WHL Portland Winterhawks

Hawks advance with emotional come-from-behind Game Seven win

Published on April 6, 2006 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Seattle, WA - Down three goals and having just lost two key players to serious injury, the Winter Hawks made a emotional and courageous comeback to defeat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 in overtime in a decisive game seven in the first round of the WHL playoffs. Jon Bubnick, who had both of Portland's goals in game six, scored the game-winner at 10:25 of the first overtime session. Brandon Dubinsky was in on all four Portland goals and finished with a goal and three assists. Rookie goaltender Kurtis Mucha was stellar with 27 saves and earned for his fourth career playoff win.

Portland advances to the Western Conference semifinals in a best-of-seven series against the Vancouver Giants that starts Friday and Saturday in Vancouver. Seattle's season is over.

Wednesday was Portland's fourth game seven in five years and with the win the Hawks got the first round playoff monkey off their back. Portland had lost their last three game sevens: 3-2 to Seattle in the Rose Garden in 2002; 4-2 in Spokane in 2003; and 3-2 in the Rose Garden against Everett last year. Portland's previous game seven win was a 3-2 win in the 1998 Western Conference Finals against Spokane in the Rose Garden. After winning that game, Portland swept Brandon in four straight games in the WHL Championship Series and won all four games in the 1998 Memorial Cup tournament in Spokane. In team history, Portland is now 5-6 in games where series have gone the distance.

Brandon Dubinsky, who logged the hat trick at Key Arena in game four and dominated the game, had another phenomenal game and set a playoff career high with four points. Dubinsky now leads the WHL in playoff scoring with 5 goals and 8 assists in seven playoff games.

The Winter Hawks took blow after blow on Wednesday night and responded with an emotion filled comeback. The initial shock came when Aaron Gagnon, the Phoenix Coyotes' 2004 draft pick, scored the hat trick in the first period and gave Seattle a 3-0 first period lead and Seattle was in the driver's seat in the decisive game seven. Then the Winter Hawks lost two players to serious injury in the first 52 seconds of the second period. 17-year-old defenseman Lenny Thunderchild suffered an upper body injury after receiving a big check along the boards. Kyle Bailey broke his ankle after his skate got stuck in the boards. Rallying behind their injured comrades, the Hawks scored two power play goals in the second period and tied the game with six minutes left in the third period. And 20-year-old league veteran Jon Bubnick, in what could have been his last WHL game, completed the come-from-behind win with his overtime game-winner at 10:25 of the first full overtime.

With the 4-3 win, Portland's last thirteen wins have all been one-goal victories. And each of Portland's four wins in the series were one-goal victories (1-0 in game two, 2-1 in game three, 3-2 in game five and 4-3 in game seven). During the regular season, Portland was 18-5- 3-5 in one-goal games, but 9-19 in games decided by 3 goals or more.

Exactly a year ago, April 5, 2005, the Winter Hawks fell a goal short in a game seven loss to the Everett Silvertips, 3-2, in front of 9,697 in the Rose Garden. Last year's Winter Hawks team became the first of eight teams in franchise history to force a game seven after trailing a series 3-1 but the Silvertips advanced to the Western Conference semifinals and Portland's season came to an end. Leading the best-of-seven series 3- 2, the Winter Hawks missed a chance to eliminate the Thunderbirds in game six on Tuesday night as Seattle pulled out a 5-2 road win. With Wednesday's game the only game on the WHL schedule and the only game seven of the first round, and the two teams delivered an exceptional game seven with their seasons hanging in the balance.

Coming into game seven, the road team had won the last three games of the series and the road team scored the first goal in each of those three games. The Thunderbirds bucked that trend when Aaron Gagnon scored just past the 5-minute mark of the first period. Clayton Barthel blasted a shot from the point and Gagnon deflected the puck out of the air and past Hawks' goalie Kurtis Mucha at 5:34. Less than two minutes later, Gagnon scored again to give Seattle a 2-0 lead at 7:29. The Winter Hawks went on the first power play of the game after Chris Durand was cited for obstruction holding at 9:08. Portland, looking to halt Seattle's momentum, found themselves giving up the best scoring chance on the man-advantage when Bud Holloway broke out on a breakaway. But Mucha made a huge save on Holloway to hold Seattle to a two-goal lead. The Winter Hawks dodged a couple of bullets as Mucha answered the call on a pair of quality scoring chances by the Thunderbirds. Seattle goalie Bryan Bridges kept Portland off the scoreboard when he turned away Stan Balan, who made a nice deke move but was denied. Aaron Gagnon finished the natural hat trick after he stole the puck from Jon Bubnick and deked and scored on a breakaway, scoring an unassisted short-handed goal at 14:48. Portland had zero goals on 16 shots in the first period while Seattle scored three goals on 14 shots.

Less than a minute into the second period, Lenny Thunderchild suffered an upper body injury after receiving a hit in the corner and he was escorted off Portland trainer Innes Mackie. On the next play, 19-year-old center Kyle Bailey suffered a serious lower body injury, early reports suggested a broken ankle, and he was taken off the ice on a gurney. Bailey, a key face-off man, team leader and fan-favorite, had 2 goals and 4 assists in the series. The Winter Hawks, stunned by the loss of two key players in the first minute of the period, rallied with emotion and cut into Seattle's lead with a pair of goals in the second period. Brandon Dubinsky, who scored a hat trick in his last game at Key Arena in game five, scored his fifth goal of the playoffs on the power play to make it 3-1 at 6:07. Right wing Sasha Golin carried some speed into the Seattle end and drew a hook from Clayton Barthel, giving the Hawks a power play at 18:17. And Portland cashed in with their second power play goal of the night when Michael Sauer fired a slap shot past Bridge's blocker with 22 seconds left in the period at 19:38. With his fourth goal of the series, Sauer tied a team record for most goals in a playoff series by a defenseman and made it a 3-2 game. With an assist on Sauer's goal, Dubinsky claimed the league lead in WHL playoff scoring with his eleventh point of the first round. Portland outshot Seattle 14-5 in the second period.

Neither team registered a shot in the first five minutes of the third period but the suspense continued to build. Trailing by a goal late in the game and playing with desperation, Portland rallied to tie the game with six minutes left in the third period. Rookie defenseman Scott Gabriel, who was sharp stepping in for Lenny Thunderchild, set up the play on the tying goal. Gabriel made a great long pass up ice, which ended up on Jannik Hansen's stick. Hansen beat Bridges to tie the game 3-3 at 14:00 of the third. Brandon Dubinsky and Jon Bubnick assisted on Hansen's fourth goal of the playoffs. After relinquishing a three- goal lead, the Thunderbirds responded with a flurry of shots in the last minute of the third period but Portland staved off the last minute rush and forced overtime. Shots favored Seattle 8-6 in the third period.

After making a remarkable comeback, the Winter Hawks faced another game that would determined by a single goal, games that they have proven to be exceptional at. After exchanging a handful of quality scoring chances, the Hawks' top forward line of Brandon Dubinsky, Jannik Hansen and Jon Bubnick hooked up again for the game- winning goal. Dubinsky and Hansen worked into the Seattle end and Jon Bubnick put home a rebound for his third goal of the playoffs and biggest of his career at 10:25 of overtime.

The Winter Hawks won the specialty teams battle on Wednesday night. Portland's penalty kill continued to stifle Seattle's power play, killing all three Thunderbird man-advantages and the power play finished 2-for-5.

Defenseman Michael Funk missed his fifth game of the series with an undisclosed injury. Goalie Luke Shier was scratched due to numbers. Right wing Nick Hotson is out for the season with a broken wrist.

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 6, 2006


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