WHL Portland Winterhawks

Winterhawks Suffer First Regulation Loss against Seattle

Published on March 28, 2021 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Portland Winterhawks News Release


Back in action less than 24 hours after a hard-fought contest at the VMC against Everett, the Winterhawks returned to action up I-5 in another "Battle With Seattle".

Despite allowing 16 shots in the first period for the second straight Saturday to the Thunderbirds, Dante Giannuzzi was up to the task once again and that allowed Portland to take the first lead. An impressive keep in the zone by Ryder Thompson kept the play alive in the attacking end, as he'd then shuffle the puck up ahead to Seth Jarvis. Jarvis then worked the puck to his left for Reece Newkirk, who executed a beautiful spin-o-rama feed through two Seattle defenders and goaltender Jackson Berry to recorrect with Jarvis for a tap-in goal. It was the first of the season for the Carolina Hurricanes first round draft selection.

Taking the 1-0 lead into the second, Portland would allow Seattle to start the second period frenzy of scoring with a game-tying tally.

The contest would not remained tied for even a minute though, as that's when forward Simon Knak struck for his third goal in as many games to put his team back in the driver's seat. Transitioning from their own end, Knak corralled a puck just inside his own blue line and swung with speed toward the glove-hand side of the Seattle end. Working with a crashing Gabe Klassen, Knak elected to fire and score for a gem of a tally.

Just as it looked as if Portland was taking complete control with time winding down in the second, Seattle evened the contest to make it 2-2.

Then, 49 seconds later, they did it again.

So the score went into the third with the home, hosting Thunderbirds ahead by one. And that's also how it finished.

Portland put together a rush of chances, specifically in the closing moments of the night, however, it wasn't enough and they suffered their first regulation loss of the year in Kent.

THEY SAID IT

"I didn't like our last eight minutes of the second period. They put pressure on us and created some action in the offensive zone. We had some trouble on breakouts, I didn't think we made a lot of clean plays. Then when we needed the next line to go out and sustain some pressure, that didn't happen. That turned the game for us."

Winterhawks Vice President / General Manager / Head Coach Mike Johnston following the contest.

NOTES

- Saturday was the first time this season goaltender Dante Giannuzzi started two games in two nights.

- Forward Gabe Klassen led all Winterhawks with five shots on goal.

The Skinny:

Seattle's two goals in 49 seconds to close the second period took the wind out of the sails of an otherwise decent performance by the Winterhawks.

Game #5: Portland (2) at Seattle (3)

SOG: POR (30) - SEA (40)

PP: POR (0/3) - SEA (0/3)

Saves: Giannuzzi (37) - Berry (28)

SCORING:

POR - 8:24 - First Period - Seth Jarvis (1) assisted by Reece Newkirk and Jaydon Dureau

SEA - 10:54 - Second Period - Lucas Ciona assisted by Conner Roulette and Kevin Korchinski

POR - 11:34 - Second Period - Simon Knak (3) assisted by Robbie Fromm-Delorme and Kurtis Smythe

SEA - 18:18 - Second Period - Payton Mount assisted by Cade McNelly

SEA - 19:07 - Second Period - Jordan Gustafson assisted by Tyrel Bauer and Ryan Gottfried

Check out the Portland Winterhawks Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2021


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