Rose Garden ice readies for Mascot-a-thon

File photo.

Darth Vader may not be a mascot for a capitalist product, but he still looks cool on the ice - and he'll be on the ice Friday for the Portland Winterhawks annual Mascot Night.

The Winterhawks play Seattle at 7 p.m. Between periods, mascots will face off in a broomball exhibition.

Portland enters the game with the best record in the Western Conference, 47-17-0-3, 89 points, but is just three points ahead of Spokane, 40-17-4-2, 86 points. Those teams meet on the final day of the regular season, March 20, in Portland.

Portland 6, Tri-City 5

The Portland Winterhawks got two goals and two assists from Nino Niederreiter and helf off a fierce rally for a 6-5 win over the Tri-City Americans Tuesday at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash.

Neiderreiter scored goals 30 and 31 in the second period as the Hawks built a 6-1 lead and then held on to improve to 43-17-0-3, 89 points and moved three points ahead of Spokane (40-17-4-2, 86 points) in the battle for the Western Conference title. Each team has nine games left in the regular season.

Swen Bartschi scored his 30th goal of the season and had three assists for the Hawks,

Tri-City, which produced a 49-35 edge in shots on goal, dropped to 37-21-2-2, 78 points.

Portland plays host to Seattle Friday at the Rose Garden. The Hawks close the regular season against Spokane at the Rose Garden, March 20. Portland (262 goals) and Spokane (271) are the highest-scoring teams in the West.