Zakreski’s OT goal wins it for Hawks: ‘I thank the hockey gods for that’

Josh Zakreski beats Silvertips goalie Raiden LeGall with a backhand shot for the game-winner (courtesy Keith Dwiggins/Portland Winterhawks)

When a hockey game advances past regulation play, the breaks have to come your way.

“You get to overtime, especially in the playoffs, it is a bit of a coin flip,” Winterhawks coach Kyle Gustafson said. “It really comes down to a bounce.”

That is what it came down to Wednesday night at Memorial Coliseum for the Hawks, who used a Josh Zakreski goal with 4:11 left in overtime to pull out a 6-5 victory over the Everett Silvertips in Game 4 of the Western Hockey League Western Conference semifinals.

The win evened the best-of-seven series at 2-2 — and what a battle it has been.

“This is as tight as a series as I have ever been a part of,” said Gustafson, in his first season as Portland’s head coach after 22 years as a Hawk assistant. “Three overtime games, and the other we squeaked out with an empty net.”

Everett — the Western Conference regular-season champion and No. 1 seed in the playoffs — won the first two games in overtime at home. Portland took Game 3 at the Coliseum 3-1, tallying an empty-net goal in the final seconds, and squared the count Wednesday night in a contest with more ups and downs than a roller coaster.

After the Silvertips scored two late third-period goals to force overtime, they had the best of most of the extra session, too. The Hawks couldn’t even manage a shot on goal for 14 minutes — the last two minutes of regulation and the first 12 of overtime. Everett had several decent opportunities that Portland’s rookie goaltender, Ondrej Stebetak, repelled with authority.

Then came the moment of truth.

“It seemed like an innocent play,” Zakreski said.

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Linemate Diego Buttazzoni got the puck and flipped it in the air toward the Everett goal.

“(Silvertip defenseman Tarin) Smith tried to field it, and I think it went through his legs,” Zakreski recalled. “My eyes popped out of their sockets when I saw that. I had a breakaway. It was a lucky play and I thank the hockey gods for that.”

Zakreski faked inside, then beat Everett goalie Raiden LeGall with a backhand, sending the crowd of 4,162 into a state of delirium and touching off a dogpile of Hawk players at center ice.

“It was a lofted play, a nice play by Diego just to make a pass to the inside area,” Gustafson said. “Zakreski got a bounce and got in alone. That is what overtime is all about — finding that bounce. For our guys to stay with it was huge.”

Though Everett outshot Portland 48-31 for the game — and 10-3 in overtime — the Hawks had the upper hand on the scoreboard most of the night. Center Kyle Chyzowski, on the way to his first career playoff hat trick, converted an almost-impossible-angled shot up high past LeGall just 3:16 after the opening face-off for the game’s first score. Everett answered with a power-play goal, but Chyzowski scored again with 10:21 left in the period, then got No. 3 with 1:46 remaining in the second period for a 4-2 lead, after which hats of all varieties rained down from the stands.

When defenseman Kayd Reudig scored a power-play goal with 12:30 to go, Portland’s lead was 5-3 and Everett was looking at an uphill battle. Then the worm turned quickly.

The Winterhawks celebrate after Josh Zakreski’s game-winning goal gave them a 6-5 overtime victory over Everett to square the West semifinal series at 2-2 (courtesy Keith Dwiggins/Portland Winterhawks)

Everett’s Kaden Hammell tallied with 4:13 remaining to cut the difference to 5-4. Nine seconds later, Portland right wing Alex Weiermair was whistled for a double-minor, a call the Hawks disputed and their fans howled over for some time. The Hawks killed the first two minutes, but Hammell got on the board again with 1:01 left in regulation, and it was on to overtime.

“I didn’t think that was a double minor,” Zakreski said, “but we did a good job not giving up more than one goal with that.”

The teams went into their locker rooms between the third period and extra session, the Silvertips on the high of a comeback bid.

“They had the momentum,” Chyzowski said. “We tried to re-set and go back to a zero-zero game.

“(The Silvertips) don’t quit. Everett is the best team in the league for a reason. They have top-end defensemen, and Hamell stepped up big-time for them. That is a team that doesn’t go down easy. They played hard to the end, and found a way to bounce back. But the game was still tied, and we had a chance to win it.”

It looked like Portland would get a power-play opportunity early in overtime when Chyzowski went to the ice after being tripped. The referee called Chyzowski for embellishment on the play, however, resulting in coincidental minors that left the Hawk faithful angrily chanting unkind words about the arbiters.

