Seattle, WA
Winterhawks struggle late, lose in overtime to Seattle
Leading 2-1 going into the 3rd period, the Portland Winterhawks put together a dumpster fire in the 3rd period, being outshot 19-3. Luckily they only give up one goal, so they get one point, but that’s all they get as Cameron Schmidt’s 2nd goal of the game wins it for the Seattle Thunderbirds in overtime.
Schmidt’s winner was assisted by Matthew Gard, who tied the game halfway through the 3rd period.
It was the Thunderbirds’ 5th win in a row, as they’ve come back from looking dead two weeks ago. They’re now one point out of a playoff spot, although still in 10th. Portland remains in 7th, 2 points ahead of the 8th and 9th place Victoria Royals and Tri-City Americans.
Goalie Ondrej Štěbeták was Portland’s best player, but he was slightly outdueled in the end by Seattle’s Grayson Malinoski.
| 1st 2:35 POR Sam Spehar (Carsyn Dyck, Griffin Darby) 1-0 | An outlet pass from Darby finds Spehar at center ice. He passes it to Dyck, gets it back, and wrists it from the right dot, a nice finish. |
| 1st 11:54 SEA (PP) Cameron Schmidt (Coster Dunn, Antonio Martorana) 1-1 | After a faceoff goes back to him, Niko Tsakumis tries to pass it behind his net, but hits the side and Martorana gets the puck behind the net. He makes a short pass to Dunn, and Dunn finds Schmidt wide open at the right dot, a dangerous proposition. |
| 2nd 3:59 POR Ryan Miller (Will McLaughlin) 2-1 | Miller picks up a loose puck in the right corner, skates all the way up to just beyond the high slot, lets the shot go, and beats Grayson Malinoski. Duguay was in front causing a little bit of a screen, just enough to bother him. |
| 3rd 10:39 SEA Matthew Gard (Matej Pekar, Joe Gramer) 2-2 | Gramer and Gard get the puck out of the Seattle zone, with Gard making a nice backhand pass into space for Pekar near the Portland blue line. Pekar makes a touch to get by Cole Slobodian at the left boards, then makes a nice centering pass to Gard who went to the net, and he puts it in. |
| OT 1:03 SEA Cameron Schmidt (Matthew Gard) 2-3 | Ryan Miller tries to stickhandle down the middle in the Seattle zone. He loses control of the puck just a bit, and Gard pushes it ahead for Schmidt, who hung back just a bit as the other Portland players were facing toward to the Seattle net. Schmidt ends up with a breakaway from the Seattle blue line in, and he goes forehand-backhand to beat Ondrej Štěbeták and send it home. |
| Portland leads by 2+ | 0:00 |
| Portland leads by 1 | 35:59 |
| Tied | 25:04 |
| Portland trails by 1 | 0:00 |
| Portland trails by 2+ | 0:00 |
Pregame: A big battle for the last spots in the Western Conference’s playoffs. The Thunderbirds looking for their 5th win in a row. Portland trying to bounce back from a really poor game against Spokane a week ago.
1st period: Finished 1-1 with both teams having spurts. The Winterhawks scored on the first shot of the game. Seattle rattled off 5 shots in a row. Then Portland finished the period with 7 of the last 8 shots. They were having issues with turnovers coming out of their own zone, especially from their top defensive pair, Max Pšenička and Niko Tsakumis.
2nd period: The Winterhawks started with the turnover issues continuing, but as the period went on it looked like they were fading away and they held Seattle to 6 shots for the period, while taking the lead 2-1. Tsakumis took a penalty with 4 seconds left that ended up setting the tone for the 3rd.
3rd period: Which turned out to be a mess for Portland. They never got anything going, gave up the lead, and were outshot 19-3, not helped by taking two more penalties. Their penalty kill saved them, as did some poor shooting by the Thunderbirds. They were lucky to get the regulation point.
Overtime: It ended quickly with a turnover by Ryan Miller, the game’s best skater for Portland, and a breakaway by the last player you’d want to see get one.
