Two blueliners with Island connections scored on powerplays for the first two Portland goals in the Winterhawks鈥� 7-3 WHL victory Friday night against the Victoria Royals. Jared Freadrich played last season for the Royals and sixth-round Carolina Hurricanes draft-pick Brendan De Jong is from Victoria.
The game was played in front of 5,867 fans at the Moda Center, also home to the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA, which were both owned by the late Paul Allen.
Winterhawks forward Cody Glass, selected by the Las Vegas Golden Knights as the six overall selection in the 2017 NHL draft, had a goal and three assists to bedevil Victoria. Glass will join Royals defenceman Scott Walford, a third-round selection by the Montreal Canadiens, as teammates on the WHL team that plays the Russian junior team Monday in Kamloops and Tuesday in Langley. Walford had an assist Friday.
Kaid Oliver鈥檚 breakout continued as he scored twice for Victoria and now has 11 goals on the season after producing eight goals combined the previous two seasons.
Victoria鈥檚 Griffen Outhouse made 21 saves. Shane Farkas needed only 16 saves for the victory.
Phillip Schultz, who will represent Denmark in the world junior championships next month in Vancouver and Victoria, returned to the Royals line-up. Veteran forward Dante Hannoun remained out.
Portland (8-6-1) snapped a three-game losing streak. Victoria, ranked No. 7 in the CHL top-10 poll, fell to 9-4. The teams meet again tonight.
