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WHL Portland Winterhawks

Hawks Hit 40 Wins With 3-1 Victory Over Seattle

March 26, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


The Winterhawks wrapped up the regular season with a key rivalry win to hit 40 victories on the year.

Game #68: Portland (3) at Seattle (1)

SOG: POR (28) - SEA (30)

PP: POR (1/6) - SEA (0/4)

Saves: Špunar (29/30) - Ratzlaff (25/27)

COMPLETE BOX SCORE

SCORING:

SEA - 4:06 - First Period - Dylan Guenther (13) from Sawyer Mynio

POR - 9:22 - Second Period - Luke Schelter (8) from Josh Zakreski and Diego Buttazzoni

POR - 12:53 - Second Period - Josh Zakreski (13) from Marcus Nguyen and Marek Alscher

POR - 19:24 - Third Period - Ryan McCleary (13) from Robbie Fromm-Delorme and Gabe Klassen *EN

The Story:

Josh Zakreski posted two points and Jan Špunar turned aside 29 of 30 shots as the Winterhawks (40-20-5-3) knocked off the top-seeded Seattle Thunderbirds (54-11-1-2) by a 3-1 final to wrap up the regular season.

The victory helps Portland reach its sixth-straight 40-win season.

Seattle picked up where it left off last night with a quick strike from Dylan Guenther, but the Winterhawks held strong and punched back with two tallies of their own in the second period. Luke Schelter tied things up at 9:22 of the middle frame with a wrister off the rush from the left circle, set up by Zakreski. Then, Zakreski nabbed his own to put Portland ahead for the first time at 12:53 as he tapped home his own rebound on the power play after a slick cross-ice feed from Marcus Nguyen.

Špunar put on a fine display in the final frame with 11 saves to preserve his team's lead, and Ryan McCleary iced Portland's victory with a late empty-netter after a push from the T-Birds.

The Winterhawks now look ahead to the WHL Playoffs, which open in Portland on Friday, March 31 against the Everett Silvertips at 6:00 P.M.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT presented by BBF TECHNOLOGIES:

"We had a mindset coming into this game that we wanted to win here. I know we all wanted to get to the 40-win mark. That was a benchmark for us at the beginning of the season so it was a huge win for us and critical going into playoffs."

Winterhawks forward Josh Zakreski

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from March 26, 2023


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