Coster Dunn’s shorthanded goal in the closing minutes causes the Portland Winterhawks to fall 4-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Winterhawks chose a bad moment to let up their second shorthanded goal, even though they had only given up one all season, the fewest in the league.
Portland and Seattle split their two games over the weekend as a result.
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Game preview
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Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction.
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The off day forum
Scoring summary
| 1st 5:10 SEA Matej Pekar (Radim Mrtka, Kaleb Hartmann) 0-1 | Mrtka from center ice throws a hard wide shot that takes a hard bounce off the end boards that bounces in front and right to Pekar, who split a slow-to-react Tyson Jugnauth and Carter Sotheran. Marek Schlenker stops his shot but the rebound comes right back to him and he scores. |
| 1st 13:07 POR Jordan Duguay (Alex Weiermair) 1-1 | Duguay wrists one in from the inside edge of the right circle, a few seconds after missing the net from the slot. Weiermair collected the rebound off the boards of the first shot and got it to Duguay. |
| 2nd 5:09 SEA Nathan Pilling (Braeden Cootes, Radim Mrtka) 1-2 | Cootes partly fans on a one-timer of a pass by Mrtka, which fools Schlenker. He can t control the shot and the rebound goes right to Pilling at the post. |
| 2nd 10:44 POR (PP) Kyle Chyzowski (Diego Buttazzoni, Tyson Jugnauth) 2-2 | From the right circle, Buttazzoni one-times a pass from Jugnauth, and Chyzowski at the top of the crease deflects it in. |
| 3rd 6:15 SEA (PP) Radim Mrtka (Braeden Cootes, Nathan Pilling) 2-3 | Mrtka finds the net from straight on, just in front of the blue line, on the power play. Pilling and Cootes passed it to him previously. Possibly hit a Portland player on the way. |
| 3rd 13:14 POR Jordan Duguay (Alex Weiermair, Cole Slobodian) 3-3 | Slobodian s long shot is stopped by Scott Razlaff, but the rebound goes right to Weiermair at the side of the net, and he passes it across the crease to a wide open Duguay for a slam dunk. |
| 3rd 16:15 SEA (SH) Coster Dunn (Sam Charko) 3-4 | A great play by Dunn to win the game, as well as some poor defense by the Winterhawks. Dunn steals the puck at center ice from Jugnauth, bounces off attempts by Chyzowski and Buttazzoni to knock him off the puck, dodges a Jugnauth reach-in, throws it on the back of the net, beats Buttazzoni to the rebound, tries a wraparound that rebounds to Charko, and then with Charko keeping the puck alive, gets to the loose puck and slides it in from a bad angle. Portland players couldn t get it as it bounced around, and Charko did a good job to tie up Jugnauth when he had a chance at it. |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 0:00 |
| Tied | 35:44 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 24:16 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Narratives
Pregame: The Winterhawks take on the Thunderbirds in the first of their final seven regular-season games. After a victory that was crucial to their postseason standing, Portland traveled overnight from Vancouver. Despite their recent success, Seattle was coming off a crushing home defeat to Spokane and was without four players who would have been in the starting lineup if they were available.
First period: A fun time when the goals were divided and play was roughly 50/50. which the Thunderbirds, who won the shots 15–12, most likely won.
Second quarter: Seattle ran their shooting edge to 29-21, which was another even session or perhaps a tiny advantage. Portland did had some solid chances to score that would have brought the shots closer, but they missed the net.
Third period: Another evenly matched stanza, with Portland tying the score just before you truly began to feel the pressure, and Seattle taking the lead with a power play goal. After that, the Winterhawks had a late power play, and Coster Dunn’s shorthanded goal gave them the victory. That was the final shot of the game for the Thunderbirds; Portland outshot them 5-0 the remainder of the game and had at least three excellent chances that went wide but were unable to equal the score.
How it was won: 1) Portland’s failure to score on numerous opportunities. For a large portion of the game, they were behind Seattle in shots by four to eight, and the difference was missing the net. They also likely had more high-quality opportunities.
