Chilliwack Holds Off Winter Hawks, 2-1

Portland’s next game is Tuesday at 7:30 PM in Memorial Coliseum against the Prince George Cougars.

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PORTLAND - The Portland Winter Hawks played tentative and tight for two periods, but ignited a charge in the third period that fell short as the Chilliwack Bruins held on for a 2-1 win in front of 9,142 Saturday on “Mascot Hockey Night’ in Memorial Coliseum.

Mark Santorelli and Oscar Moller (MAWL-er) scored for Chilliwack and Thomas Frazee was credited with Portland’s lone goal in the second period.

Chilliwack goalie Matt Esposito stopped all 13 shots he faced in an action-packed third period.

Kurtis Mucha stopped 27 shots in the game for Portland and held the Hawks in the game while they played nervous in the first 40 minutes.

They came together in the third period, skating one of their best 20-minute segments in quite a few games, but just could not score the tying goal.

Portland, (14-33-1-1), was hoping to break a 6-game losing streak.

Chilliwack, (15-33-2-2), came into the game with only 2 more points than Portland, but still in a race for the last playoff spot in the B.C. Division.

The Bruins picked up a huge win to get within 1 point of fourth place Kelowna.

The Bruins have the # 9 ranked scorer in the league, 18-year-old Mark Santorelli.

And, he has quite a sidekick in 17-year-old Swede Oscar Moller, the # 2 overall choice in last summer’s CHL Import draft and a very crafty, skilled player that is being watched carefully by NHL scouts.

Santorelli and Moller were coming off career-best 4-point games in Friday’s 5-4 loss to Prince Albert in Chilliwack.

The Hawks scratched Viktor Sjodin (serving the second of a 2-game suspension), Colton Sceviour, still out for 2-4 weeks with a broken foot after having his cast removed Wednesday, and Ty Ariss (out for season).

Chilliwack’s injuries are 18-year-old forward Matthew Cline, who has only played 9 games this season due to a concussion and defenseman Matt McCue, the former Spokane Chief, out “day to day” with a leg injury.

Chilliwack drew first blood on the power play. Santorelli drove off the left wing boards into the mid-slot, finding a seam in the Hawks’ defense and firing a low shot that changed directions off Portland defenseman Bo Montgomery’s skate, past goaltender Kurtis Mucha, at 3:32 of the first period.

Santorelli and Moller were dangerous every time they were on the ice and Mucha was the only reason they did not extend Chilliwack’s lead.

Bruin captain Josh Aspenlind set up Moller in front of the net, Mucha with a huge sliding save.

He also foiled Santorelli from the crease with his left pad.

And, Santorelli narrowly missed a tip in front off a Moller feed on a rush into the Hawks’ zone.

The Hawks never got anything going offensively at all the entire period, getting only 3 shots and no good scoring chances.

They had very little time in the Chilliwack zone as shots were 12-3, Bruins, and the score was 1-0 after one.

Portland got into penalty trouble early in the second period as Tayler Jordan was too high with a hit, getting assessed a high sticking minor, and on the penalty kill, Max Gordichuk’s clearing attempt went out of play for an automatic delay of game penalty.

Chilliwack jumped on the opportunity as Moller wired a quick-release screen shot from the mid slot to make it 2-0 at 3:31 of the second period.

And then, things really got interesting. Portland finally got a scoring chance – their first legitimate one of the game as Matt Sokol made a nice play off the boards to the goal line to Chris Francis.

Frazee crashed the crease and Francis got the puck there.

In a wild scramble, Frazee reached for the puck with the tip of his stick as it slipped underneath Chilliwack goalie Matt Esposito.

But, he could barely touch it and it never crossed the goal line as Esposito reached back with his glove, covering the puck.

But, the referee pointed, indicating a goal. T

he goal light never went on and there was not a lot of further discussion. Frazee got credit for the counter and it was 2-1 at 12:35.

Several shifts later, Dillon Johnstone of Chilliwack was in on Mucha, whacking at his own rebound, Mucha catching it with his glove.

But, it appeared that Mucha’s glove could have been inside the plane of the goal line. It was very tough to tell as Johnstone argued with the referee to no avail.

The Hawks still had almost no offense in the second period, getting only 6 shots.

Mucha was terrific at the other end, stopping Cody Smuck off a Portland turnover, a crease scramble set up by a point shot by Dylan Chapman, and Matt Meropoulis in tight after he roared past the Portland defense, cutting right to the net.

Shots were 14-6, Chilliwack, for a two period total of 26-9.

The Hawks finally quit playing tentative, a trademark of the first two periods on parents’ weekend and with a huge crowd.

Portland still has six 16-year-olds playing quite a bit of hockey and sometimes tentative is the result.

But, 16-year-old defenseman Bo Montgomery made some good plays from the back end and even took the lead in helping to communicate and direct traffic.

That seemed to help ignite a transition game for Portland and the young line of Francis, Sokol and Frazee suddenly had some skating room and looked dangerous.

Teegan Moore’s leadership qualities came through, too, as he won face-offs and led the way with some body checks.

Moore set up McLaren in front on a face off play, but Esposito tipped the shot wide.

Nick Hotson, who has 5 goals in his last 7 games, nearly converted a short rebound on a nice entry shot from Stefan Langwieder.

And, Francis set up Sokol in the crease, but Esposito covered up just in time.

The Hawks had a 6-on-4 power play with Mucha out of the net in the game’s last minute, but could not get set up.

Tentativeness returned a little at that point for the young Hawks with the game on the line.

Shots were 13-3, Portland, in the third period.

And, even though the tying goal was not in the cards on this night, when this team plays like it did in third period, a lot of learning occurs

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