Hawks Steal Seattle's Thunder, Rally to Shoot-Out Win
March 12, 2006 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release
Seattle, WA - Trailing 4-2 after two periods, the Winter Hawks roared back with three goals in the third period and used that momentum to defeat the Thunderbirds 6-5 in a shoot-out at the Key Arena on Saturday night. Jannik Hansen and Jon Bubnick scored in the shoot-out and Kurtis Mucha denied both Seattle shooters. Kyle Bailey had three assists and Brandon Dubinsky finished with a goal and two assists.
Portland's scored by committee on Saturday night. Frazer McLaren, Michael Sauer, Colton Sceviour, Brandon Dubinsky, and Jannik Hansen scored the five regulation goals.
For the second straight night the Winter Hawks went to a shoot-out and after falling 3-2 to Tri-City in a shoot- out on Friday night, the Winter Hawks came out on top and earned the extra point in the race for playoff seeding in the division. With the win and two points the Winter Hawks maintain a one point lead over Tri-City for third place in the U.S. Division as the Americans beat the Chiefs in Spokane on Saturday night. Portland also gains a point on Seattle, now trailing the second place Thunderbirds by four points.
Portland's now 29-31-3-5 on the season with 66 points. The Hawks are 8-3-0-3 in their last 14 games, acquiring 19 points in the span. Friday night's shoot-out loss to Tri-City broke Portland's 6-game winning streak in games decided by one goal but with Saturday's shoot-out win the Hawks are 7-0-0-3 in one-goal games since February 12th and nine of Portland's last ten wins have been by one goal. Portland is now 6-5 in shoot-outs this season. Everett is up next for Portland; the Hawks host the Silvertips on Wednesday, March 15th in the Rose Garden at 5 PM.
Saturday was tenth of 12 meetings between the I-5 rivals. Even with the loss, Seattle will win the season series as they had won the previous three meetings and have seven wins overall. The season series concludes with a home-and-home next weekend. The Hawks return to Key Arena on Friday, March 17th and Portland hosts Seattle the next night, Saturday, March 18th.
The Thunderbirds came out firing and forechecking but the Winter Hawks put the first puck in the net. Kyle Bailey rifled a quick entry shot on Seattle goalie, Bryan Bridges, and Frazer McLaren, positioned to the right of the net, redirected the rebound into the Seattle net to give Portland a 1-0 lead at 9:16 of the first period. Seattle went back to work and tied the game on a James McEwan shot at 14:05. Goaltender Kurtis Mucha, who made his twelfth start in 13 games for Portland, denied David Richard's initial shot but McEwan tucked in the rebound to tie the game 1-1. The Portland power play hadn't converted in their last nine opportunities, due in large part to a lack of shooting, but that wasn't the case Saturday night as the Hawks continued to send pucks on net. Michael Sauer put Portland ahead for the second time when he scored his eighth goal of the season on the power play at 16:52. Taking advantage of some traffic in front of Bridges, Sauer blasted a slap shot over Bridges' glove while Brian Woolger and Kyle Bailey provided a screen. But Seattle charged right back and drew even with 1:45 remaining in the period. Portland, who hadn't gone shorthanded all period, gave up a man and the lead shortly after Stan Balan was cited for kneeing at 17:35. The Thunderbirds capitalized on their first power play of the night as Bud Holloway filed a wrist shot 40 seconds into the man-advantage. Eight of Holloway's 17 goals this season have come against the Winter Hawks. Seattle outshot Portland 13-10 in the first period.
Seattle took their first lead halfway through the second period. Just six seconds after their second power play expired, Kyle Pess picked up the puck in a goal mouth scramble and pushed it past Mucha at 11:34, giving the Thunderbirds a 3-2 lead. Seattle tied the game with less than two minutes left in the first period and they scored with less than a minute left in the second period to extend their lead to 4-2. Bretton Stamler gave Seattle a two-goal lead with a shot from the high slot that got past Mucha's glove at 19:18. Seattle outshot Portland 13-11 in the second period.
The Winter Hawks cut into the Seattle lead early in the third period when a routine play went awry. Netminder Bryan Bridges went behind his own net to play the puck and Sasha Golin picked his pocket and moved the puck to a hustling Colton Sceviour, who fired the puck into the empty net for his third goal of the season at 3:52. Kurtis Mucha denied a couple of quality scoring chances, including an A+ save on Aaron Gagnon, and the Hawks put their momentum to good use. The Winter Hawks scored their second power play goal of the game to draw the game even again. Bridges kicked a rebound off of Kyle Bailey's initial shot and Brandon Dubinsky one-timed the rebound for his 20th goal of the season at 7:17. But the game didn't remain tied for long as Seattle responded. Kyle Pess launched the entry shot and Tyler Johnson deflected the puck over Mucha's shoulder to give the Thunderbirds a 5-4 lead at 8:41. The Hawks came right back and tied the game on a disputed goal, less than a minute later. Jannik Hansen, carrying some speed, danced in on Bridges and let off a backhand that Bridges appeared to glove right on the goal line. The red light immediately went on and after some deliberation the goal stood and the game was tied 5-5 at 9:25. Seattle edged Portland in shots in the third period, 9-7.
The Thunderbirds registered three shots to the Hawks' two in overtime. Total shots in the game favored Seattle, 38-31.
Brandon Dubinsky led the shout- out and Bryan Bridges answered his forehand shot with a blocker save. Kurtis Mucha matched Bridges' first-round effort with a save on Aaron Gagnon. Jannik Hansen, who has three shoot-out game-wining goals this season, tucked s forehand shot under the crossbar for the first shoot-out tally. Mucha made a tremendous save on Bud Holloway to hold Seattle off the board. Mucha got part of his stick on Holloway's shot and then swiped the puck out of the air with his glove as it soared toward the open net. Jon Bubnick sealed the shoot-out win as he quickly accelerated in on Bridges, deked forehand and roofed a backhand into the top of the net.
Brandon Dubinsky has 2 goals and 12 assists in 12 games since returning from missing 18 games with a leg injury. Jannik Hansen halted a 3-game scoring drought with a goal and an assist. Kurtis Mucha is 8-2-0-3 in his last 13 starts. Mucha, who won his first ever shoot-out on February 12th to break Portland's 11-game losing streak, had dropped his last three shoot-outs until Saturday night where he was 2-for-2.
Nick Hotson and Kelly Friesen were healthy scratches on Saturday night. Defenseman Cameron Cepek missed his 48th game but has been upgraded to day-to-day and may practice this week. Goaltender Dustin Butler (knee) and defenseman Jordie Fike (knee) are listed day-to-day.
Portland plays Everett for the last time this regular season on Wednesday, March 15th at 7 PM in the Rose Garden. The Winter Hawks close out the regular season with three games in three nights. The Hawks and T-Birds meet for a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday. Portland returns to Seattle on Friday, March 17th at 7:05 PM. Portland then hosts Seattle on Saturday, March 18th at 7 PM in the Rose Garden. The regular season concludes when Portland welcomes Tri-City on Sunday, March 19th at 5 PM in the Rose Garden. The playoffs will start the weekend of Friday, March 24th.
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Western Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2006
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- Hawks Steal Seattle's Thunder, Rally to Shoot-Out Win - Portland Winterhawks
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