Diego Buttazzoni the Hero for Hawks in 2OT
WHL Portland Winterhawks

Diego Buttazzoni the Hero for Hawks in 2OT

April 3, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Double overtime was needed to find a winner between the Winterhawks and Cougars in Game 4. Diego Buttazzoni was the hero, scoring with 2:03 remaining in the second extra frame after Portland goalie Ondøej Štìbeták made several spectacular saves on a penalty kill just minutes earlier.

Round 1, Game 4: Prince George (4) vs. Portland (5)

SOG: PG (53) - POR (56)

PP: PG (3/5) - POR (2/7)

Saves: Ravensbergen (51/56) - Štìbeták (49/53)

SCORING:

POR - Carter Sotheran (4) from Diego Buttazzoni and Kyle Chyzowski (power play)

PG - Borya Valis (2) from Koehn Ziemmer

POR - Kyle Chyzowski (2) from Tyson Jugnauth and Ryan Miller

PG - Matteo Danis (3) from Jett Lajoie and Carson Carels (power play)

POR - Hudson Darby (1) from Joel Plante and Max Max Pšenička (power play)

PG - Koehn Ziemmer (1) from Terik Parascak and Lee Shurgot (power play)

PG - Carson Carels (1) from Ben Riche and Jett Lajoie (power play)

POR - Ryan Miller (1) from Tyson Jugnauth and Alex Weiermair (extra attacker)

POR - Diego Buttazzoni (4) from Kyle Chyzowski and Tyson Jugnauth

GAME SUMMARY:

The trend of Portland opening the scoring in the series against Prince George continued in Game 4 on Wednesday night at the VMC. With Koehn Ziemmer in the penalty box for cross checking, Carter Sotheran unleashed a one-timer from Diego Buttazzoni. With Josh Zakreski parked in front of Cougars' goalie Joshua Ravensbergen, the blast from the Philadelphia Flyers selection found the back of the net, giving Sotheran four goals in the postseason. Prince George tied the game with 2:25 to play in the first period when Ziemmer picked off a Winterhawks pass and fed signed Toronto Maple Leafs prospect, who was in alone on Portland's netminder Ondøej Štìbeták, However, 20-year-old captain Kyle Chyzowski restored the lead 1:15 later on the tenth point of the playoffs from Tyson Jugnauth.

The Cougars scored on the power play for the first time in the series. Matteo Danis' team-leading third goal of the playoffs came when the 2005-born forward found a rebound, pulled it to his backhand, and slid it by an outstretched pad of Štìbeták.

For the first time in four games, the teams went to the dressing room tied but were only deadlocked for 2:37 before Hudson Darby cleaned up a loose puck at the top of the crease on the power play. The 6-foot-2, 182-pound frame was too much for the Cougars to clear, and the Swift Current, Saskatchewan, native scored his first goal of the 2025 WHL Playoffs.

Ziemmer's strong performance in Game 4 continued when he got Prince George back to even for the third time. The Los Angeles Kings signed prospect skated in a gap in the penalty-killers coverage and got his shot off before a diving Ryan Miller could deflect it away.

Prince George struck for their third power-play goal of the night when 16-year-old rookie defenseman Carson Carels' shot from the point got through traffic in front with 1:54 to play.

The cardiac Hawks struck again with 24.6 seconds to play. With Štìbeták on the bench for the extra attacker, Miller brought the 3,929 faithful to its feet as he banged home the tying goal.

In the first overtime, Portland went to the power play twice, but weren't able to find the winner. Prince George got its opportunity in the second extra period, but Štìbeták made several remarkable saves to keep the game going.

Buttazzoni's goal in Game 2 at the CN Centre will be seen on the highlight film for a while, but his double overtime winner on Wednesday is even sweater. Chyzowski sent a home run pass, Buttazzoni out-raced the Cougars defender beating out an icing, faked a slap shot, but then slid it by Ravensbergen to give the Winterhawks 5-4 win.

UP NEXT:

The Winterhawks and Cougars are off on Thursday before the best-of-seven series resumes at the Veterans Memorial on Friday at 7:00 P.M. Up 3-1 in the series, Portland can advance to the second round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs with a win.

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2025


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