Thunderbirds begin homestretch with special teams filled victory over Winterhawks
By Charles Hamaker
Kent, WA – To begin their final stretch of the regular season in which the Thunderbirds will exclusively take on a mixture of the Portland Winterhawks and Kamloops Blazers, Seattle overcame another middling start to topple Portland, 5-2. Specialty teams was a heavy factor in the victory for the Thunderbirds, as Seattle’s league best penalty kill successfully fended off five of Portland’s six power plays on the night. The Thunderbirds power play hit the ice five times and only converted once on five attempts, but Seattle’s five on five play was able to take care of business to mount a lead Portland couldn’t overcome.
“Well, we’d like to have less special teams. We like our game five-on-five, a little too many penalty kills for us, gotta clean that up. We wanna play good hockey and have good habits heading into playoffs, there’s still points at stake that are very important.”
Flicks of the Thunderbirds and Winterhawks under the lights before the game gets underway (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Guenther helping Seattle gain momentum as playoffs loom
Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther led the way for the Thunderbirds in this contest against their rival Portland, tallying a goal and two assists en route to being named the first star of the game. Playing on Seattle’s top line, Guenther gave the Thunderbirds the lead back just a minute and ten seconds into the second period. His goal, a quick release slap shot off a small drop pass from linemate Brad Lambert, gave Seattle a lead following an odd first period that they’d never surrender. Guenther was efficient in the win, only recording two shots on the night while assisting on the Thunderbirds third and fifth goals of the night. The 19-year-old right winger continues to show off wicked scoring ability and an eye for puck distribution that continues to prove dangerous, especially with the forwards that Seattle has on the roster.
“Thought I played well tonight, team played well. I think this is the time of year where things have to start clicking, you have to start feeling good heading into the playoffs. We’ve got five more here against Portland three times, Kamloops twice, really good teams we’re gonna face in the playoffs hopefully at some point. Just making sure we’re playing our game and building every game towards the playoffs.”
Thunderbirds forward Dylan Guenther’s night in photos (Photos by Liz Wolter)
D-men chip in on the offensive end to help push the scoring
In discussing the danger that the Thunderbirds have in the forward department when it comes to scoring ability, the Seattle blueliners made their impact felt as well. Top defenseman pair mates Luke Prokop and Kevin Korchinski scored the Thunderbirds third and fourth goals of the night, both highlight level plays in their own right. While different, the goals by the linemates showed what sort of depth the Thunderbirds have in terms of their scoring, as just about every player that hits the ice (outside of their goalies) can find the back of the net.
“It’s nice, we’ve got some guys that can do that, Hanzel, Korchinski, Prokop, Allan, Mynio, all of them really can chip in offensively. Even with our guys out, we have dangerous lines, it’s hard to key on one line. There’s multiple lines that can score offensively, so that’s a nice thing to have. When our D are putting the puck in the back of the net, it’s a great thing. ”
Thunderbirds defenseman Luke Prokop scores on a breakaway, fresh out of the penalty box (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Luke Prokop’s goal was a fun one, as the Nashville Predators prospect rushed out of the penalty box immediately after his time spent for high sticking was up, and teammate Jeremy Hanzel found him wide open at center ice. Prokop took the stretch pass all the way home, looking like a forward out on the breakaway, slamming the puck past Portland goaltender Dante Giannuzzi for Seattle’s third goal of the night. Korchinski’s goal was an absolute heater, as the Chicago prospect caught a head of steam as he circled the top of the faceoff circle to Giannuzzi’s left, skating towards the dot of the circle before unleashing a fireball of a shot for the fourth Thunderbirds goal of the night.
“I think every D-man dreams of getting that play. I was thinking about it the whole time in the box, and that move I’ve been doing for a while now. Just made sure that I caught that pass, made my move, and luckily it went in.”
Seattle defenseman Kevin Korchinski celebrates his goal with his teammates, the fourth goal of the night for his team (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Thunderbirds looking to soar through final stretch, but it may have some turbulence
Seattle now has five games left in their regular season schedule, and they’re looking to gain momentum and get healthy heading into the postseason. The Thunderbirds will only be playing two teams in those five games as the season ends, with three games coming against the Portland Winterhawks and two of them coming against the red-hot Kamloops Blazers. Getting healthy and gaining momentum are two keys nearly every team heading into a playoff run wants to achieve, but considering the roster that Seattle has put together, it’s especially important for these Thunderbirds. Seattle’s roster has never truly been fully healthy this season, and that hasn’t necessarily stopped them from winning, but it’s a dream to imagine what this team can do when you add Jordan Gustafson, Colton Dach, Gracyn Sawchyn, and Tij Iginla to the group.
“It’s a good opportunity to show our depth and have those guys step up and fill important minutes, our guys have been doing that. It’s a reason for our success despite having some injuries.”
“With this team, they’d already clinched the playoffs before I even came here, they kinda got it out of the way already. I was on a team that clinched early last year and I think that the games leading up to it are important because you can’t just flip the switch when you get there. These are two good teams that we’re going to be playing, and if we play well and play our game against them, it should set us up nicely.”
“With such a talented team, it’s been a next man up mentality. We’ve been doing that so far, we’ve never really had a healthy lineup. It’s nice to see other guys get reward, Sandy (Mekai Sanders) he got rewarded tonight. We’ve had that mindset the whole year, and hopefully once we get our full lineup going we’ll be really dominant and a real threat out there.”
Seattle defenseman Kevin Korchinski turns up ice with the puck (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Quick notes
Injury updates, provided by T-Birds head coach Matt O’Dette
Colton Dach is considered “day-to-day"
The rest of Jordan Gustafson, Tij Iginla, Gracyn Sawchyn, are all still considered week to week and likely will not suit up for Seattle next weekend.
Seattle forward Dylan Guenther now has 201 points in his WHL career, as he tallied a goal and assist in this game.
Thunderbirds defenseman Kevin Korchinski has an 19-home game scoring streak. He has 30 points in those 19 contests.
“It’s just one game at a time. With these games against Portland and Kamloops, those are really good teams, teams we’ll likely see in the playoffs. It’s a good test for us to gear up for the playoffs, playoff hockey obviously being a step up. Just making sure we go out there compete, and let them know that they don’t want to face us in the playoffs, plant that seed beforehand. Just take every game one at a time.”
“It’s a rivalry game, probably the biggest rivalry we have is playing Portland. It’s not just us, even my billet’s say ‘you gotta beat Portland,’ I think that rivalry is always gonna be there. No team is ever gonna turn their back. Especially when we play them again, they were showing that they deserved to be in the game still, and we’re trying to take their hope away.”
“They’re a big part of this team still, we’re gonna play six games in nine days, we’re gonna be playing a lot heading into the playoffs. I think making sure we’re recovering, resting well... those guys are a huge part of our team, they’re going to be a huge part of our team in the playoffs. We know that they’re there and working hard every day to get back.”
“It’s a lot, and their difficult games against good teams. I think you want that at this point in the year, you want meaningful games, games that are gonna prepare you for the playoffs, they’re all big. Portland our big rivals, Kamloops one of the top teams in the league. We need to be ready for those to have success and it’s gonna get us battle tested for the playoffs.”
What’s next?
Seattle will play the second game of a back-to-back with the Winterhawks, with tomorrow’s game taking place down in Portland. The Winterhawks get their rematch in their home building, and they’ll look to continue to build positive momentum as they head into the playoffs. The Thunderbirds will play their remaining six games of the season over the course of nine calendar days, and with numerous T-Birds still banged up, I would imagine that Seattle leans on their depth as they close out the home stretch.