“I was surprised with that call,” Gustafson said. “If there was a dive, call the dive. If there was a penalty, call the penalty. To even it up there — I don’t agree with it. … I felt like the officiating was pretty inconsistent tonight.”

Neither team scored in the four-on-four opportunity. It didn’t look good for the Hawks until Zakreski’s wicked weaponry went to work.

“We didn’t get much in overtime, but it only takes one good chance to end it,” Chyzowski said. “We got lucky with that.”

Zakreski has a knack for scoring monumental goals. He had the game-winner in Game 7 of the first-round series against Prince George.

Left winger Josh Zakreski, who scored the game-winner against Prince George in Game 7 of Portland’s first-round playoff series, did it again Wednesday night for the Hawks in Game 4 against Everett (courtesy Keith Dwiggins/Portland Winterhawks)

“Maybe it is just that hard work is paying off,” said the 5-11, 190-pound left winger, who has five goals in the playoffs. “I am just happy that we are winning. I don’t care who scores. It just so happens I found a way to score, but it could be anyone and I would be just as happy.

“We had some penalty trouble at the end, but we never gave up. We knew it wasn’t over. We kept our composure and kept playing.”

Each team scored a pair of power-play goals. Both teams fought hard to taste victory. The Hawks needed it — maybe wanted it — more. Everett won six of the eight meetings in the teams’ regular-season series, and Portland was only the No. 5 seed in the West. But the Hawks have been up to the challenge in the postseason despite not having the home-ice advantage in either series.

“A lot of people didn’t have us here,” Gustafson said. “It speaks to character of the guys in the room, to the resilience that we have shown all year. We have been down three goals in games, and we find a way to come back.

“That game out there tonight was a lot of highs and lows, a lot of power plays and penalty kills. We had some adversity with our group, but we had a gutsy effort, and that is what you need in the playoffs.”

This was the fourth hat trick in Chyzowski’s five-year WHL career.

“They don’t come often,” the 20-year-old center said. “Pretty special.”

There is no question Chyzowski, who has eight goals and 12 assists in 11 playoff games this season, is Portland’s offensive leader and sparkplug.

“The guy has put our team on his back,” Gustafson said. “He is playing like every shift is his last opportunity in junior hockey. It is fun to watch.”

Then there is Stebetak, the 17-year-old from Czechia who has taken over Portland’s goaltending duties with authority in the postseason. The 6-1, 165-pound Stebetak, who has already become a bit of a folk hero with the Hawk faithful, made 43 saves, battled against Everett’s ferocious offensive attack and continued to earn the respect of his teammates.

“It didn’t seem like he gave up five goals,” Zakreski said. “He could have given up a lot more if he wasn’t stellar tonight. He has been the backbone of our team all through the playoffs.”

“In a game where he gave up five goals, he was probably our best player,” Chyzowski said. “The whole series, just really impressive. He is maturing by the minute. There is so much you could say about him. I am going to keep the confidence in him, because we are going to ride that.”

Language wasn’t the only thing new to Stebetak when he came from his homeland to Portland before the season.

“It has been a total learning experience for Stebs this year,” Gustafson said. “He wasn’t used to the size of the rink, he is new to this league, he didn’t know his teammates. He has had some ups and downs, but he has kept it together.

“The stretch he has put together in the playoffs is awesome. I love how calm he is, how he is battling in the net. He is not going to say no to a save. He is going to do whatever it takes to get the pad out. The guy’s demeanor is really good. Nothing ever rattles him. That’s what you need in a goaltender. He is playing his best hockey of the season.”

A year ago, Portland reached the WHL Finals. This was supposed to be a rebuilding season. Now the Hawks are two wins away from the Western Conference finals. Game 5 is Friday in Everett. Wednesday’s victory assures that there will be a Game 6 in Portland on Saturday.

“I am glad we are going to get it back home and get another opportunity in front of our fans,” Gustafson said.

“This has been a really good series,” Zakreski said. “Both teams have won at home. We are going to have to find a way to win one in their building. The mindset going for Friday is to continue to play the way we are, and I think we will be fine.”

“I am proud of the guys,” Chyzowski said. “Down two-nothing, we knew we had to take care of business on home ice. Now we are going to go to a really tough arena and scrap and grind and see what we can do.”

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