James Stefan, Diego Buttazzoni and Marcus Nguyen each scored in the third period to break open a tied game and lift the Portland Winterhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Prince George Cougars in Game 2 of their Western Conference Championship series Saturday in Prince George, B.C.
The series is now tied 1-1, with Games 3, 4 and 5 all coming this week in Portland.
With the contest deadlocked at two goals a piece entering the third, Stefan made the most of a power-play chance at 7:33, wiring a one-timer past Josh Ravensbergen just 10 seconds into the man-advantage opportunity.
Seven minutes later, Buttazzoni slotted his first of the postseason for what would become the game-winning goal. The 2024 NHL Draft-eligible skater took a pass along the left-wing boards and found room in the five-hole on Ravensbergen to effectively decide the game.
Following a scoreless first, Zac Funk put Prince George on the board midway through the middle frame on a power-play rush.
But just 27 seconds later, the Winterhawks responded with back-to-back goals, just 17 seconds apart. Kyle Chyzowski posted the club’s first goal for the series, tapped in a Josh Zakreski rebound, and Jack O’Brien gave Portland its first lead right off the ensuing faceoff.
The Cougars responded 1:03 later through Borya Valis to make it 2-2 entering the final frame.
Nguyen’s empty-netter and a garbage-time tally from PG’s Oren Shtrom brought the final to 5-3 at the CN Centre. Jan Špunar stopped 29 of 33 shots for Portland, outdueling Ravensbergen’s 33-save effort at the other end.
The puck drops for Game 3 at the Memorial Coliseum at 7 pm Monday, with Game 4 set for Wednesday and Game 5 on Thursday.
