Winterhawks rally, top Thunderbirds in shootout

Published 12:00 am Saturday, January 29, 2022

The Portland Winterhawks continue to make winning a habit.

They trailed by three goals on Saturday, Jan. 30. They fell behind three times. But the hot Winterhawks rallied for a 6-5 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds, taking the game in Kent, Washington, in a shootout.

It was the sixth consecutive win for Portland, which has won 16 of its last 18 games, and extended its points streak to 13 games.

The Winterhawks are 24-11-3-2 (53 points) and sit third in the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference. The Thunderbirds are 23-10-4-1 (51 points) and in fourth place.

This Hawks’ win seemed unlikely when Seattle built 3-0 lead. The Thunderbirds also held leads of 4-3 and 5-4, but the Winterhawks responded each time.

Cross Hanas sent the game to overtime with his 13th goal of the season, a slap shot through traffic with 1:06 left in the third period and Portland skating with an extra attacker and empty net.

After a scoreless overtime, James Stefan opened the shootout with a nifty backhand goal and Seattle’s three shooters could not beat Portland goalie Dante Giannuzzi.

Seattle led 3-0 after goals 29 seconds apart early in the second period.

Jack O’Brien’s power-play goal at 8:04 of the second period got Portland on the board. The first WHL goal for 16-year-old Josh Zakreski made it 3-2 later in period two.

Kyle Chyzowski tied it at 3-3 just 2:05 into the third period. But Seattle regained the lead less than two minutes later on a Sam Popowich goal.

Tyson Kozak’s 21st goal of the season, on the power play, tied it 4-4 at 7:38 of the third period. Again the Thunderbirds responded, going up 5-4 on Jordan Gustafson’s goal just 46 seconds later.

O’Brien had two assists to go with his goal.

Giannuzzi made 39 saves on 44 Seattle shots, three of them in overtime.

Seattle goalie Thomas Milic stopped 27 of 32 Winterhawks shots.

Lucas Ciona opened the scoring with a power-play goal 15:46 into the first period, setting off the rain of stuffed animals onto the ice on Seattle’s Teddy Bear Toss night.

Portland was 2 for 5 on the power play, Seattle 1 for 3.

The Winterhawks’ three-game weekend concludes with a 5 p.m. Sunday home game against Tri-City at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.