WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds Ignite in the Third against Rockets

Published on April 5, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


KELOWNA, B.C. - Four third period goals propelled the Seattle Thunderbirds past the Kelowna Rockets, 4-1, Tuesday in the third game of their opening round playoff series at Prospera Place. Seattle now leads the best of seven matchup, 3-0. They get their first chance to close out the series with Game Four on Wednesday, also at Prospera Place. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

Thunderbirds head coach Matt O'Dette said waiting until the third period to get the offense rolling isn't part of the game plan. "Eerily similar games, but we can't always wait until the third period to play the type of game we need play," he remarked. "Give them (the Rockets) credit. They're doing a lot of good things. They're playing hard. There's not a lot of room out there, but there are things we can do better the first forty minutes."

Kelowna scored the only goal of the first two periods, with Andrew Cristall striking at 15:40 of period two. Then Seattle took over in the final twenty minutes. Dylan Guenther took a pass from Jared Davidson and fired home his fourth of the playoffs at 3:31. At 11:07 Jordan Gustafson ripped home the game winner.

"I got the puck, I was looking for Poppy (Sam Popowich), said Gustafson. "He had passed it to me in the neutral zone and I was looking to get it back to him. The D kind of backed off me so I took some extra ice, shot and it went in."

This was Gustafson's first game of the playoffs. He had been out since early March with an injury. He had also missed 27 of the last 30 games of the regular season. "It's definitely nice to be back and be around the guys a little bit more than I was when I was out," said the Vegas Golden Knights prospect. "Good first game and hopefully I can build off that."

Seattle struck again two minutes later when Lucas Ciona scored off another Jared Davidson assist. The Montreal Canadians draft pick now has four assists in his last two games. He says the team played desperate hockey in the final period. "We're not wanting to do that. We want to play the full sixty minutes. I think we turned it on though and realized it's do-or-die at that point."

The Thunderbirds finished the scoring with a shorthanded, empty net goal from Kyle Crnkovic with just under a minute remaining. Thomas Milic made 24-saves to earn his franchise record 17th postseason win.

A win Wednesday would send the T-Birds to the second round. A loss would force a Game Five at the accesso ShoWare Center Friday at 7:05 p.m.

T-BIRDS EXTRAS

Jordan Gustafson wasn't the only T-Bird to return to the lineup. Gracyn Sawchyn made his 2023 playoff debut. Sawchyn missed the final ten games of the regular season, plus the first two of the playoffs with an upper body injury. Brad Lambert was out of the lineup with a non-Covid illness.

Seattle has outscored Kelowna 9-0 in the third period through the first three games of the series. Kelowna has outscored the Thunderbirds, 4-2, in the first two periods of the three games.

Nolan Allan picked up an assist on the Thunderbirds first goal and now has four points (1g, 3a) in the first three playoff games. "Playoffs are the best time of the year," he said. "The competition is really high, the intensity is high. These games are the most fun to play in. It's what we play for."

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 5, 2023


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