Portland Winterhawks Round Two Notables

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WHL Portland Winterhawks

Portland Winterhawks Round Two Notables

April 24, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Portland Winterhawks advanced to the Western Conference Championship, presented by Nutrien, for back-to-back seasons after defeating the Scotty Munro Champion Everett Silvertips in seven games.

The No. 5 seed Winterhawks won a decisive Game 7 on the road for the second-straight series. Portland won Round 1 on the road in Prince George, British Columbia, at the CN Centre and then Round 2 at the Angel of the Winds Arena in downtown Everett, Washington.

Everett went ahead 2-1 with 16:57 to play in the third period, but Hudson Darby and Kyle McDonough struck for goals 30 seconds apart to give the Winterhawks a 3-2 lead, one they would not surrender.

"Hudson was sitting beside me on the bench before our next shift, and he goes, 'Why not us? I don't want to go home right now. Let's get it done, you and me. I said, 'Let's do it!' He goes out there, scores, and says, 'Let's keep it going.' Then he gets that burst of speed and sets me up for my goal. It was an unreal moment," McDonough said following the club's series-clinching win.

McDonough's performance on the ice stood out in Games 6 and 7, but his character off the ice was highlighted by the league when he was named the 2024-2025 WHL Humanitarian of the Year.

Darby's 'Why Not Us' mentality was on full display in Game 5 with 60 seconds to go when he tipped in the game winner.

Now, another U.S. Division rival, the Spokane Chiefs, stands in the way of the Winterhawks playing in the WHL Championship for the second year in a row. The full schedule is available here.

With a vastly different roster compared to the 2024 team, the pesky Hawks followed their leaders, especially overagers Kyle Chyzowski and Ryder Thompson. The five-year Portland players reached a milestone of 50 career WHL Playoff games.

2004-born skaters Chyzowski (7G, 4A) and Tyson Jugnauth (1G, 9A) led the way offensively in the second round for Portland. Jugnauth is now third all-time in franchise history among defensemen with 42 playoff points. The Seattle Kraken's 35 career assists have him tied with Todd Robinson for tenth amongst Portland skaters. Chyzowski continues to climb up the organization's leaderboard, now sitting 14th in playoff points with 50 and tenth with 22 postseason goals.

Jugnauth (26) and Chyzowski (25) are third and fourth, respectively, in WHL Playoff scoring behind Spokane's Andrew Cristall and Berkly Catton (28).

2006-born forward Diego Buttazzoni's four goals were the second most on the team against the Silvertips. The Langley, British Columbia, native also added five assists and had two multi-point games.

Carter Sotheran's hot postseason continued with two more goals and six assists to go along with his six points (4G, 2A) from the first round against Prince George.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Zakreski kept his hot stick rolling with another three goals and four assists, giving the 5-foot-11, 191-pound winger a career-high ten points in the playoffs. He was the hero in Game 4 in overtime as he sent the Portland faithful home happy.

Three rookies saw their names on the scoresheet in the second round. Kayd Ruedig (1G, 2A) and Max Pšenička (0G, 3A) each had three points, while Jordan Duguay picked up two assists before missing Games 6 and 7.

Ondřej Štěbeták is a huge reason why the Winterhawks are back defending their 2024 Western Conference title. A first-round CHL Import Draft selection by Portland in 2024, the eighth-ranked North American goalie prospect for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, had a stellar 0.915% save percentage. The potent offense of Everett outshot Portland in all seven games. Not only was the volume of saves by the Jihlava, Czechia, native impressive, but also their timeliness. In Game 7, after the Silvertips got the lead on two separate occasions, they put multiple Grade-A chances on target, but Štěbeták never allowed the lead to swell.

Marek Schlenker made his WHL Playoff debut in relief in Game 6 and stopped 20 Everett shots.

In total, ten Portland skaters lit the lamp against the Silvertips and 13 earned points.

The Winterhawks have received contributions up and down the lineup through the first 14 games in the postseason and will need the same recipe against the high-scoring Chiefs.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 24, 2025


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