Buttazzoni, Klassen Highlight Hawks' Sixth-Straight Win
Published on December 28, 2022 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release
Gabe Klassen notched his team-leading 19th goal of the season at 2:49 of overtime to help the Winterhawks (??) knock off the visiting Tri-City Americans 4-3 on Wednesday.
After helping force a turnover in his defensive zone, Luca Cagnoni fired a stretch pass to a wide-open Klassen at the far blue line for a potential breakaway. Though the pass sailed just past the stick of Portland's captain, he chased it down in the right circle off the bounce from the end wall and chipped the game-winner past the arm of Jared Picklyk.
With the victory, Portland has now won six consecutive contests and has points in eight straight (7-0-1-0).
Tri-City kicked off the scoring flurry just 2:16 into the contest as Merrek Arpin grabbed his first career goal, but Marcus Nguyen responded for Portland five minutes later. After Ryan McCleary played a give-and-go with Kyle Chyzowski along the right-wing boards, the defenseman fed a pass from the corner to Nguyen in the high slot for a quick wrister past Picklyk. The Americans regained their lead, however, as Lukas Dragicevic stretched his point streak to a remarkable 26 games with a laser at 15:07.
Down by one at the start of the second, the Winterhawks tallied twice in the middle frame to take a 3-2 lead. Robbie Fromm-Delorme notched the first with a deflection on Cagnoni's point shot for a power-play goal at 7:45, then Diego Buttazzoni gave the hosts their first lead of the night with a showstopper at 13:38. After a turnover at the Tri-City blue line, Portland's 16-year-old sniper collected a bouncing puck on his own in the high slot, deftly slid it through the legs of the Americans' defender and finished with a quick shot to the stick side for his first WHL goal. Still, Tri-City pushed, and ultimately tied things up once more on Jake Sloan's 13th of the year in the final minute of the period to set up a scoreless third and force overtime.
Portland now travels to Everett for the first of a back-to-back, home-and-home set with the Silvertips. The mini-series kicks off at Angel of the Winds Arena on Friday at 7:00 P.M., then shifts to Portland for New Year's Eve at the VMC at 5:00 P.M.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT presented by BBF TECHNOLOGIES:
"I saw the puck coming across the ice, didn't really know what to do at first...saw a guy coming at me and just tried to slip the stick, and as soon as I scored, ho-ly. Felt amazing to finally get that one and have all my teammates coming in, jumping on me...I don't even know what to say right now but yeah, it feels amazing."
Winterhawks forward Diego Buttazzoni
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