Blazers fall in OT heartbreaker in Game 2
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| Jeremy Hanzel had the OT winner for Seattle on Sunday. |
The Thunderbirds opened the WHL’s Western Conference Championships series against the Kamloops Blazers winning the first two contests at home to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven set. The Thunderbirds claimed a 5-1 victory in Game 1 on Saturday and rallied from being down 3-1 to pull out a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 2 on Sunday.
With those wins, the Thunderbirds have a perfect 10-0 record in the WHL post-season outscoring their opposition 48-13. The Blazers, who will host the Memorial Cup tournament to determine a CHL champion, were 8-0 in the post-season before facing the Thunderbirds in the first two games of the Western Conference final held at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington.
In Game 1 played before 6,023 spectators on Saturday, Thunderbirds star centre Jared Davidson opened the contest’s scoring with three minutes remaining in the first period, and standout Thunderbirds right-winger Nico Myatovic tallied at the 13:44 mark of the second to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage. With 3:49 remaining in the second, Blazers star offensive-defenceman Olen Zellweger netted his eighth of the post-season to cut the Thunderbirds lead to 2-1.
The 2-1 score held up until the Thunderbirds rolled off a three-goal surge starting at the 10:19 mark of the third to round out the game’s scoring. Star centre Dylan Guenther started the surge scoring at the 10:19 mark of the third, Davidson added his second of the contest just over four minutes later and standout rookie centre Gracyn Sawchyn, who turned 18-years-old in January, closed the surge with a single on the power play with 3:47 remaining in the third.
Davidson had an assist to go with his goal for a three-point night, while Guenther had an assist to go with his goal for a two-point night.
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| Logan Stankoven |
In Game 2 played before 4,677 spectators, the Blazers got a good jump out on the Thunderbirds. With 39.2 seconds remaining in the first, Blazers star left-winger Caedan Bankier gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Just 59 seconds into the second, Zellweger potted his ninth of the post-season scoring on the power play to push the Blazers lead out to 2-0. He potted home a loose puck sitting in front of the Seattle net after a rebound from a long shot taken by star centre Logan Stankoven.
At the 7:33 mark of the second, Thunderbirds star left-winger and captain Lucas Ciona tallied on the power play to cut the Blazers lead to 2-1.
Momentum proceeded to swing back in favour of the Blazers at the 12:30 mark of the second, when Thunderbirds star 21-year-old left-winger Kyle Crnkovic was given a double minor for high-sticking. The infraction will automatically be reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.
The Blazers pushed their advantage out to 3-1 when star right-winger Matthew Seminoff scored on the ensuing power play goal at the 12:53 mark of the second. Seattle managed to kill of the second part of Crnkovic’s double minor.
With 4:04 remaining in the second, the Thunderbirds got a key traction goal from power-forward Colton Dach to trim the Kamloops lead to 3-2.
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| Brad Lambert had the equalizer for Seattle on Sunday. |
Just nine seconds after Bankier’s penalty expired in the third, the Thunderbirds were still buzzing with the puck in the Blazers zone. Thunderbirds offensive-defenceman Jeremy Hanzel cycled down the left side boards in the Kamloops zone and fed a pass across the face of the net to Thunderbirds star centre Brad Lambert. Lambert tapped home the puck backdoor at the right post of the Kamloops net to even the score at 3-3.
Milic and Ernst slammed the door on their respective goals for the rest of the way in the third to force overtime.
At the 6:21 mark of overtime, Lambert won a two-on-two battle for the puck in the left corner boards of the Kamloops zone. Lambert passed the puck to the left point to defenceman Sawyer Mynio. Mynio fed the puck to the right point to Hanzel who one-timed home the winner to give the Thunderbirds a 4-3 victory.
The only down part for Seattle on the winning goal was it appeared Thunderbirds standout centre Jordan Gustafson, who turned 19-years-old in January, injured himself during the winning goal celebration. He was the first Thunderbirds player to leave the ice seeking out the team’s trainer.
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| Olen Zellweger |
Hanzel, Lambert and Dach each finished the contest recording one goal and one assist. Crnkovic had a pair of assists for the host side. Stankoven had helpers on all three Blazers goals, while Zellweger finished with one goal and one assist.
The series between the Thunderbirds and Blazers was expected to be a heavyweight battle.
The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.
The Blazers finished second overall in the Western Conference and third overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-13-4-3 mark. The B.C. Division champions were rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.
Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams, while Kamloops has nine NHL drafted players on their roster. The Thunderbirds have seven players who participated in the last world juniors, and the Blazers have three players who took part in this past world juniors.
The series now shifts to the Sandman Centre in Kamloops for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time, and Game 4 is slated for Thursday at 7 p.m. local time.
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| Kyle Crnkovic had a pair of assists for Seattle on Sunday. |
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