2) Despite missing two regulars and playing essentially just five games, Seattle’s defensemen put on a strong show, especially considering their 15-year-old sixth defenseman didn’t play much. Radim Mrtka, a likely NHL first-round pick, scored three points to lead the way.
3) Sam Charko and Coster Dunn’s spectacular play for the game-winning shorthanded goal.
The game-winning shorthanded goal is a crucial stretch or moment.
Unexpected: It should come as no surprise that Portland only gave up their second shorthanded goal of the season. Additionally, the Winterhawks were deadlocked after two quarters and lost 6-0, their first defeat of the season. They were tied after two games and were the last team in the league to lose.
It should come as no surprise that Portland ultimately outperformed Seattle. However, they trailed in shots for the majority of the game and had to go on a 5-shot run in the end to win it.
There aren’t any real disputes.
The game was 50/50. Who won?
Suspensions and injuries: Simon Lovsin was suspended, and three regulars suffered injuries, but Seattle recovered.
The players
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Radim Mrtka | SEA | 1 goal, 2 assists | 3 points and helped anchor a young and journeyman Seattle defense. Now had 5 points in 2 games against the Winterhawks. |
| Coster Dunn | SEA | 1 goal | A great play for the winner. |
| Jordan Duguay | POR | 2 goals | His 2nd career 2-goal game. |
| Scott Ratzlaff | SEA | 36 saves-39 shots | Rebounded from getting the hook in Friday s game. |
| Braeden Cootes | SEA | 2 assists | Will pick up his 2nd assist when the scoring plays are reviewed. Dangerous all game. |
| Alex Weiermair | POR | 2 assists | Primary assist on both Duguay goals. |
| Diego Buttazzoni | POR | 1 assist | 6-game point streak. Was good on defense most of the game as well, but then had a part in the Dunn shorthanded goal. |
| Matej Pekar | SEA | 1 goal | The opening goal as he got behind Portland s defense. |
| Nathan Pilling | SEA | 1 goal, 1 assist | A rebound goal and a secondary assist on Mrtka s goal. Could have been the goat with his late penalty, but it ended up working out very well for the Thunderbirds. |
| Cole Slobodian | POR | 1 assist | Played a lot more than he usually does, and played well, except for a penalty that Seattle scored on in the 3rd to take the lead. But then his shot from the blue line generated a rebound for the tying goal. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Marek Schlenker | POR | 33 saves-37 shots | He was OK. Two of the goals were off rebounds, one of them bad, and he got beat on a shot from the blue line that might have hit someone. |
| Josh Zakreski | POR | 6-game point streak snapped. | |
| Hayden Pakkala | SEA | 3-game point streak snapped. |
Postgame
| Winterhawks | Thunderbirds | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 28-19-2-1 (.590) |
19-28-2-1 (.410) |
| Goals/game | 4.0 |
3.0 |
| Goals allowed/game | 4.0 |
4.2 |
| Team shooting % | .113 |
.095 |
| Team save % |
.884 |
.881 |
| Power play | 26.3% |
19.5% |
| Penalty kill |
76.3% |
74.3% |
| Power plays for/game |
4.2 |
3.5 |
| Power plays against/game | 3.7 | 4.3 |
| Outshooting opponents |
22-26-2 |
15-31-4 |
| After 1 period | 15-20-15 | 10-28-12 |
| After 2 periods | 20-23-7 | 12-30-8 |
| Score, last 10 games | 36-41 (-5) |
37-37 (0) |
| Score, last 20 games | 86-81 (+5) |
66-80 (-14) |
The Portland Winterhawks
Not the end of the world, but a difficult loss. Every team in their immediate vicinity won. They now trail Prince George by seven points, Vancouver by three, and Tri-City by four. Unless they lose both games the following weekend, there’s no need to freak out.
The Seattle Thunderbirds
With the victory, they are tied for the final Western playoff berth. In the next two weeks, they have two games in Wenatchee, which could be pivotal.
Next games
Wenatchee, Friday, 2/14, 7 p.m. PST
Seattle, Saturday, February 15, 6 p.m. PST
Next home game: at Seattle on Monday, 2/17, at 3 p.m. PST
Looking ahead: Everett, Friday, 2/21, 7 p.m. PST