Seattle beats Portland relatively easily again, with a 4-goal 2nd period, a 3 for 5 power play, and 4 points from Kevin Korchinski. It’s the Thunderbirds’ fifth straight win over Portland, all over the space of 41 days, with one more to come Saturday night.
Scoring summary
| 2:17 POR Josh Zakreski (Luke Schelter) 1-0 | Zakreski scores from in close on the rebound of a Schelter shot, which came off the rebound of a Zakreski shot. |
| 7:22 SEA Kevin Korchinski (Kyle Crnkovic, Sawyer Mynio) 1-1 | On the rush, a neat little touch pass by Crnkovic gets it to Korchinski about 3 feet from goal and he beats Dante Giannuzzi one on one. |
| 26:51 SEA (pp) Lucas Ciona (Reid Schaefer, Kevin Korchinski) 1-2 | Schaefer’s one-timer from the right circle is deflected in by Ciona. |
| 28:37 SEA Kevin Korchinski (Nico Myatovic) 1-3 | Giannuzzi stops Myatovic point blank, but Braeden Jockims can’t control the rebound, it goes past him to Korchinski who finishes nicely. |
| 32:35 SEA (pp) Brad Lambert (Kevin Korchinski, Reid Schaefer) 1-4 | Super-sniper Lambert buries a one-timer on the power play from the left dot. |
| 36:49 SEA Coster Dunn 1-5 | Ryder Thompson’s clearing pass to James Stefan is behind him and picked off by Dunn, who then stickhandles past Thompson and scores. |
| 38:41 POR Gabe Klassen (Robbie Fromm-Delorme, James Stefan) 2-5 | Nice passing by Portland’s veteran forwards leads to a shot from right side by Klassen. Thomas Milic stops a lot of it but it trickles behind him and in. |
| 47:09 SEA Reid Schaefer (Lucas Ciona, Nolan Allan) 2-6 | Schaefer finds a seam between Klassen and Stefan left of the slot about 8 feet away and beats Giannuzzi. |
| 49:10 SEA (pp) Colton Dach (Nico Myatovic) 2-7 | On the rush Dach beats Luca Cagnoni wide down the right wing and beats Giannuzzi. |
| 53:44 POR Marek Alscher (Jack O’Brien, Marcus Nguyen) 3-7 | Alscher’s shot from straight on just inside the blue line finds the net. |
| Lead | Time |
|---|---|
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 5:05 |
| Tied | 21:46 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 1:46 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 31:23 |
Narratives
Pregame: Seattle had an outside chance at the league’s best record, but they rested a lot of their stars anyway, figuring they were still likely to win. Portland had Kyle Chyzowski missing his second straight game.
1st period: As has happened a lot in the 2nd half against the Thunderbirds, the Winterhawks started well, got the first goal, and were tied after 1.
2nd period: Then Seattle got the early power play goal, and it snowballed from there. Another power play goal, a couple of mistakes, and the Thunderbirds grinded them down until it was 5-1 and essentially gone.
3rd period: A Winterhawks comeback never looked in the cards, so we had a long period of garbage time.
Won on offense, defense, or special teams: A 3 for 5 power play, with 2 in the decisive 2nd period, was most prominent.
Best team won?: Best team in junior hockey.
Injuries/suspensions: Both teams missed some players. A lot of Seattle’s were by choice.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Korchinski | SEA | 2 goals, 2 assists | |
| Reid Schaefer | SEA | 1 goal, 2 assists | 4-game point streak. |
| Lucas Ciona | SEA | 1 goal, 1 assist | |
| Nico Myatovic | SEA | 2 assists | 7-game point streak. |
| Coster Dunn | SEA | 1 goal | |
| Nolan Allan | SEA | 1 assist | 3-game point streak. |
| Thomas Milic | SEA | 35 saves-38 shots | |
| Marek Alscher | POR | 1 goal | |
| Jack O’Brien | POR | 1 assist | 5-game point streak. |
| Brad Lambert | SEA | 1 goal | 7-game point streak. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Robbie Fromm-Delorme | POR | 1 assist | 5-game point streak. |
| Sawyer Mynio | SEA | 1 assist | 4-game point streak. |
| Dante Giannuzzi | POR | 32 saves-39 shots | How many games left will he play? |
| Luca Cagnoni | POR | Has had a really tough stretch against the Thunderbirds. |
Postgame
| Winterhawks | Thunderbirds | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 39-20-5-3 | 54-10-1-2 |
| Goal difference | +24 | +147 |
| Goals/game | 3.6 | 4.5 |
| Goals allowed/game | 3.2 | 2.3 |
| Power play | 23.8% | 20.9% |
| Penalty kill | 82.0% | 83.5% |
| Power plays for/game | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| Power plays against/game | 4.1 | 4.2 |
| Outshooting opponents | 48-17-2 | 55-10-2 |
| After 1 period | 25-17-25 | 32-15-20 |
| After 2 periods | 28-24-15 | 40-15-12 |
| Score, last 10 games | 31-41 | 49-25 |
| Score, last 20 games | 51-74 | 103-35 |
Portland Winterhawks
I’m sure loading a lot of Seattle games at the end of the season made sense at the time. But it hasn’t done much for playoff preparation. It’s just given the Winterhawks a lot of unwinnable games at a time they’ve been struggling.
Seattle Thunderbirds
Winnipeg won their game and clinched the best record in the league. So neither team will have anything to play for Saturday.
Next games
Saturday at Seattle, 6pm
Friday vs. Everett, 7pm (Game 1)
next Saturday vs. Everett, 6pm (Game 2)
Looking ahead: Monday 4/3 at Everett, 7pm (Game 3)