Seth Jarvis scored the only goal in the shootout as a feisty game between the Kamloops Blazers and the Portland Winterhawks at Sandman Centre ended 2-1 in favour of the visitors.
The Winterhawks opened the scoring late in an otherwise quiet first period on a goal by Kade Nolan, just his second of the season.
Period number two was edgier as both teams were noticeably more physical. The game came to life when both Quinn Schmiemann and Montana Onyebuchi were assessed fighting majors just 16 seconds apart, for tangling with Mason Mannek and Johnny Ludvig respectively.
Onyebuchi’s fight, in particular, brought the 3,455 fans to their feet.
The Blazers survived what could have been a very tense few minutes after another defenceman – Max Martin – was assessed a double high sticking minor penalty – leaving the home team with just three available defensemen for at least 25 seconds.
But they would capitalize on the resulting penalty kill, as Connor Zary scored his 18th goal of the season shorthanded to tie the game at 1-1, with just under four minutes to play in the period.
Period number three and overtime both ended scoreless, while the trio of Connor Zary, Zane Franklin, and Ryan Hughes were all stopped in the shootout by Joel Hofer, who made 34 saves to take the win.
Dylan Garand had a 33 save outing to take the loss.
The two teams will meet again in Kamloops on Saturday night for the annual teddy bear toss game. Puck drop is at 7 p.m., with the pre-game show set for 6:30 p.m.
.@blazerhockey vs @pdxwinterhawks update:
Goals: 1 in 32 minutes.
Fights: 2 in 16 seconds. #Kamloops pic.twitter.com/y7BgHZZ5c6— Victor Mario Kaisar (@supermario_47) November 30, 2019
Portland wins the shootout 1-0. pic.twitter.com/neMt70tuwx
— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) November 30, 2019
