Winterhawks come back to beat Seattle, 4-3

Although it’s not a victory that will persuade anyone that the Portland Winterhawks have found their groove again, they defeat the weary Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 after coming back from a one-goal deficit three times.

At 12:31 in regular, Diego Buttazzoni scored the game-winning breakaway. Tyson Jugnauth and Alex Weiermair each scored three points.

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Game thread with game updates and postgame reaction.
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Scoring summary


1st 6:42 SEA Hayden Pakkala (Brayden Holberton, Radim Mrtka) 0-1	A very poor goal by Ondrej t bet k. Holberton on the rush as the Thunderbirds make a line changes just flips it toward the net. t bet k gives up a big rebound to Pakkala. As he reaches the goal line skating to the corner he throws the puck at the net and it somehow beats t bet k. Mrtka made an outlet pass to Holberton to start play.
1st 8:21 POR Ryan Miller (Alex Weiermair, Tyson Jugnauth) 1-1	Jugnauth s shot from the blue line is deflected in by Miller. The scoring has it as a double deflection, Weiermair touching it on the way to Miller. Carter Sotheran and Joel Plante also touched it during play.
2nd 2:53 SEA Simon Lovsin (Nathan Pilling) 1-2	Sotheran chops at a loose puck at the Portland line. It hits Brayden Schuurman in the face and goes to Pilling, who makes a short pass to Lovsin. It looks like Portland has the play covered, but on Lovsin s shot t bet k leaves out a rebound right off Lovsin s body and it goes in. Schuurman may get an assist for the puck going off his face.
2nd 6:39 POR Alex Weiermair (Tyson Jugnauth) 2-2	A great play by Weiermair basically taking the puck to the net 1 on 4, getting around Kaleb Hartmann, and beating Grayson Malinoski with a backhand. Jugnauth carried it to the Seattle blue line and dropped it for him.
2nd 10:51 SEA Nathan Pilling (Simon Lovsin) 2-3	Lovsin steals it from Kayd Ruedig behind the Portland net, circles around to the slot, and shoots. t bet k gives out another big rebound to Pilling and he files it from just inside the left circle.
2nd 16:45 POR (PP) Alex Weiermair (Josh Zakreski, Kyle Chyzowski) 3-3	Weiermair one-times a backhand pass by Zakreski in from the left circle, possibly off the stick of Ashton Cumby. Chyzowski from the right wing got it to Zakreski in the slot with a backhand pass of his own.
3rd 7:29 POR Diego Buttazzoni (Tyson Jugnauth) 4-3	Jugnauth digs a loose puck out of a pile in the Portland zone and flips it to center ice, where Buttazzoni runs onto it ahead of Sam Charko and Simon Lovsin. He goes in on a breakaway and beats Malinoski. Kyle Chyzowski and Hudson Darby helped win the puck to Jugnauth.


Portland leads by 2+	0:00
Portland leads by 1	12:31
Tied	36:10
Portland trails by 1	11:19
Portland trails by 2+	0:00

Narratives

Pregame: The Winterhawks are attempting to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat in Seattle. On Sunday, Seattle defeated the Wenatchee Wild, aiming for their fifth consecutive victory. However, they arrived in Portland early for a 3pm kickoff and were playing their third game in three days. Portland thus has a significant scheduling advantage. Portland started Ondrej t bet k for the third consecutive game, but he was removed on Saturday after just over seven minutes, while Seattle began backup goalie Grayson Malinoski. The top player in Seattle, Braeden Cootes, missed his third straight game.

First period: The teams traded goals 99 seconds apart, with the Thunderbirds leading 13–7 in shots.

Second period: Despite a match penalty to one of their better veterans, Nathan Pilling, Seattle ran out of steam after building a 28-12 shot advantage and a 3-2 lead. On the power play, Portland knotted the score.

Third period: The Winterhawks went behind Seattle several times for breakaways as they really ran out of gas. Diego Buttazzoni won the game, although they only cashed in on one. Portland won because they had little issue holding onto the lead for the final twelve minutes.

How it was won: 1) In the final half of the game, Portland capitalized on Seattle’s weariness. Portland had by far the better chances as they continued to get behind the Thunderbirds defense, but the shots were essentially tied in the second half.

