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Portland Winterhawks soar to series lead as WHL final moves to Edmonton

PORTLAND, Ore. —In his post-game press conference after their Game 1 loss in the WHL final, Edmonton Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal said his team needed to hit the "reset button."

Instead of reset, the Oil Kings hit repeat with a 3-1 loss to the Winterhawks in Game 2 of their best-of-seven series on Sunday night. Portland, the defending WHL champions, hold a 2-0 series lead with the both teams heading to Edmonton on a charter flight after the game.

"We chased the game right off the hop, we gave up a goal, we had a turnover and they made us pay for it," said Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal. "We had some offensive zone time, but we weren't willing to shoot the puck in the kind of areas to create second chance opportunities and I thought that took away a little bit from our energy."

[By The Numbers: Portland with decisive victories in opening games]

Once again the Oil Kings found themselves down early, trailing 2-0 in the first four minutes of the game thanks to goals from Chase De Leo and Brendan Leipsic. It was Leipsic's first game of the series as he sat out Game 1 to serve a spearing suspension picked up against the Kelowna Rockets.

"We knew what to expect and I got my feet wet in the first couple minutes," said Leipsic, a third-round pick of the Nashville Predators. "I felt fine from there."

Edmonton netminder Tristan Jarry — inconsistent in their 5-2 loss on Saturday night — continued to struggle in the first period, but came through with some big saves late in the second period. Entering this series the netminder had a 1.86 goals against average and a .929 save percentage, but those numbers have since ballooned. In his first two games against Portland, he's now carrying a 4.18 goals against average and an .882 save percentage.

In the post-game, Laxdal said he still had confidence in Jarry's ability to carry them through the series.

"It's a group effort," said Laxdal. "I'm not going to pin it on Tristan. I'm not going to pin it on our defence or forwards. When we get scored on, we get scored on as a team and we've been that way all year. I'm confident in Tristan and I'm confident in our defence and in our forwards."

The Oil Kings had a better showing in the third period, when Henrik Samuelsson finally bested Portland goalie Corbin Boes with the extra attacker, but it wasn't enough.

"I think we've got to realize that we can't stop playing our game," said Boes, who made 28 saves in the win. "We have to keep pushing in the third period."

So far in the series, the Winterhawks have done an a good job of shutting down the Oil Kings - particularly the top scoring trio of Brett Pollock, Curtis Lazar and Samuelsson. They have combined for a total of three goals in two games and Lazar, a first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, is without a single point.

"Their defence is doing a good job of boxing us out," said Lazar. "But that's up to us to get down to those dirty areas and find loose pucks. There are rebounds available there that are up for the taking but we have to bear down and get to those."

With the series moving to Edmonton, the Oil Kings know they'll have the comforts of home instead of the hostile environment of the Moda Center. In this post-season run, the Oil Kings are also unbeaten at home, so the Winterhawks know the importance of taking the early lead.

"You definitely want to win at home because it gives you a little bit more momentum, a little bit more edge," said Winterhawks head coach and GM Mike Johnston. "We know how close the series is as far as the play on the ice in the first two games. We know how hard it is to play in Edmonton, so we've been really focused this playoff on, 'Hey let's not look ahead, let's not get carried away on what's happened behind us, let's just focus on our next game.' We'll clean the slate tonight."