Cranbrook, BC - Kootenay ICE forward Matt Fraser scored at 13:08 of
overtime in a 5-4 win over the Portland Winterhawks, in game 4 of the WHL Final, in WHL playoff action on Wednesday night.
ICE opened the scoring on the first shift of the game as Steele Boomer fed
Jesse Ismond coming down the right wing and he scored with a wrist shot
short side on the glove side.
ICE made it 2-0 as Joey Leach's wiat high slap shot from point was
deflected into the net by Cody Eakin.
Eakin extended his point streak to 9 games and Kevin King extended his
streak to 7 games with an assist.
Early in the 2nd period the Winterhawks, after a powerplay ended, as Nino
Niederreiter got the puck in the corner and fed a wide open Ryan Johansen
at the back door and he had an open net for the goal.
Winterhawks tied the game as Troy Rutkowski slapped the puck from outside
the ICE blueline and it changed direction and beat the goalie high on the
glove side.
With the clubs skating 4-on-4 the ICE took a 3-2 lead as Cody Eakin at the
Portland blueline chipped a pass to a streaking Jesse Ismond who had a
partial breakaway and he went to the net with a backhand deke and scored with a wrap-around the fallen goalie.
In the 3rd period with the clubs skating 4-on-4 Jesse Ismond from the
corner hit Cody Eakin with a pass at the top of the circle and he scored with a wrist shot high on the glove side.
Portland made it 4-3 after killing a penalty as Ryan Johansen stepped into
a wrist shot from the top of the slot that beat the goalie high on the glove side.
Winterhawks forced overtime with their goalie on the bench and a faceoff
win in the ICE zone, they got the puck to Ty Rattie who scored with a low shot on the glove side.
For the 3rd time in the series the game went into overtime.
In the extra period both teams hit the post as Sven Bartschi hit iron on a
spin around backhand shot and Cody Eakin's wrist shot hit the post high on the glove side.
The game winner come on the 2nd powerplay by the ICE in the overtime as
Jesse Ismond fed a wide open Matt Fraser at the back door and he scored with a one-time shot.
ICE have set a Franchise Record with 8 straight home playoff wins.
Jesse Ismond 2-2-4, Cody Eakin 3-1-3 and Joey Leach 0-3-3 had multiple
point games for the ICE.
Brayden McNabb had his point streak stopped at 12 games.
Ryan Johansen 2-0-2 and Troy Rutkowski 1-1-2 had multiple point games for
the Winterhawks.
ICE scratches - Adam Rossignol, Elgin Pearce, John Neibrandt.
Winterhawks scratches - Josh Hanson, Brett Ponich, Oliver Gabriel, Brad
Ross (suspension) Nicolas Petan, Jason Trott.
Game Summary
Kootenay leads the series 3-1
Game 5 is in Portland on Friday.
1st Period
1. Kootenay, Ismond 3 (Boomer, Benoit) :19
2. Kootenay, Eakin 10 (Leach, King) 7:46
Penalties - McNabb Ktn (tripping) 18:32.
2nd Period
3. Portland, Johansen 12 (Niederreiter) :41
4. Portland, Rutkowski 4 (Cunningham) 14:19
5. Kootenay, Ismond 4 (2) (Eakin, Leach) 18:11
Penalties - Niederreiter Port McNabb Ktn (roughing) 6:13, Morrow Port
(hooking)10:49, Niederreiter Port King Ktn (roughing) 17:03.
3rd Period
6. Kootenay, Eakin 11 (2) Ismond, Leach) 12:30
7. Portland, Johansen 13 16:25
8. Portland, Rattie 9 (Morrow, Rutkowski) 19:43
Penalties - McNabb Ktn (holding) 2:42, Aronson Port King Ktn (roughing)
10:58, McNabb Ktn (interference) 12:55, Rattie Port (high sticking) 14:24.
Overtime
9. Kootenay, Fraser 15 (Ismond, Reinhart) 13:08 pp
Penalties - Rattie Port (delay of game) 8:42, Bartschi Port (roughing)
11:30.
Shots on goal by
Portland - 10 - 11 - 10 - 4 = 35
Kootenay - 8 - 11 - 8 - 11 = 38
Goal (shots-saves) - Portland: Mac Carruth (L 13-7) (38-33) Kootenay:
Nathan Lieuwen (W 15-3) (35-31)
Power plays (goals-chances) - Portland: 0/3 Kootenay: 1/4
Referees - Matt Kirk, Derek Zalaski
Linesmen - Scott Sharun, Trent Knorr
Attendance - 3,593