Thunderbirds Edge Past Spokane
December 29, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
SPOKANE, Wash. -For the second straight night the Seattle Thunderbirds scored three goals in the third period and defeated the Spokane Chiefs, 6-5, Wednesday at the Spokane Arena. Seattle is now 25-4-1-1 and tied with the Winnipeg ICE for the best record in the WHL. The Thunderbirds head north for a Friday matchup with the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Place in Kelowna.
Thunderbirds head coach Matt O'Dette said the second game after the Christmas break showed improvement from Tuesday night's game back in Seattle. "It was better. Definitely a step in the right direction and better habits for a greater duration of the game tonight. Still not quite sixty minutes worth but we're happy to get the win."
Seattle once again opened the scoring with a goal on their first shot of the game, off the stick of Lucas Ciona, with Nico Myatovic and Luke Prokop assisting. Prokop would end the night with three assists and said he needed to step up. "I think I wasn't really happy with my game yesterday. This is what the team brought me here to do, provide stability on the back end and keep things simple. Lucky enough, I got rewarded three times tonight."
Prokop, acquired in a trade from Edmonton in late October, said he's also here to provide leadership, especially with four players away with Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championships. "I'm not the most vocal guy in the locker room. I kind of like to lead by example and I let my voice be heard when I think it needs to be." He said that is truer with players away from the team. "You're always going to need leadership and being an older guy, I need to provide that for the team."
Seattle scored twice more in the first period. Jared Davidson struck for his 19th of the season at 8:40. Prokop and Ciona earned the assists. Myatovic scored the first of his two on the night on a deflection at 13:56. Ciona and Jordan Gustafson had the helpers.
Spokane responded with the next three goals to tie it, 3-3, going into the third period. As they did the night before Seattle used their special teams to get back their three-goal advantage. First, they got a 5-on-5 goal from Jeremy Hanzel at 8:24. The goal came at the end of an odd man rush as Davidson and Kyle Crnkovic broke in 2-on-1 then found Hanzel trailing the play for the tap in.
The Thunderbirds followed that with two power play goals less than two minutes apart. First Crnkovic scored to make it 5-3 at 11:58 with Davidson and Gracyn Sawchyn assisting. Then Myatovic sniped home his second of the game at 13:21 with Prokop and Tij Iginla credited with the assists. After Spokane scored a pair of goals late, the Myatovic goal stood as the game winner.
In the first two games after the holiday break Myatovic has three goals and an assist. "It feels good to come off the break and find a little success. Just getting myself to the paint and good things are happening for me."
In their first two post-Christmas games, Seattle has scored five power play goals. It is a part of their game that was inconsistent the first half of the season. "It's really encouraging to see," said O'Dette. "Just a matter of staying with it, not getting frustrated. When the power play gets those opportunities, it can win you games. That's what did for us tonight."
The Thunderbirds next home game is Saturday, New Year's Eve, when they host Kelowna at the accesso ShoWare Center. Game time is 6:05 p.m.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
With a goal and an assist, Kyle Crnkovic's point streak has reached 15-games. He is one goal shy of 100 for his WHL career. Davidson's first period goal was his 80th in the WHL. With 46-points, Davidson is now fifth in the league in scoring.
Seattle has the top three plus/minus players in the WHL, led by Jeremy Hanzel at +33. Lucas Ciona is second at +29 and Sawyer Mynio is third at +28.
Seattle leads the season series versus Spokane with a 5-0-0-0 record.
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