Lambert Leads T-Birds Past Cougars
Published on April 19, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
Prince George, B.C. -Brad Lambert picked up a goal and five assists and the Seattle Thunderbirds raced past the Prince George Cougars, 8-1, Tuesday at the CN Centre in Game Three of their second-round playoff series. Seattle now leads the best-of-seven matchup, 3-0. The Thunderbirds first chance to claim the series is Wednesday with Game Four at the CN Centre at 7:00 p.m.
Lambert said it's been some time since he's had a game like he had Tuesday. "In Bantam and Midget, but, yeah, it's been a while," he remarked. "We're playing good as a line and as a team. I've been lucky that a lot of the passes I've been giving to the guys have been going in, but we're just playing good hockey as a team."
Thunderbirds head coach Matt O'Dette echoed Lambert's words. "Yeah, everyone pulling in the same direction," he said. "Everyone's buying in, all four lines are going. So are our defensemen and good goaltending. It's the kind of effort you need to win games in the playoffs."
Seattle got it started early, scoring four first period goals. Lambert and Luke Prokop set up the first goal, scored by Reid Schaefer at 1:42. Colton Dach made it 2-0 four minutes later with his first WHL postseason goal. "It's pretty nice to get that first one there, the first one ever. Definitely gets the monkey off the back. Hopefully they keep going in." The assists went to Sam Popowich and Jared Davidson.
Seattle scored the next two goals on the power play. Davidson got in on the scoring at 10:42 followed a minute and a half later by Gracyn Sawchyn. Lambert and Kevin Korchinski assisted on both goals.
Lambert stretched the lead to 5-0 with an unassisted breakaway goal 37-seconds into period two. Prince George got their only goal ten minutes later, but Seattle struck twice more before the second period was over. Mekai Sanders got his first of the postseason at 16:03 when a Sawchyn shot ricocheted in off his backside. Dylan Guenther found the back of the net at 19:05. Both goals came with the T-Birds on the power play.
Guenther scored again midway through the third period to finish the offensive onslaught. With his two goals Guenther now has ten in the playoffs and stretched his goal scoring streak to 13-games dating back to the regular season. "I didn't know I had it (the goal-scoring streak) until I saw it posted online today," he said. "Always nice to score. I'm playing with good players and I'm burying my chances."
Lambert assisted on each of Seattle's last two goals as the Thunderbirds finished 4/4 on the power play and are now 11-for-24 with the man advantage in the playoffs, tops in the league. "The biggest thing is the continuity," said O'Dette of his team's recent power play success. "We're healthy. We're getting reps in with our units, we're taking advantage of our opportunities. We either score or give ourselves momentum and it's been a big factor in the playoffs so far."
If necessary, Game Five would be Friday at the accesso ShoWare Center at 7:05 p.m.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
In the first three games of the series against Prince George Lambert has 13-points (2g, 11a). Guenther's ten postseason goals tie him with Connor Bedard for the WHL playoff lead. Lambert's 13-assists are the most so far in the 2023 WHL postseason.
Seattle has outscored the Cougars 17-3 through the first three games.
Thomas Milic earned his 21st career playoff win with a 19-save performance. In his playoff career he has 2.01 goals against average and a save percentage of .931.
Earlier in the day NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings for the 2023 NHL Draft. Six Thunderbirds are on the list: Gracyn Sawchyn, Nico Myatovic, Sawyer Mynio, Jeremy Hanzel, Scott Ratzlaff and Thomas Milic. The draft will be held in Nashville June 28th and 29th.
Western Hockey League Stories from April 19, 2023
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- Game #4 - ICE at Moose Jaw (Warriors Lead Best of 7 Series 2-1) - Winnipeg Ice
- Blades' Season on the Line After Game 3 Loss to Rebels - Saskatoon Blades
- Lambert Leads T-Birds Past Cougars - Seattle Thunderbirds
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
