Hawks edged by T-Birds in Game 5
Another tense affair went the way of the Thunderbirds as Nico Myatovic tallied the game-winner in the third period to force a Game 6.
Round 2, Game 5: Portland (1) vs Seattle (3) [Portland leads series 3-2]
SOG: POR (33) – SEA (37)
PP: POR (0/3) – SEA (0/4)
Saves: Gauthier (34/36) – Milic (32/33)
COMPLETE BOX SCORE
SCORING:
- SEA – 12:46 – First Period – Henrik Rybinski (3) from Lukas Svejkovsky and Reid Schaefer
- POR – 19:15 – Second Period – Robbie Fromm-Delorme (2) from Jack O’Brien
- SEA – 2:02 – Third Period – Nico Myatovic (1) from Conner Roulette and Ryan Gottfried
- SEA – 19:52 – Third Period – Reid Schaefer (3) from Ryan Gottfried and Jeremy Hanzel *EN
The Story:
Nico Myatovic’s first career postseason goal was the difference as Seattle managed to keep its season alive in a 3-1 win over the Winterhawks at the VMC on Saturday.
Portland now leads the series 3-2 with another chance to close things out on the road in Monday’s Game 6.
Game 5 began as Games 1-3 did with Seattle scoring first. Henrik Rybinski’s third of the postseason at 12:46 of the first period made it 1-0 Thunderbirds, but also like the first three games, Portland responded in the second period with a Robbie Fromm-Delorme strike in the final minute of the frame. After collecting the puck in the neutral zone, Jaydon Dureau found a streaking Jack O’Brien at the Seattle blue line for a partial 2-on-0 with Fromm-Delorme, who made no mistake on the back-door feed.
With their season on the line, the Thunderbirds pushed back early in the third as Myatovic found twine to make it 2-1 Seattle just two minutes into the final stanza. The Winterhawks threw everything at Thomas Milic for the remainder of the frame, but the netminder was up to the task with 33 saves on the night and Reid Schaefer grabbed the empty-netter to seal his team’s win.
Portland’s Taylor Gauthier finished with 34 saves on 36 shots. The clubs will face off for Game 6 in Kent on Monday at 7:05 P.M.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT presented by BBF TECHNOLOGIES:
“All around, we’re very confident with our play, things just didn’t bounce our way. Now it’s just focusing on making things happen next game…whether it’s on the PK, on the power play or even strength, with our confidence, we know things will go our way – we’ve just got to stick to our game plan and eventually it’ll happen for us.”
Winterhawks forward Robbie Fromm-Delorme
