Thunderbirds Fly Past Winterhawks
February 25, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENT, Wash. -The Seattle Thunderbirds scored twice, less than a minute apart, early in the third period and pulled away to beat the Portland Winterhawks, 4-1, Saturday at the accesso ShoWare Center. The win extended the Thunderbirds winning streak to a season best ten games and improved their record to 45-9-1-1. The Thunderbirds next see action Friday when they travel to Kennewick to face the Tri-City Americans.
Jeremy Hanzel scored the game winner, on a feed from Kevin Korchinski at 2:12 of the final period. "I found myself in front of their guys," said Hanzel of his winning tally. "I found myself backdoor and knew Kev saw me. I just thought, yeah, this is a good spot for me to score." Sam Popowich had the second assist.
Forty-four seconds later Tij Iginla won an offensive zone faceoff to the right of the Portland net. The puck found Nico Myatovic who passed it back to Iginla. Iginla went to his backhand to score his sixth of the season and second of the weekend. Thunderbirds head coach Matt O'Dette likes the way his young rookie is playing. "Iggy's hot right now. The puck's going in for him. He's playing with good habits and getting rewarded for it."
After Seattle built their 3-1 lead, it was up to goaltender Thomas Milic to shut the door on the Winterhawks and that he did, with fifteen third period saves. "He's really dialed up his game," explained O'Dette of his netminder. "He's been good all year, but you can tell he's narrowing his focus a little bit more down the stretch and getting ready for the playoffs. He was there for us time and time again tonight."
Lucas Ciona's empty net goal sealed the win for the Thunderbirds with an assist to Popowich. Popowich ended the weekend with a goal and two assists in Seattle's two wins. "I know I can contribute in different ways," he said. "Whether that's winning faceoffs or killing penalties or helping out on offense. We have good depth on our team and when players are out, I have the confidence that I can step up my game."
For the first time in their winning streak, Seattle played from behind as Portland struck early in period one with a shorthanded goal from Marcus Nguyen. Reid Schaefer's second period power play goal tied it at 1-1, setting up the Thunderbirds for the third period comeback.
Next Friday's game in Kennewick will be the start of a three-game weekend. Seattle is in Everett Saturday then back home next Sunday to host Tri-City at 5:05 p.m.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
With an assist on the game winning goal, Kevin Korchinski extended his point streak to ten games. Brad Lambert saw his nine-game point streak come to an end. Gracyn Sawchyn has points in five straight games.
Colton Dach, who suffered a lower body injury Friday against Tri-City, did not play. Jared Davidson missed his second straight game with an upper body injury. Jordan Gustafson has missed 17 games with an upper body injury. All three are listed as day-to-day.
In his last two starts versus Portland Thomas Milic is 2-0 with a 0.50 GAA and a .985 SVPCT, stopping 67 of 68 shots.
In their ten-game winning streak, the Thunderbirds have outscored their opponents 53-10.
The win was Seattle's 45th, surpassing their win total of 44 from last season.
Boxscore: WHL Network
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