T-Birds Toppled in Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. –Two third period goals were not enough as the Seattle Thunderbirds lost to the Portland Winterhawks, 7-2, Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The T-birds have now dropped three in a row. The Thunderbirds are back on the road Wednesday when they travel to Spokane to play the Chiefs.
Portland used three power play goals to break open a close game, scoring two with the man advantage in the second period to build a 4-0 lead. “I thought the effort and the compete level were high,” said head coach Matt O’Dette. “Our guys were playing hard but giving them too many power plays wasn’t a recipe for success.”
Seattle kept it a scoreless game by killing off two early Portland power play chances, including a double minor. It stayed that way until late in the first period when the Winterhawks got on the board with a James Stefan goal at 16:32. Portland then doubled the lead with a Josh Zakreski goal early in period two.
The Winterhawks then struck twice on the man advantage. Carter Sotheran’s goal came at 8:32 followed six minutes later by the first of three Jack O’Brien goals on the night. “Their power was very dangerous tonight, obviously,” remarked O’Dette. “
The Thunderbirds fought back to make a game of it early in the third period. They got on the board with a power play goal of their own when Sawyer Mynio struck for his fifth of the season at 1:44. Luca Hauf’s tenth of the year at 5:12 pulled the T-Birds within two at 4-2.
“That’s the effort we’re talking about,” said O’Dette of his team’s push back. “That’ what we’re looking for in that situation. I thought the energy and positivity was good on the bench. Guys were sticking together, and it led to the burst we had.”
Unfortunately, Seattle took another penalty a few minutes after the Hauf goal and that led to a third Portland power play marker with O’Brien scoring again. “Maybe the next bounce going our way would have changed things,” O’Dette commented. “But they got that power play goal, and it took the wind out of our sails.”
The Winterhawks would put the game away with two more goals, a third from O’Brien and a second from Zakreski.
Playing with their youngest game night roster of the season, O’Dette called the game a valuable learning experience against a veteran opponent. “We said going into the game we wanted to see the effort, the compete. There’s going to be mistakes but the foundation of what our team is about was there tonight. We made that push in third. Now it’s about learning how to win and learning that every play matters.”
The T-Birds next home game is Friday when the host they Vancouver Giants at the accesso ShoWare Center. Game time is 7:05 p.m. It will be the start of a three-game weekend that will take the Thunderbirds to the Christmas Break.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
In addition to missing 19-year-old veterans Jordan Gustafson and Nico Myatovic to long term injuries, Seattle played without second leading scorer, 20-year Eric Alrie, and 19-year-old defenseman Owen Boucher available to them.
As a result, the T-Birds played the game with nine rookies in the lineup including six 16-year-olds. Of the 20 players dressed, only four were age 19 and older.
After scoring just five goals in 45 games last season with the Edmonton Oil Kings, Luca Hauf has doubled that in just 25 games with Seattle.
Boxscore: Seattle Thunderbirds at Portland Winterhawks – Saturday, December 9, 2023 (chl.ca)
