RECAP: Nguyen’s hat-trick paces 4-1 Hawks win in Game 3
The Winterhawks rode a hot start on home ice to a 4-1 victory over Prince George in Game 3 of their Western Conference Championship series.
Round 3, Game 3: Portland (4) vs. Prince George (1) [POR leads series 2-1]
SOG: POR (30) – PG (31)
PP: POR (1/7) – PG (1/4)
Saves: Špunar (30/31) – Ravensbergen (7/10), Young (19/20)
COMPLETE BOX SCORE
SCORING:
- POR – First Period – 1:13 – Marcus Nguyen (2) from Nate Danielson
- POR – First Period – 7:10 – Marcus Nguyen (3) from Nate Danielson and Tyson Jugnauth
- POR – First Period – 9:40 – Marek Alscher (2) from Nate Danielson
- POR – Third Period – 1:47 – Marcus Nguyen (4) from Jack O’Brien and Diego Buttazzoni
- PG – Third Period – 15:56 – Borya Valis (7) from Hudson Thornton and Viliam Kmec
The Story:
Marcus Nguyen’s hat-trick and a 30-save showing from Jan Špunar paced a second straight win for the Winterhawks as they knocked off the Prince George Cougars 4-1 in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Western Conference Championship series.
Portland now holds a 2-1 series lead heading into Games 3 & 4 later this week at the VMC.
Hitting home ice for the first time in the series, Portland raced out to an early lead through Nguyen’s first two goals of the game. Nate Danielson set up both of those, first at 1:13 with a wraparound feed to Nguyen at the back post, then a centering pass for a one-timer six minutes later. Marek Alscher continued the onslaught with a top-shelf wrister off the rush – also set up by Danielson in the neutral zone – that ended the night for Josh Ravensbergen.
The Hawks carried a 3-0 lead through the second period, with Jan Špunar standing tall in their crease. Looking to extend the lead in the third, Nguyen capped off his hat-trick on a power play at 1:47 to make it 4-0. Borya Valis eventually broke the shutout bid for PG, but Portland’s damage was done en route to a 4-1 win.
The two teams are back in action at the VMC for Game 4 on Wednesday and Game 5 on Thursday.
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🚨🚨🚨 🤝 🍎🍎🍎
Marcus Nguyen & Nate Danielson spoke to media following a Game 3 victory.#WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/XkipNVcpfq
— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) April 30, 2024
“Our guys feel really comfortable on home ice…we played well in Game 2 and carried that momentum here.”
Mike Johnston spoke to media following a Game 3 victory.#WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/fkhuBtCaqc
— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) April 30, 2024
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