Nguyễn doing great things for Winterhawks

Marcus Nguyen scored two goals in the Winterhawks’ 4-0 win over Everett Saturday night at Memorial Coliseum, his second straight two-goal performance in the first-round playoff series (courtesy Megan Connelly/Winterhawks)

Playoff hockey is, as they say, about “stepping up.”

Good players finding greatness, so to speak.

Two games into the Winterhawks’ first-round Western Hockey League series with Everett, Marcus Nguyen (pronounced “New-hun”) is catching lightning in a bottle.

The 5-10, 175-pound right wing notched his second straight two-goal game as Portland blanked the Silvertips 4-0 Saturday night at Memorial Coliseum.

The victory gives Portland a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series, which continues with Game 3 Monday night in Everett.

Nguyễn scored 23 goals with 23 assists in 66 games during the regular season, but the 18-year-old Calgary native has taken it to another level in the postseason. After tallying twice in Portland’s 4-3 win in Friday’s opener, he scored the Winterhawks’ first two goals, both in the first period, in Game 2.

“Marcus has blazing speed, and he is playing well,” coach Mike Johnston said. “Five on five, he has produced for us, and he has played well on the power play for us, too. That helps when you have young guys step up like that at playoff time.”

The 18-year-old Nguyen scored 23 goals in the regular season and has four in the first two games of the postseason (courtesy Keith Dwiggins/Winterhawks)

Nguyen comes from mixed heritage. His father, Dan, is Vietnamese. His mother, Petra Lee-Nguyen, is South Korean.

“Mom was born in Edmonton,” Marcus said, “but my grandparents on that side are from (South) Korea.”

Dan Nguyen came with seven siblings to Edmonton from Vietnam when he was 14 years old to seek a better life. His parents stayed behind in the native country. He lived in Edmonton with an older sister until he could care for himself.

“My dad played soccer,” Marcus said. “He never played hockey but loved watching the sport. I’m named after Markus Naslund, my dad’s favorite hockey player.”

Marcus’ parents own a bar and restaurant in Calgary.

“They have had it since I was a little boy,” Marcus said.

Like many Albertans, Marcus grew up with the sport of hockey and was a fan of the NHL Flames as a youngster. He was taken in the 11th round of the 2019 Bantam draft and, at age 16 during the 2020-21 Covid campaign, was good enough to join the Winterhawks at midseason and play 16 games.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming in,” Nguyen said. “The three-month span I was here, I tried to soak it all in. I was living (in a house) with (Kyle) Chyzowski and (Gabe) Klassen. We were young guys growing up together. It was awesome.”

Nguyen led Portland rookies with 22 regular-season goals in 2021-22 and has played well enough this season to be recognized as a top-120 prospect by Elite Prospects for the June 28 NHL draft.

Linemate Jack O’Brien also scored two goals Saturday night, including an empty-net marker with 1:16 to go after Everett pulled goaltender Tyler Palmer with five minutes left.

To that point, Portland’s defense had completely bottled up the Silvertips, limiting them to 17 shots on goal through 55 minutes. There was also solid work by goaltender Jan Spunar, the 18-year-old rookie from the Czech Republic who recorded his first playoff shutout.

“Spoon played well last night, too,” Johnston said. “He made a mistake late in the game that cost us a goal, but other than that was really good. Tonight, he made everything look easy, but there were some pucks bouncing around the crease, and he was able to corral them. In playoff hockey, you need good goaltending, and he has given our team some confidence with his play.”

Portland shut down Everett’s top line, which features right wing Jackson Berezowski, who scored 48 goals in 62 regular-season games. Johnston gave special credit to defensemen Marek Alscher and Ryan McCleary.

“That’s a big-time line, and Alscher and McCleary played really well against them,” Johnston said. “We had two lines we could check with, too.”

Two forwards, Chyzowski and Aidan Litky, returned to the Hawks’ lineup after missing games with injuries.

“I like our depth right now,” Johnston says. “I was happy with how we played tonight all around.”

The series swings to Everett for Monday’s Game 3. The Hawks will return home after the game and be in Portland for two days before returning to the Puget Sound area for Game 4 on Friday night.

“You need to take care of home-ice advantage, and we have done that,” Johnston said. “I feel good about that. But we know it is going to be a hard series. (The Silvertips) are a well-coached team.”

Everett, however, is now is faced with the task of having to beat Portland four of the next five games to claim the series. If the Hawks advance, they will likely square off with Kamloops in a second-round series. The Hawks won the regular-season series 3-1, but the Blazers took the finale 5-1 at home on Feb. 1. Kamloops beat Vancouver 8-0 in the opener of their first-round series.

Tradition often calls for beards during the hockey playoffs. The Hawks are doing an offshoot. Nguyen is sporting a mullet, though his long hair hides the shorn locks on the sides.

“About half the guys have them now,” he said with a grin, “and we are going to have more join us.”

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