| Top 10 | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Schmidt | SEA | 2 goals | The difference. Moves within 2 points of the WHL scoring lead. |
| Grayson Malinoski | SEA | 23 saves-25 shots | Numbers underrate his game. He made a bunch of big saves in the 2nd period when the Winterhawks could have increased their lead. |
| Matthew Gard | SEA | 1 goal, 1 assist | The tying goal and the setup for the winner. 4 goals and an assist in 4 games against the Winterhawks this season. |
| Ondrej Štěbeták | POR | 30 saves-33 shots | Played well after a poor game in his last outing. Likely the top star if Portland wins. |
| Coster Dunn | SEA | 1 assist | 4-game point streak. A nice assist on the power play to Schmidt. |
| Sam Spehar | POR | 1 goal | The opening goal on the game’s first shot. |
| Matej Pekar | SEA | 1 assist | The setup for Gard’s tying goal. |
| Will McLaughlin | POR | 1 assist | The only defensemen for the Winterhawks who had a good game. |
| Antonio Martorana | SEA | 1 assist | Somehow was given the first star in the arena. |
| Ryan Miller | POR | 1 goal | By far was Portland’s best offensive player, but drops based on his final turnover. |
| Other notables | Stat line | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Duguay | POR | 4-game point streak snapped, probably. Originally had an assist on Miller’s goal, but it was taken away, probably correctly. It will be reviewed though. | |
| Ethan Bibeau | SEA | 6-game scoreless streak. | |
| Radim Mrtka | SEA | NHL 1st-rounder didn’t have much impact, which would have been a key if the Thunderbirds lost. | |
| Max Pšenička | POR | He and Niko Tsakumis weren’t on the ice for any goals, luckily, but they had a lot of big turnovers in their own zone. Which contributed some to Portland’s 3rd period deficit and made it hard for the Winterhawks to get much going. A key to Seattle’s win. | |
| Alex Weiermair | POR | 6-game point streak snapped. Which was another key; the Thunderbirds did a good job on him. | |
| Brock England | SEA | 3-game scoreless streak. | |
| Carsyn Dyck | POR | 1 assist | Assist on the first goal, snapping a 3-game scoreless streak. |
| POR | SEA | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | 25-24-5-1 (.509) | 23-23-4-3 (.500) | Portland in 7th, Seattle in 10th, but the Thunderbirds only 3 behind Portland. |
| Score | 2 | 3 | Thunderbirds were burned for 2 goals after giving up just 1 in each of the previous 4, but good enough. |
| Shots | 25 | 33 | 20-3 Seattle in the 3rd and overtime. |
| Shoot % | .080 | .091 | Both teams below average in shooting percentage, and the goalies were on top of their games. |
| Power play | 0 / 3 | 1 / 5 | Usually it’s Seattle taking a lot of penalties, but it was the Winterhawks here. The penalty kill helped earn Portland a point, going 3 for 3 in the 3rd. |
| Even strength | 2 | 2 | Winterhawks were probably fortunate to be even here. |
Portland Winterhawks
Not the end of the world; they have points in 5 of their last 6 games after all. But the huge drops in the last 2 games are concerning. They have an overnight trip to Vancouver, while the Giants have a long, grueling trip from Spokane, but they might not have a favorable goalie matchup. A lost to the last-place Giants would be a big blow.
Seattle Thunderbirds
The 5 wins on their streak are all against teams 6th or worse, so they’ve won a bunch of games where they’ve been about 50-50. But their back in the race, and have a house money game against the top-ranked Everett Silvertips before another big game in Portland on Sunday.
Saturday 2/21 at Vancouver, 7pm PST
Sunday 2/22 vs. Seattle, 4pm PST
Friday 2/27 at Victoria, 7pm PST
next Saturday 2/28 at Victoria, 4pm PST
Looking ahead: Sunday 3/8 vs. Tri-City, 4pm PDT
From miners, lumberjacks and seamen to the world arriving on our shores this summer, Folio Seattle will host a program Monday night, with two local soccer scribes detailing the region’s collective footy history in “Seattle’s Road to the 2026 World Cup.”
Matt Pentz, a former soccer reporter for The Seattle Times and The Athletic, is teaming with historian Frank MacDonald, executive director for Washington State Legends of Soccer and occasional Sounder at Heart contributor. The program goes from 6-8 PM at the Folio location in Pike Place Market. Donations of any amount are accepted.
Pentz and MacDonald will dive into the state’s century-plus adoration of the game and highlight what’s changed in the last generation, since Seattle failed to land matches for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Olympians Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Erin Ambrose have all been placed on long-term injured reserve by their PWHL clubs after sustaining injuries during the Milan Cortina Games.
Kraken sign forwards Ben Meyers, Ryan Winterton to extensions
Knight, a five-time Olympian and captain of the United States team that won gold, will be out of the lineup for the Seattle Torrent indefinitely after sustaining a lower-body injury in Italy, the team announced Friday.
Knight had three goals and three assists for the U.S. at Milan Cortina including a goal in the 2-1 overtime win over Canada in the final. She has three goals and seven assists during the current PWHL season.
USA comes back to beat Canada in OT for women’s hockey gold
“While we’re eager to be at full strength and recognize the anticipation of Hilary’s return, we’re focused on putting her and our team in the best position for a playoff push,” Torrent general manager Meghan Turner said in a statement.
Minnesota Frost captain Coyne Schofield was placed on long-term injured reserve on Friday retroactive to Feb. 19 with an upper-body injury. Coyne Schofield scored three goals for the United States during the Olympics.
“I am incredibly proud of all our Frost Olympians who demonstrated true excellence on the world stage,” general manager Melissa Caruso said in a statement. “We are fully committed to supporting Kendall throughout her recovery, and our medical team will be working diligently to help her prepare for her return to the ice.”
The moves by the Torrent and Frost came a day after the Montreal Victoire announced that Ambrose has been placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 19 for a lower‑body injury suffered while representing Canada in the gold medal game. Ambrose had a pair of assists at the Olympics.
The Victoire’s Marie-Philip Poulin, Canada’s captain in Italy, was listed as day-to-day with an Olympics-related injury.
Victoire general manager Daniele Sauvageau said of the team’s Olympians “we are confident that they will be back in the lineup in the near future.”
PWHL influence apparent at Olympics with OT medal games
SEATTLE — Firefighters are responding to a car that drove into a ditch near Lake Washington Boulevard East and East Foster Island Road on Friday, according to the Seattle Fire Department.
Crews arriving at the scene reported that three people are trapped inside the car.
Firefighters were working to stabilize the car and get everyone out safely. Crews worked to remove the roof of the car to get everyone out, according to fire officials.
Authorities are urging the public to avoid the area while emergency crews respond.
The crash occurred in the area between the Montlake and Broadmoor neighborhoods, and traffic can be expected as emergency crews respond.
No additional information was immediately available.
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