1983 CLARENCE CAMPBELL CONFERENCE QUARTER FINAL #2

Portland_SasquatchPittsburgh Spirit

 

Pittsburgh Spirt

vs.

Portland Sasquatch

SERIES PREVIEW Playoff series featuring Pittsburgh Spirit and Portland Sasquatch
GAME #1 In-game #1 of the series, Portland’s Wayne Gretzky opens the scoring 4:49 into the first period on a power play (Paiement slashing) to get the Portland crowd going. Nearly 5 minutes later Hamel finds the back of the net to give Portland a 2-0 lead before the Spirit even knew what hit them.

2nd Period – Pittsburgh came out of the break looking to get back into the game but at the 13:59 mark Preston increases the lead to 3-0 and Pittsburgh seemed completely baffled.

3rd Period – With the crowd behind them and Pittsburgh seeming frustrated Portland got another power-play goal from Carbonneau with 3:56 into the period to take a commanding 4-0 lead. The game seemed out of reach but the Spirit began to show some heart and responded with three consecutive goals from Sittler (6:45), Larmer (pp 7:57), and Haworth (18:40) to provide some hope. Making one last effort Pittsburgh pulled their goalie but Pouzar put the game away with an empty netter with 51 seconds remaining to seal the 5-3 win

Star #1 – Pouzer (Por) 1 goal and 1 assist
STar #2 – Crossman (Por) 3 assists
STar #3 – Larmer (Pitt) 1 goal and 1 assist

Portland takes a 1-0 series lead

GAME #2 Game #2 with Portland leading 1-0

Pittsburgh comes to Portland for game 2 hoping to even the series

Period #1 – Wayne Gretzky once again opens the scoring with a goal at the 13:31 mark but isn’t satisfied with just one as he finds the net again 2 minutes 11 seconds later to stake Portland to a 2-0 lead

Period #2 -2:45 into the second period Portland’s Ciccarelli gets the crowd energized with a beautiful goal off a Gretzky assist. At the 17:04 mark, Gretzky sets up Crossman on a power-play goal to give Portland a commanding 4-0 lead entering the break

Period #3 – Unlike game #1 where Pittsburgh scored 3 unanswered third-period goals to get within one Portland plays stellar defense, limiting the Spirit to just 6 shots on goal in the period. Paul Cyr finishes the scoring for Portland with a goal with 1:01 remaining to give Portland the 5-0 win

Star #1 – Brodeur (Por) 26 saves and a shutout
STar #2 – Gretzky (Por) 2 goals and 2 assists
Star #3 – Crossman (Por) 1 goal and 1 assist

  Portland wins both games at home by a 10-3 margin and takes a 2-0 series lead. Wayne Gretzky has 3 goals and 2 assists in the first two games while Crossman and Rota both tally 4 assists
GAME #3 The two-time Cup Champs are down 2-0 against a Portland squad lead by The Great One. Let’s see how they react with their backs against the wall.

The Spirit comes out firing to the tune of 3 goals in the 1st, and one in the 2nd to go up 4-0.

Then Portland scores one in the 2nd to make it 4-1.

Head to the 3rd… where we see SEVEN goals scored. Portland scores 2 to cut the Spirit lead to 4-3.

Pittsburgh scores 2 in just over a minute to make it 6-3 with just over 6 minutes to play.

Then Portland goes on a tear to the tune of three goals in the final 6 minutes, including pulling the goalie and scoring the tying goal at 19:42 (Carbonneau).

So we go to OT tied 6-6!

At the 4:35 mark, Dale Hunter scores his 2nd of the playoffs and the game to win it in OT for Portland 7-6!

GAME #4 Down 3-0, can the Spirit live to skate another day in the playoffs?

Again, the Spirit come out firing… up 3-0 after 1.

No scoring in the 2nd. Can the Spirit hold off Gretzky and Co.?

Nope… Portland rattles of 4 goals in the first 10 minutes to make it a 4-3 Portland lead.

Haworth ties it up for the Spirit at 10:02.

Then Rota and Cyr bot score to make it 6-4.

Paterson scores a Short-Handed goal at 17:46, but that’s all the Spirit could muster as they are swept by Wayne Gretzky and Company!

SERIES SUMMARY Welp… that didn’t take long! LOL

We got hot down the stretch and made the playoffs. We were a borderline team all season. Here’s to hoping the following couple of years can be a true rebuild!

Congrats Chris and his Portland Sasquatch! No shortage of sightings of THIS Bigfoot!