2) Special units. The Winterhawks scored two goals in the third period, went one for three on the power play, and went five for five on the penalty kill. Diego Buttazzoni, who had been in the box, got a breakaway and scored the game-winning goal 30 seconds after the first of those kills.

3) Save a portion. The quality of the opportunities was what ultimately determined Portland’s victory, not the goaltender.

Important stretch/moment: Nathan Pilling received a match penalty and game misconduct when he grabbed Ryan Miller by the head and threw him to the ice in the second period. By the way, a Gordie Howe hat trick. Portland’s 3-minute power play only resulted in one goal, but Seattle missed Pilling, and losing a vital veteran didn’t make them feel any better.

Unexpectedly, Portland had ten players without a chance.

It should come as no surprise that the Thunderbirds, who have the fourth-worst shooting percentage in the league, lost despite winning the shots by a margin of 15 and only managed to score 3 goals on 39 shots.

Controversies: After Pilling’s play on Miller, Cole Slobodian challenged him and was given an additional two minutes, reducing Portland’s power play from five to three. I don’t particularly like that call because he didn’t jump Pilling and Pilling had the option to not fight. There will be a lot of 3-minute majors until players get used to what appears to be a new interpretation.

In the third period, Brayden Holberton struck Josh Zakreski near center ice. No penalty was called because Portland believed it to be a strike to the head. It could have gone any way.

You could argue for or against the claim that the best team won.

Suspensions and injuries: Slobodian injured his shoulder during his altercation with Pilling and was unable to return. Unfortunately, he had been playing better lately.

The players

Top 10		Stat line
Alex Weiermair	POR	2 goals, 1 assist	First 3-point game of his WHL career. A nice goal when he was going in 1 on 4. 5-game point streak.
Tyson Jugnauth	POR	3 assists	Up by 12 in the defenseman scoring lead. 6-game point streak.
Simon Lovsin	SEA	1 goal, 1 assist	The main protagonist on 2 of the Thunderbirds’ goals.
Diego Buttazzoni	POR	1 goal	The game-winner. A 9-game point streak, and a pretty quiet one. He s had single points in his last 7 games.
Ondrej t bet k	POR	36 saves-39 shots	The 3 goals were bad, but he made a lot of saves. His first win over Seattle after a couple of poor games. Ended up vindicating the decision to start him for the 3rd straight game.
Ryan Miller	POR	1 goal	The first goal for Portland, and part of a key play as he was the player Pilling threw down.
Grayson Malinoski	SEA	20 saves-24 shots	Numbers are poor, but he played well. He was beaten on a breakaway for the winner, but stopped a number of others to keep it close.
Radim Mrtka	SEA	1 assist	A little bit quieter game, which is a key to Portland s win. He played a ton of minutes this weekend. 5-game point streak.
Matej Pekar	SEA		4-game point streak snapped, but he played well.
Hayden Pakkala	SEA	1 goal

Other notables		Stat line
Brayden Holberton	SEA	1 assist	The league office might take a look at his hit on Zakreski, but he ll probably be OK.
Nathan Pilling	SEA	1 goal, 1 assist	A very costly Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
Kyle Chyzowski	POR	1 assist	4-game point streak.
Coster Dunn	SEA		4-game point streak snapped.

Postgame

	Winterhawks	Thunderbirds
Record	30-20-2-1 (.594)	22-29-2-1 (.435)
Goals/game	4.0	3.0
Goals allowed/game	4.0	4.0
Team shooting %	.114	.096
Team save %	.884	.885
Power play	26.4%	19.0%
Penalty kill	77.3%	74.6%
Power plays for/game	4.2	3.5
Power plays against/game	3.7	4.2
Outshooting opponents	23-28-2	17-33-4
After 1 period	15-22-16	11-28-15
After 2 periods	20-25-8	13-31-10
Score, last 10 games	35-43 (-8)	33-32 (+1)
Score, last 20 games	82-84 (-2)	65-71 (-6)

The Portland Winterhawks

To win, they had to use every advantage in their schedule. However, it’s preferable to a loss. They now play games against third-ranked Spokane and top-ranked Everett throughout the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday weekend. With two games remaining, they are still two points clear of the Tr-City Americans.

The Seattle Thunderbirds

Despite the dismal outcome, it was a successful weekend with four points out of six. With a game against Wenatchee, two games against Everett, and one against Spokane, they are three points ahead of Kamloops.