Winterhawks Weekly: Hawks Secure the No.5 Seed out West

The Portland Winterhawks finished their final three-in-three weekend with back-to-back wins against the Seattle Thunderbirds and Vancouver Giants.

Thanks to those wins and other weekly results, the Winterhawks have officially locked up the No.5 overall seed in the Western Conference for playoffs and they will play the No.4 seed, which will be either the Prince George Cougars or the Victoria Royals, beginning the weekend of March 28. Stay tuned for more information regarding playoff home dates.

Hot Hawks:

• Defenseman Tyson Jugnauth led the Winterhawks with five points, all assists, across the three games this weekend. He is two points away from eclipsing 90 points and will be the second Winterhawks defenseman to do so in two years (Luca Cagnoni). Prior to Cagnoni’s accomplishment in 2023-24, that total hadn’t been reached by a WHL defensemen in 40 years.
• Forward Josh Zakreski led the charge with thee goals this past weekend, including a pair of special teams goals in Saturday’s 6-1 thumping of Seattle. Winterhawks fans have heard his signature “Last Saskatchewan Pirate” goal song in the VMC 23 times this season.
• The goaltenders were electric this weekend. Marek Schlenker stopped 29 of 30 shots in a home-ice win against Seattle on Saturday to lead the WHL this week with a .967 save percentage. In two starts, Ondřej Štěbeták stopped 68 of 74 shots for a .919 save percentage and a win against Vancouver to solidify the No.5 overall seed in the West.
• Rookie forward Carsyn Dyck secured two assists this weekend and he has points in three of his last six games heading into the team’s final regular season games.
• Forward Kyle McDonough had three assists on Saturday night, most in a single game this year and second most points in a single contest.

Play of the Week: 

HELLLLOOOOO MAREK SCHLENKER! The Winterhawks’ 18-year-old backstop made an improbable stop against one of Seattle’s leading goal scorers on Saturday evening. During the first period of play in a four-on-four situation, Schlenker stretched out his blocker hand to deny a point-blank shot from Coster Dunn. WOW. Unsurprisingly, it was the WHL’s Save of the Night.

SAVE OF THE NIGHT

Consider our minds blown, Marek!@RealCdnSS | @pdxwinterhawks | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/aGbSnjb2N7

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 16, 2025

Save the Date – March 22

The Winterhawks will host their final regular-season watch party event at Cartside on Saturday, March 22 when the Winterhawks face the Seattle Thunderbirds at the ShoWare Center. The I-5 Rivalry Series game presented by ZoomCare will also be televised locally on Portland’s CW.

Weekly Rewind: 

Portland 3, Everett 5 (Friday): 

The Winterhawks trimmed a three-goal deficit to just one goal on the road in Everett, before losing a close one 5-3 at Angel of the Winds Arena. Carter Sotheran, Diego Buttazzoni, and Josh Zakreski each scored in the road game. Despite an extra attacker in the final 100 seconds, Everett scored in the empty net to win 5-3 and clinch the U.S. Division and Western Conference Championships.

Portland 6, Seattle 1 (Saturday): 

A four-goal second period propelled the Winterhawks to a 6-1 victory on home ice against Seattle. The T-Birds scored the first goal of the game, then it was all Portland courtesy of goals from Alex Weiermair, Reed Brown, Josh Zakreski, and Hudson Darby. Zakreski added another goal in the third period, his 37th goal of the season, and David Hoy torched the net for his second goal of the campaign against Seattle.

Portland 4, Vancouver 2 (Sunday): 

Portland took the game’s first lead thanks to a Diego Buttazzoni snap shot from the left circle and the offense powered through against the Giants for a 4-2 win. Vancouver tied the game up early in the second period, only to see Alex Weiermair score a beautiful shorthanded goal and Kyle Chyzowski cashing on short post on the eventual game-winning goal at the end of the period. The Giants scored their second power-play goal to pull within one, but Carter Sotheran tossed a puck into the empty net to seal a win in the weekend finale.

Upcoming Promotional Games:

Sunday, March 21 – Jersey Off The Backs Night – BUY TICKETS

WHL Playoffs – Stay tuned for more information shortly

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