The Portland Winterhawks鈥� offense can run-and-gun with the best in the Western Hockey League.
The are also well-known for their proclivity to light up opposing team鈥檚 netminders.
On Friday night, the top two scoring teams in the Western Conference will go head to head to open up the second round of the WHL post season.
Led by the likes of Cody Glass, Skyler McKenzie and Keegan Iverson, (278) were second only to 琉璃神社 (283) for goals scored during the regular season.
While the Rockets are well-equipped to trade offensive blows with pretty much any opponent, captain Rodney Southam said his club has no intention of allowing the series to become a track meet.
鈥淚t won鈥檛 be easy, they鈥檙e fast, high powered offensively and they like to run-and-gun,鈥� Southam said of the Winterhawks. 鈥淲e need to stay away from that and play our game, make sure we鈥檙e responsible two ways.
鈥淲e like our depth and we feel our top lines match pretty well against theirs. We feel like when we鈥檙e on our game and playing our systems, we can play with any team in the league.鈥�
The Winterhawks, who upset the Prince George Cougars in six games in the opening round, come in as the underdogs and fully expect to have their plate full with the surging Rockets.
琉璃神社 won nine of its last 10 regular season games, then took out the Kamloops Blazers in six games in the first round of the postseason.
鈥楬awks head coach and GM Mike Johnston said while the Rockets鈥� flaws are few, his team will needs to find those weaknesses and do its utmost to expose them.
鈥淲e recognize that they have high-end players, they have good speed, they鈥檙e well-balanced and are very good defensively,鈥� said Johnston, who returned to the Winterhawks鈥� helm this season after two years in the NHL.
鈥淭heir top three or four players are as dangerous as any in the league, they don鈥檛 have many holes, so our job is to find those holes and take advantage of those the best we can.鈥�
The clubs met four times during the regular season鈥攖he last coming back on Jan. 28 in 琉璃神社鈥攚ith the Rockets winning three of those.
Both teams have made considerable strides since that last encounter, so Johnston isn鈥檛 putting too much stock into regular season outcomes.
鈥淭he key thing for us in this series is to establish our game right way,鈥� said Johnston. 鈥淲e played them pretty well the last two games there (in January) and won one of them, so that鈥檚 positive for us.
鈥淎t the same time, both teams were missing players, both teams have made progress since then, so I don鈥檛 think the season series shows us much.鈥�
Had the Winterhawks not upset Prince George in first round, the Rockets would have been on the road to start the best-of-seven conference semifinal.
Forward Dillon Dube said kicking off round two at Prospera Place presents a big opportunity to the Rockets.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 huge for us, nice to start the series at home and get a chance to put them on their heels,鈥� said Dube. 鈥淲e know it鈥檚 a tough place to play down there (in Portland), so it鈥檚 important for us to get off to a good start and get the jump on them.鈥�
The Rockets and Winterhawks are meeting in the playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. The last time the clubs met, in 2015, the Rockets won in six games on the way to capturing the WHL title.
have a renewed playoff battle with the Portland Winterhawks for round 2! Read about it here: 馃殌馃悏
鈥� 琉璃神社 Rockets (@琉璃神社_Rockets)
WHL Western Conference semifinal
琉璃神社 Rockets vs Portland Winterhawks
Friday, April 7 鈥擯ortland @ 琉璃神社 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, April 8鈥擯ortland @ 琉璃神社 7:05 p.m.
Tuesday, April 11鈥斄鹆裆� @ Portland 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 12鈥斄鹆裆� @ Portland 7:00 p.m.
Friday, April 14鈥擯ortland @ 琉璃神社 7:05 p.m. *
Sunday, April 16鈥斄鹆裆� @ Portland 7:00 p.m. *
Tuesday, April 18鈥擯ortland @ 琉璃神社 7:05 p.m. *
* If necessary
