Winterhawks shut out Wheat Kings, 5-0

The Portland Winterhawks (5-6-0-0) earned a 5-0 shutout win over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings (8-2-0-2) Sunday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. 
 
The win capped a great weekend for the Hawks, who played three games in three nights with victories in all three. 
 
Adin Hill was outstanding in net for the Hawks Sunday. He stopped all 45 shots he faced for this third shutout of the season, and second in three games. His three shutouts are already a career-high, and he's the only goalie in the league with three blankings thus far.
 
For the Hawks, playing their third game in three nights, to do so against Brandon is especially impressive as it marks the first time this season the Wheat Kings have been shut out. Brandon entered Sunday with just one loss in regulation and were tied for the league lead with 55 goals. 
 
The Hawks opened the scoring on a power play 13:45 into the game when Dominic Turgeon beat Brandon netminder Jordan Papirny low for a 1-0 lead. It also extended Turgeon's career-best goal streak to five games. Hill was outstanding in net for Portland in the opening frame, stopping all 17 shots that came his way to preserve the 1-0 lead going into the second.
 
Portland extended the lead at 12:21 of the second when Alex Schoenborn beat Papirny with a wrist shot that went over the goalie's shoulder to make it a 2-0 advantage. Hill was once again terrific in the second, stopping 17 shots as he did in the first. 
 
The Hawks padded the lead at 8:07 of the third when Rodrigo Abols carried the puck into the Brandon zone on a 3-on-1, kept it and fired a shot past Papirny for a 3-0 lead. 
 
Portland kept their foot on the gas, as Turgeon scored his second power play goal of the night at 10:24 to make it 4-0, followed minutes later by a goal from Skyler McKenzie to push the lead to 5-0. After McKenzie's goal, Brandon replaced Papirny in net with backup Logan Thompson, who finished the game, with the Hawks earning the 5-0 win.
 
Special teams were a major factor in the Hawks' win, as they scored on both of their power plays while not giving up a goal on any of Brandon's six chances with the man advantage.
 
Turgeon had three points in the win, while Abols and Paul Bittner each had two. 
 
The Hawks are back in action Wednesday when they host the Tri-City Americans Wednesday at the Coliseum.