stefan
• POR – 13:16 – Second Period – Chaz Lucius (1) from Marek Alscher and Ryan McCleary
• LET – 2:57 – Third Period – Tyson Laventure (15) from Nolan Bentham and Joe Arntsen
• POR – 7:23 – Third Period – Gabe Klassen (25) from James Stefan and Luca Cagnoni
• POR – 9:56 – Third Period – Diego Buttazzoni (3) from Gabe Klassen and Robbie Fromm-Delorme
• POR – 18:42 – Third Period – Robbie Fromm-Delorme (25) from Kyle Chyzowski

The Story:

Chaz Lucius scored his first WHL goal, Robbie Fromm-Delorme and Gabe Klassen each scored for the third straight game and the Winterhawks (30-8-2-1) knocked off the Lethbridge Hurricanes (24-16-3-2) 5-2 on Saturday night.

Portland’s Jan Špunar made 28 saves on 30 shots for the victory.

After striking fast with a goal 12 seconds into last night’s contest, the Hawks struggled to generate offense early and fell behind when Logan Wormald notched his 18th of the year on a Lethbridge power play. Despite the slow start, Portland rebounded in the second period with two goals in four minutes midway through the frame. Fromm-Delorme potted the first, tapping home a Lucius rebound for his 23rd of the season. With the wind at their back, the Hawks began to mount pressure and took the lead on Lucius’ first WHL goal, a laser from the high slot at 13:16 of the frame.

The Hurricanes responded with a quick strike in the third period from Tyson Laventure to tie it at three, but three unanswered Portland goals sealed the win. First, Klassen posted his team-leading 25th of the year – the eventual game-winner – on the power play at 7:23, then Diego Buttazzoni gave the Hawks some breathing room two minutes later, displaying some slick hands for his third goal of the campaign. A second strike from Fromm-Delorme into the empty net clinched the 5-2 victory.

The Winterhawks are back in action on Monday at 12:00 P.M. for Kids Day against the Spokane Chiefs.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT presented by BBF TECHNOLOGIES:

“It was a great team win, and we were battling it out last night, too, big OT win. We had a rough road trip but we’ve been bouncing back now, so we’re on the right track and hopefully we keep going from here.”

Winterhawks forward Diego Buttazzoni