T-Birds Strike for Seven in Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. – Led by two goals each from Coster Dunn and Simon Lovsin, the Seattle Thunderbirds got out to an early lead and never looked back as they beat the Portland Winterhawks, 7-2, Friday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The same two teams meet again Saturday at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent. Game time is 6:05 p.m.
Seattle (25-31-4-1) scored three times in the game’s first 14-minutes. Dunn struck first, with a power play goal at 5:24, assisted by Braeden Cootes and Nathan Pilling. Lovsin followed at 8:21. Sawyer Mayes and Ashton Cumby had the helpers. Then Antonio Martorana got in on the act at 13:05 with the assists going to Brayden Schuurman and Vanek Popil. Portland closed out the first period scoring when they struck at 15:38.
“I wanted us to get off on the right foot,” said head coach Matt O’Dette of the three goal first period outburst. “Just come out of the gate making good decisions. I thought we did that.”
Dunn’s second goal came just 59 seconds into period two on another Cootes’ assist, giving the T-Birds a 4-1 lead through forty minutes. The second assist went to Hyde Davidson. Seattle held the Winterhawks off the scoreboard in the period by killing off three penalties, led by goaltender Scott Ratzlaff’s 23 second period saves.
“I thought we did a good job on the penalty kill,” remarked O’Dette. “We bent a little. They peppered the shots for a few minutes but we managed to keep them out of the back of our net. The special teams battle is always a factor against Portland and we did a good job tonight.”
The T-Birds added to their lead with a Cumby goal at 7:39 of the third period. Martorana and Kaleb Hartmann earned the assists. Portland answered 41-seconds later to close to within 5-2 but the T-Birds would pull away with two goals 53-seconds apart. Lovsin got his second on the night, with Pilling and Cootes assisting, at 15:05 and Pilling tacked on a power play goal at 15:58. The assists on the T-Birds final goal were credited to Schuurman and Radim Mrtka.
Twelve different Thunderbirds registered at least one point in the game. “That’s what you need,” explained O’Dette. “Some depth, some scoring by committee. We’ve been getting a little bit more of that the second half of the season and it’s led to more success. Everyone’s stepping up to contribute.”
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
Seattle currently leads the ten game season series versus Portland, four games to three. The T-Birds have won three of the last four games, including a pair on the road.
Seattle increased their lead for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference to five points over Wenatchee as the Wild lost at home last night to Prince George. The T-Birds are also six points up on Kamloops, which was idle.
Nathan Pilling (31) became the first T-Bird since Jared Davidson to score more than 30 goals in a season. Davidson has 39 in the 2022-23 season.
Vanek Popil has a two game point streak with a goal and an assists in his last two games.
Boxscore: Seattle Thunderbirds at Portland Winterhawks – Friday, March 7, 2025
