WHL Portland Winterhawks

Hawks Rally Late, But Edged by Seattle

November 18, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Portland's seven-game point streak came to a close in Seattle despite a big third period push inside the ShoWare Center. The Thunderbirds beat the Hawks 6-4 on Saturday night.

The Winterhawks got on the board early in regulation. During their first power play chance, Jake Gricius snuck in a shot to give the Hawks the early advantage on the road. The goal was confirmed during a stoppage of play via an official booth review. A few minutes later, Clay Hanus scored on a coast-to-coast play up the far wing. He banked a wrist shot off the right leg pad of Liam Hughes to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Goaltender Dante Giannuzzi picked up his first career WHL point on the goal.

The Thunderbirds stole the attention during the remainder of the period. Jared Davidson provided a lift for Seattle by shooting in a rebound to cut the Portland lead in half. That goal was the first in his Western Hockey League career. Before the first period closed, Samuel Huo whacked in a third chance opportunity on the right side post to even the game at 2-2.

Saturday night's middle period belonged to the Thunderbirds. Matthew Wedman scored a pair of goals separated by just 37 second to give Seattle a 4-2 lead. The pair of goals marked the end of a seven game goal scoring drought for the Edmonton, AB native.

In the third, Andrej Kukuca netted his fifth goal of the season and the fifth straight Seattle goal in the game to increase the T-Birds lead to 5-2. Portland did not go away without a fight. Nick Perna battled in the high slot through traffic and scored his first goal in his WHL career. Seattle increased their lead to three after the media timeout.

On the power play, with under two minutes to play, Portland scored the final goal of the night thanks to Jake Gricius' second. Seattle ended its seven game losing streak as goaltender Liam Hughes made a season-high 51 stops.

The Hawks head home to take on the Calgary Hitmen at the Moda Center on Wednesday, November 21st. Individual tickets are now on sale. Be sure to visit winterhawks.com/tickets for full details on pricing and availability.

Scoring Summary:

1st @ 3:40 - POR - Jake Gricius (11), Ryan Hughes, Cody Glass (PP)

1st @ 7:59 - POR - Clay Hanus (2), Dante Giannuzi

1st @ 8:56 - SEA - Jared Davidson (1), Samuel Huo, Tyrel Bauer

1st @ 15:53 - SEA - Samuel Huo (3), Tyler Carpendale, Payton Mount

2nd @ 5:10 - SEA - Matthew Wedman (6), Nolan Volcan

2nd @ 5:47 - SEA - Matthew Wedman (7), Andrej Kukuca, Simon Kubicek

3rd @ 4:08 - SEA - Andrej Kukuca (5), Nolan Volcan, Matthew Wedman

3rd @ 9:20 - POR - Nick Perna (1), Seth Jarvis, Reece Newkirk

3rd @ 13:30 - SEA - Zack Andrusiak (10), Nolan Volcan, Liam Hughes

3rd @ - 19:26 - POR - Jake Gricius (12), Reece Newkirk, Cody Glass

SHOTS ON GOAL:

POR: 55

SEA: 36

POWER-PLAY:

POR: 2/5

SEA: 0/3

SAVES:

POR: Dante Giannuzzi with 30 saves

SEA: Liam Hughes with 51 saves

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from November 18, 2018


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