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WHL Portland Winterhawks

Ravndahl's First WHL Goal Leads Hawks Past Cougars

December 8, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Portland, Ore. - Rookie defenseman Rhett Ravndahl scored his first WHL goal 5:05 into the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock and help push the Winterhawks (19-4-2-1) to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Prince George Cougars (14-13-0-0) on Wednesday. Dante Giannuzzi stopped 18 0f 20 shots to pick up his 12th win of the campaign.

Patrolling the blue line in the third period of a tied contest, Ravndahl drifted into the slot as Marcus Nguyen searched for a passing lane from the left circle, then deftly deflected Nguyen's pass through the legs of Prince George's Tyler Brennan for the game-winning tally.

After conceding first in each of last week's three games, the Hawks flipped the script with Josh Zakreski's sixth of the season just 2:47 into the contest. Circling in the high slot, the rookie winger gathered a pass from Jack O'Brien in the corner and wired a wrist shot top-shelf past a bevy of bodies in front of the net for an early Portland lead. Penalty trouble for the hosts soon followed, though, and the Cougars tied the game on a 5-on-3 at 10:20 with captain Ethan Samson's seventh of the year. Still, Portland persisted and got a clutch goal from its own captain late in the period. Jack O'Brien picked up his second primary assist of the night with a net-front pass to Gabe Klassen for a deflection past Brennan and a 2-1 Hawks lead heading into intermission.

Prince George grabbed the only goal of the second period through crafty passing between Riley Heidt and Koehn Ziemmer for the latter's 17th goal of the season, but Giannuzzi shut the door the rest of the way. Following Ravndahl's game-winner, Aidan Litke potted an empty-net marker to finish off Portland's 4-2 win.

The Winterhawks are back in action in front of an expected sell-out crowd this Saturday for their annual Teddy Bear Toss game against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Puck drop is set for 5:00 P.M. and doors will open at 3:30 P.M.

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 8, 2022


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