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WHL Portland Winterhawks

Stefan Sends 13,542 Teddy Bears Flying as Hawks Dominate T-Birds

December 10, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


There was plenty to cheer for at the VMC on Saturday as Portland routed Seattle by a 7-2 final for their second straight win.

Game #28: Portland (7) vs. Seattle (2)

SOG: POR (43) - SEA (34)

PP: POR (3/6) - SEA (1/5)

Saves: Maric (32/34) - Ratzlaff (35/42)

SCORING:

POR - First Period - 16:32 - James Stefan (18) from Gabe Klassen and Josh Davies

POR - Second Period - 1:43 - Josh Zakreski (7) from Josh Mori

POR - Second Period - 8:32 - Carter Sotheran (7) Tyson Jugnauth and Marcus Nguyen

POR - Second Period - 14:09 - Jack O'Brien (8) from Tyson Jugnauth and Gabe Klassen

SEA - Third Period - 1:44 - Sawyer Mynio (5) from Jeremy Hanzel and Gracyn Sawchyn

SEA - Third Period - 5:12 - Luca Hauf (10) from Gracyn Sawchyn and Braeden Cootes

POR - Third Period - 8:48 - Jack O'Brien (9) from Josh Davies and Gabe Klassen

POR - Third Period - 14:07 - Jack O'Brien (10) from Marcus Nguyen and Diego Buttazzoni

POR - Third Period - 15:15 - Josh Zakreski (8) from Nick Johnson and Kyle Chyzowski

The Story:

James Stefan sent 13,542 teddy bears flying, Jack O'Brien netted a hat-trick and Josh Zakreski scored twice as the Winterhawks dominated the Seattle Thunderbirds by a 7-2 final in front of a sold-out VMC on Saturday night. Justen Maric stopped 32 of 34 shots for his second straight win this weekend and the Hawks move to 17-9-1-1 on the year.

After potting a hat-trick in Friday's win over Spokane, Stefan stayed hot with the teddy bear goal at 16:32 of the first period on Saturday. Standing at the back post, Stefan took a cross-crease pass from Gabe Klassen and chipped it over the shoulder over Scott Ratzlaff for the early lead. Stefan joins Marcus Nguyen as active Winterhawks with a Teddy Bear Toss goal to their name.

After the delay to clean up the thousands of bears, Portland wasted little time getting back to work, opening up a 4-0 lead through two periods. Zakreski netted the first 1:43 into the middle frame with a shot off the rush, followed seven minutes later by a Carter Sotheran power-play goal from range. O'Brien then joined the fun with another strike on the man advantage to secure the four-goal lead. Newcomer Tyson Jugnauth earned his first two WHL points with assists on Sotheran and O'Brien's goals.

Seattle began to climb back into the contest with goals from Sawyer Mynio and Luca Hauf early in the third, but O'Brien quickly snuffed out any comeback bid with two goals in six minutes to complete the hat-trick. The first of those came in similar fashion to Stefan's, as a Klassen feed came through the crease to O'Brien at the back door, while his second arrived on a one-timer from a Marcus Nguyen feed from behind the net. From there, the rout was on, and Zakreski put a bow on things with another left-wing laser for the 7-2 win.

The Hawks are back in action tomorrow in Everett at 4:05 P.M., and the game will be carried through WHL Live.

- Tickets for the 2023-24 season are on sale NOW! With single-game seats, season tickets, flex packs, group tickets and more, there's an option for every fan.

- The Winterhawks trust Riverside Payments for all of their credit card processing as the team's official credit card processors.

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Western Hockey League Stories from December 10, 2023


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