Cossa, Oil Kings gain WHL Championship Series lead with Game 3 shutout

Kent, Wash. – Sebastian Cossa turned aside all 21 shots he faced, and his Edmonton Oil Kings scored a trio of third-period goals in a 4-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 3 of the 2022 WHL Championship Tuesday.

Edmonton got goals from four different skaters, while former Thunderbirds defenceman Simon Kubicek enjoyed a two-point night in his return to the accesso ShoWare Center.

As has been the norm in the series, the opening period was physical, with both sides leaning into contact at every available opportunity.

But as has also been the norm in the series, the opening period was scoreless; Cossa turned aside eight shots including a sliding left-to-right stop on a back-door effort from Thunderbirds forward Conner Roulette.

At the other end, Seattle netminder Thomas Milic parried away all nine shots he faced in the opening frame including a flurry of action from the Oil Kings’ top line of Dylan Guenther, Jake Neighbours and Justin Sourdif midwya through the period.

The goaltenders continued to shine through period two. Milic denied Edmonton captain Jake Neighbours on a rush from the right wing.

The product of Coquitlam, B.C. then brought the crowd to a frenzy, denying Neighbours on a two-man breakaway while his Thunderbirds side was on the power play. Milic split his legs, sliding across his crease to deny the OIl Kings with his left arm.

But Edmonton would get on the board before the end of period two. Vegas Golden Knights prospect Jakub Demek charged into the Seattle zone and patiently cut across Milic’s crease before depostiing the puck into the net with a fore-hand effort at 17:02 of the middle frame.

Czech defenceman Kubicek made it 2-0 Oil Kings 4:10 into the third period, cashing in with a heavy shot from the left wing on an Edmonton power-play.

Kubicek, who was selected by Seattle in the 2018 CHL Import Draft and spent two seasons with the Club, was joined on the scoresheet by fellow blueliner Kaiden Guhle at 11:47 of period three. The Montreal Canadiens first-round pick jumped on a loose puck in the high slot, snapping a shot over Milic’s shoulder.

Carter Souch added an empty-net marker for the Oil Kings, who outshot the Thunderbirds 14-5 in the final frame and 37-21 overall.

Milic made 33 saves in the loss for Seattle.

“I thought we played well for 60 minutes, we did the things we needed to do,” Edmonton head coach Brad Lauer said. “Our guys made the changes they needed to make, and it helped us get the win tonight.”

“I thought the first half of the game was good for us, we were doing some good things, it was pretty tight-checking and not a lot of chances either way. I thought the turning point was their goal right after our power-play, it was a momentum swing for them,” Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette said following the game.

Edmonton went 1/4 on the power-play, while the Thunderbirds were 0/3.

Cossa recorded his fourth shutout of the 2022 WHL Playoffs with his 21-save effort, while the Oil Kings got their third and fourth goals from defencemen in the series Tuesday.

“Our system is designed so that it’s not about forwards and creating offence, it’s done by committee,” Lauer noted.

The Oil Kings and Thunderbirds resume the 2022 WHL Championship Series Wednesday, June 8 with Game 4 at accesso ShoWare Center (7:05 p.m. PT, TSN3).