Thunderbirds one win away from WHL title

Seattle downs Ice 4-2 for frantic Game 4 victory

The Thunderbirds are one win away from claiming the WHL title.

Dylan Guenther picked an opportune time to break the Ice.

On Wednesday night at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., the host Seattle Thunderbirds were locked in a 2-2 tie with the Winnipeg Ice in Game 4 of the WHL Championship Series going into the third period. During most of the first seven minutes of the third, the Ice had the Thunderbirds pinned in their own zone and at one point held a 6-1 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

It seemed like the Ice were in the groove to get the go-ahead goal to take the contest and even the best-of-seven series at 2-2.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Guenther helped the Thunderbirds flip the script. At the 7:47 mark of the third, Thunderbirds standout left-winger Reid Schaefer got the puck in the right corner in the Winnipeg zone.

Schaefer centred the puck to Guenther, who one-timed a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past Ice star netminder Daniel Hauser to put the Thunderbirds up 3-2. That tally, which was Guenther’s WHL leading 16^th of the post-season, energized the host side, and the Thunderbirds carried play for most of the rest of the frame.

Thunderbirds standout left-winger Nico Myatovic scored into an empty net with 7.4 seconds remaining in the third to seal a 4-2 victory to the delight of a raucous gathering of 4,104 spectators.

With the win, the Thunderbirds take a 3-1 lead in the series. They will try to close out the set and win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions when they host Game 5 on Friday at the Accesso ShoWare Centre for a 7 p.m. local start time.

The Thunderbirds only WHL title came back in the 2016-17 campaign when Mathew Barzal and Ethan Bear were starring for the team. Seattle captured the WHL title that season with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 of the championship series in Regina against the host Pats courtesy of Alexander True’s winner.

Thomas Milic made 31 saves for the Thunderbirds on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s Game 4 clash between the Thunderbirds and the Ice was an outstanding contest that showcased the WHL at its best. The game could have turned into a 1980s firewagon style shootout, but the star netminders on both sides were on fire.

Thomas Milic made 31 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds, who have won the last three straight games in the series. Hauser turned away 33-of-36 shots to take the setback in net for the Ice.

Winnipeg came out flying at the start of Wednesday’s game. Early in the first period, Ice right-winger Owen Pederson jetted into the Seattle zone on a breakaway, but he missed the net with his shot. A short time later, Ice star centre Matthew Savoie and import left-winger Vladislav Shilo were stopped on back-to-back close in chances by Milic.

The visitors finally broke through on the scoreboard with 3:35 remaining in the first period thanks to some great hustle by Ice standout right-winger Carson Latimer. Ice defenceman Graham Sward made a high clear into the Seattle zone and the puck sat loose halfway between the blue-line and goal-line.

Latimer beat Thunderbirds offensive-defenceman Jeremy Hanzel in a race for the puck and popped a close in shot to the top right corner of the Seattle net to give the Ice a 1-0 lead.

The Thunderbirds evened the score at 1-1, when star offensive-defenceman Kevin Korchinski wired home a midrange shot through a screen with 16.3 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

At the 4:31 mark of the second, the Thunderbirds struck on the power play thanks to a friendly bounce off the boards. Hanzel fired a shot from the point that bounced off the boards behind the Winnipeg goal right to Thunderbirds standout rookie centre Gracyn Sawchyn at the doorstep on the left side of the Winnipeg net.

Carson Latimer scored for the Ice on Wednesday.

Sawchyn quickly popped the puck home to give the host side a 2-1 edge.

Just over four minutes later, Ice star offensive-defenceman Ben Zloty, who turned 21-years-old in February, directed a shot on goal from the point and the rebound came out to hard working Ice left-winger Evan Friesen, who was left alone in front of the Seattle net. Friesen slipped home the equalizer that evened the score at 2-2.

With 9:06 remaining in the second, Latimer thought he scored his second of the contest to put the Ice in front 3-2 knocking a mid-level high puck home past Milic. The officials went to a video review and concluded Latimer knocked the puck home with his right glove and disallowed the goal to cause the contest to remain even at 2-2.

That set the stage for the dramatics in the third period.

The WHL final between the Ice and Thunderbirds is expected to be a heavyweight tilt.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

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.

Daniel Hauser made 33 saves for the Ice on Wednesday.

Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams and seven players who participated in the last world juniors. Winnipeg’s roster contained eight players who have been drafted by NHL teams and one player who participated in the last world juniors.

Each side has played the first four games of the WHL final with one notable absence each due to injury.

The Thunderbirds were without standout centre Jordan Gustafson, who turned 19-years-old in January. During the Thunderbirds six-game Western Conference Championship Series win over the Kamloops Blazers, it is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of that set claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3.

The Ice were without 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson, who was injured in Game 5 of the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Due to the fact the Thunderbirds have never clinched a WHL Championship Series at home, it is expected the Accesso ShoWare Centre will be more raucous than normal with fans hoping to see a trophy presentation and enjoy the championship celebrations well into the night.

The Ice for their part should not be written off. If they can win Game 5, the final two games of the series will be played at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. If needed, Game 6 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. local time start at the Canada Life Centre.

Gracyn Sawchyn scored for the Thunderbirds on Wednesday.

At the moment, the Ice are looking to just get one win to make the series shift back to Winnipeg. The Thunderbirds will be looking to get the party started on Friday night raising the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for a second time.

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