Ravndahl’s first WHL goal leads Hawks past Cougars 4-2
Rhett Ravndahl’s first WHL goal early in the third period was the difference as the Winterhawks knocked off the Cougars 4-2 on Wednesday.
Game #26: Portland (4) at Prince George (2)
SOG: POR (37) – PG (20)
PP: POR (1/3) – PG (1/6)
Saves: Giannuzzi (18/20) – Brennan (33/36)
COMPLETE BOX SCORE
SCORING:
- POR – 2:47 – First Period – Josh Zakreski (6) from Jack O’Brien and Rhett Ravndahl
- PG – 10:20 – First Period – Ethan Samson (7) from Koehn Ziemmer
- POR – 19:02 – First Period – Gabe Klassen (17) from Jack O’Brien and Luca Cagnoni
- PG – 13:40 – Second Period – Koehn Ziemmer (17) from Riley Heidt and Ethan Samson
- POR – 5:05 – Third Period – Rhett Ravndahl (1) from Marcus Nguyen and Aidan Litke
- POR – 19:39 – Third Period – Aidan Litke (7) from Gabe Klassen and Carter Sotheran *EN
The Story:
Rookie defenseman Rhett Ravndahl scored his first WHL goal 5:05 into the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock and help push the Winterhawks (19-4-2-1) to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Prince George Cougars (14-13-0-0) on Wednesday. Dante Giannuzzi stopped 18 0f 20 shots to pick up his 12th win of the campaign.
Patrolling the blue line in the third period of a tied contest, Ravndahl drifted into the slot as Marcus Nguyen searched for a passing lane from the left circle, then deftly deflected Nguyen’s pass through the legs of Prince George’s Tyler Brennan for the game-winning tally.
After conceding first in each of last week’s three games, the Hawks flipped the script with Josh Zakreski’s sixth of the season just 2:47 into the contest. Circling in the high slot, the rookie winger gathered a pass from Jack O’Brien in the corner and wired a wrist shot top-shelf past a bevy of bodies in front of the net for an early Portland lead. Penalty trouble for the hosts soon followed, though, and the Cougars tied the game on a 5-on-3 at 10:20 with captain Ethan Samson’s seventh of the year. Still, Portland persisted and got a clutch goal from its own captain late in the period. Jack O’Brien picked up his second primary assist of the night with a net-front pass to Gabe Klassen for a deflection past Brennan and a 2-1 Hawks lead heading into intermission.
Prince George grabbed the only goal of the second period through crafty passing between Riley Heidt and Koehn Ziemmer for the latter’s 17th goal of the season, but Giannuzzi shut the door the rest of the way. Following Ravndahl’s game-winner, Aidan Litke potted an empty-net marker to finish off Portland’s 4-2 win.
The Winterhawks are back in action in front of an expected sell-out crowd this Saturday for their annual Teddy Bear Toss game against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Puck drop is set for 5:00 P.M. and doors will open at 3:30 P.M.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT presented by BBF TECHNOLOGIES:
“It was a great feeling. I knew the team had my back and it was just a great time to celebrate with my teammates…(my first call after scoring) is definitely gonna be my grandpa. He’s gonna be excited, he’s probably my biggest fan, so I gotta give him a call real quick here.”
Winterhawks defenseman Rhett Ravndahl
