Seattle, WA

Winterhawks struggle late, lose in overtime to Seattle

Published

7 days ago

February 21, 2026

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

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Seattle, WA

Three trapped after car goes into ditch near Seattle’s Washington Park Arboretum

Published

4 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Three trapped after car goes into ditch near Seattle’s Washington Park Arboretum

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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Seattle, WA

Seattle Kraken fall to Blues 5-1 in 2nd straight loss

Published

17 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Seattle Kraken fall to Blues 5-1 in 2nd straight loss

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Dylan Holloway had a hat trick and added an assist in his return from a sprained ankle, Joel Hofer made 23 saves and the St. Louis Blues came off the Olympic break to beat the Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Thursday night.

St. Louis Blues 5, Seattle Kraken 1: Box score

Jordan Kyrou and Holloway — activated from injured reserve before the game — scored in a 23-second span early in the second period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Pius Suter added a goal and two assists to help the Blues end a three-game losing streak.

Holloway completed St. Louis’ first hat trick of the season with 3:01 left, scoring into an empty net for his 11th of the season.

Kaapo Kakko tied it at 1 for Seattle in the first period, and Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 shots. The Kraken were coming off a 4-1 loss in Dallas on Wednesday night.

Kyrou made it 2-1 at 1:12 of the second off a feed from Pavel Buchnevich on a break. Holloway poked the puck past Grubauer off a scramble at 1:35. Suter scored at 1:56 of the third.

St. Louis’ Cam Fowler appeared in his 1,100th game, becoming the 10th active defenseman in the NHL to reach the mark.

Up next

Kraken: Host Vancouver on Saturday night.

Blues: Host New Jersey on Saturday.

Seattle Kraken sign forwards Ben Meyers, Ryan Winterton to 2-year extensions

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Seattle, WA

Projected Lineup: Feb. 26 vs. Seattle | St. Louis Blues

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Projected Lineup: Feb. 26 vs. Seattle | St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues are back in action as they host the Seattle Kraken on Thursday at Enterprise Center (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, 101 ESPN).

It will be the team’s first game since Feb. 4, and Jim Montgomery said the squad is ready to get back to work.

“Yeah, I think everybody is,” the head coach said. “I mean, you can tell. Guys were anxious today, but it’s like ‘enough of practicing against each other, it’s time to play a game.’”

Captain Brayden Schenn, who missed Wednesday’s practice with an illness, took the morning skate and is expected to play. Dylan Holloway (ankle), who has played just one game since Dec. 12, will make his return to the lineup as well.

Robert Thomas has taken a leave of absence due to a personal matter. He’s expected to return to the team on Friday.

Additionally Jack Finley will make his Blues debut. Finley – who is the son of former Blue Jeff Finley and was born in St. Louis – was claimed off waivers by the team on Feb. 7.

“It was a dream of mine to play for this team,” Finley said. “It was a big part of my childhood, big part of my family’s life. So definitely full-circle moment and proud to be a Blue.”

Jeff, who played defense for the Blues from 1998-2004, will be in the building Thursday night to see his son don the jersey he wore for so many years.

“He was excited,” Jack said about his dad. “Maybe more excited than me. He loved this organization, loved this city… He’s excited to be back.”

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