T-Birds Late Rally Nets Them a Point
March 12, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENT, Wash. - The Seattle Thunderbirds rallied with two goals in the final two minutes of regulation before falling, 3-2, to the Portland Winterhawks Friday at the accesso ShoWare Center. The loss snapped the T-birds four game winning streak, but they have now earned points in five straight games. The Thunderbirds return to the ice Saturday at 6:05 to host the Everett Silvertips.
The T-birds ended up outshooting Portland 53-28, including 21-5 in the third period. But the T-birds lost the special teams battle as they failed to score on five power plays. Meanwhile the Winterhawks were 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
It was the second time in the past five games the T-birds stormed back in the final minutes of a game. Back on March 1st, the T-birds scored twice in the final minute of play to overcome a one-goal deficit and beat the Kelowna Rockets.
Head coach Matt O'Dette again praised his team's resiliency, "I really liked the no quit by our team. The game against Kelowna instills belief in those situations. We had that belief all the way to the end. Unfortunately, we didn't get that extra point but definitely happy with the way we finished that game."
Seattle (34-14-4-2) started well, getting a power play opportunity before the game was 30-seconds old. They put four shots on net but Portland netminder Taylor Gauthier stood his ground. Then Portland got on the board. Clay Hanus shoved a loose puck, lying in the Seattle crease, into the back of the net giving the Winterhawks the early one goal lead at 6:06 of the opening period.
Portland doubled their lead at 11:18 of the second period on a Jaydon Dureau power play goal. It stayed 2-0 for the Winterhawks until Seattle pulled their goalie for the extra skater with just under three-minutes remaining. The T-birds put the puck out in front of the Portland net and Reid Schaefer banged home his 27th of the season to make it a one goal game at 17:58. Kevin Korchinski and Lucas Svejkovsky had the assists.
Down a goal in the final minute, Korchinski fed Jared Davidson the puck in the right face-off circle, and he snapped home his team leading 28th goal to even up the score at 2-2 with just 32-seconds left. Svejkovsky had the second assist. Davidson liked his team's never-give-up attitude. "We never quit, we're very relentless. We gotta maybe play a little bit more 60-minute game but it shows the guys there's no quit on this team. It's awesome to see and it will pay dividends at the end of the year."
Neither team scored in overtime, and it took seven rounds of the shootout before Portland's Luca Cagnoni found the back of the net to give the Winterhawks the win.
"We're disappointed," said O'Dette about losing the shootout and dropping a point to Portland in the standings. "We thought we were in a good spot to win that game, but that's the way she goes."
Along with the game against Everett tomorrow, the four game homestand concludes Tuesday, March 15th when the Tri-City Americans return to town.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
Seattle lost Lucas Ciona to an upper body injury in the first period, forcing the T-birds to play most of the game with just eleven forwards. There was no status update on his condition after the game.
Henrik Rybinski missed his fifth straight game with an upper body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Team rosters for the 2022 NHL/CHL Top Prospects Game in Kitchener, Ontario have been finalized. T-birds Jordan Gustafson and Kevin Korchinski will play for Team Red while Reid Schaefer will be on Team White. The game is slated for March 23rd and features the top 40 CHL prospects for the 2022 NHL Draft.
Western Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2022
- Victoria Splits Weekend Series against Division Rivals Prince George - Victoria Royals
- Hughes' Hat Trick Propels Chiefs to 6-1 Win over Tri-City - Spokane Chiefs
- Giants Wrap up Road Trip with a Thrilling 6-5 Win over Portland - Vancouver Giants
- Five Goal Comeback Comes Just Short in Valiant Effort against Vancouver - Portland Winterhawks
- Hauser Leads ICE to 5-0 Win over Brandon - Winnipeg Ice
- Complete Effort from Pats Leads to Win over Calgary - Regina Pats
- Berezowski Nets 38th Goal, MacInnes Stops 31 in 4-3 Win over Seattle - Everett Silvertips
- Raiders Blank Blades in Saskatoon - Prince Albert Raiders
- Guenther's Three-Point Night Pushes Edmonton to 14th Straight Win - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Road Continues to Haunt Hitmen - Calgary Hitmen
- Americans Look for Victory in Spokane - Tri-City Americans
- Preview: Chiefs to Host Rival Americans for St. Paddy's Day Themed Game - Spokane Chiefs
- Game Day Hub: March 12 vs Vancouver - Portland Winterhawks
- Pats Wrap up Homestand against Hitmen - Regina Pats
- Silvertips Pick up 6-3 Win over Spokane on Home Ice - Everett Silvertips
- T-Birds Late Rally Nets Them a Point - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Gauthier Stops 51, Cagnoni Nets Winner as Hawks Top T-Birds in Seattle - Portland Winterhawks
- Chiefs Fall 6-3 to Division-Leading Silvertips - Spokane Chiefs
- Americans Surrender Late Lead, Fall 3-2 - Tri-City Americans
- Giants Secure a 3-2 Road Victory Friday in the Tri-Cities - Vancouver Giants
- Rockets Cooled by Blazers - Kelowna Rockets
- Struggles Continue with Loss to Victoria - Prince George Cougars
- Royals' Offence Shines in 5-3 Victory over Cougars - Victoria Royals
- Three-Goal Third Period Charges Warriors Past Hitmen on Friday - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Whitehead's Late Game Heroics Leads Pats Past Canes - Regina Pats
- Raiders Pick Up Point In Overtime Loss to Saskatoon - Prince Albert Raiders
- ICE Double Brandon, 6-3 - Winnipeg Ice
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