Forward Jared Davidson of the Seattle Thunderbirds carries the puck in the offensive zone during Game 5 of the WHL Western Conference Championship against the Kamloops Blazers on May 6, 2023. (photo by Brian Liesse / Seattle Thunderbirds)
KENT, Wash. - The Dallas Stars organization is doing their best to deflate the excitement of Seattle area hockey fans this week.
Matthew Seminoff – a sixth-round pick of the Stars last year – scored a pair of goals, Ryan Hofer added two goals as well and the Kamloops Blazers beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2 to extend the WHL's Western Conference Championship series to a sixth game.
Jared Davidson set a Thunderbirds franchise record with his 22nd career playoff goal, surpassing Scott Eansor for most in team history. Reid Schaefer added a power play goal for Seattle as well. However, it wasn't enough to overcome the Blazers third period surge as they scored goals 23 seconds apart to take control and thwart Seattle's clinching aspirations.
"We've just got to play a little more simple, you know. Get pucks on net and not dangle everything. Just get pucks low and play a more simple game," captain Lucas Ciona said.
Seminoff and fellow Blazer forward Logan Stankoven, who had an assist for Kamloops, are both Stars draftees. Stankoven was a second round selection in the 2021 NHL Draft. Meanwhile, the Stars are also in town set for Games 3 and 4 of their series against the Seattle Kraken on Sunday and Tuesday night, respectively, in the Western Conference Semifinals. That series is tied 1-1.
The Thunderbirds had won Game 4 of the series 8-4 in Kamloops on Thursday to give themselves a chance to advance to the WHL Championship with a win on Saturday night. Instead, the Blazers showed that their collection of nine NHL draft picks in total aren't going down easily.
Nico Myatovic had a follow-up chance off a shot from Ciona on the opening shift of the game slide just by the net as Seattle looked for an early lead.
Seattle goaltender Thomas Milic made a big short-handed stop on standout defenseman Olen Zellweger after an early Kamloops penalty gave the Thunderbirds a power play chance. But despite a few early chances, the Blazers actually out-shot Seattle in the first period.
Kyle Crnkovic appeared to give the Thunderbirds the lead just over three minutes into the second period. Crnkovic found space in front of the net and buried a pass from Nolan Allan to briefly give Seattle the advantage. However, the goal was overturned after review due to a hand pass earlier in the possession.
The Seattle pressure continued as Brad Lambert had a breakaway chance denied by Ernst and a follow-up chance for Ciona hit the post. The Thunderbirds eventually broke through and claimed the lead definitely at the 6:25 mark of the period. Jeremy Hanzel played the puck off the wall and Sam Popowich teed it up for Davidson as he flew into the Blazers zone and beat goaltender Dylan Ernst with a wrist shot through his stick side for a 1-0 lead.
Davidson is one of just 12 players to score 100 career goals for the Thunderbirds. A fifth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens last year, Davidson's 22nd career playoff goal gave him the solo record for most in Thunderbirds history. Eansor had the previous mark of 21 during his career with the team from 2013-2017.
"That's awesome. I'm super happy for him," Ciona said of Davidson. "He works extremely hard and deserves everything that comes to him. So seeing him score that goal today was huge."
Ernst then delivered a big save on Crnkovic on a Seattle three-on-one rush chance to keep the lead at just a goal. It proved to be a big moment for the Balzers as they found the tying goal just over two minutes later. Seminoff found space at the right circle and beat Milic cleanly off a Zellweger pass over his glove to make it a 1-1 game at the end of the second period.
Seminoff scored his second goal just 43 seconds into the third period to give Kamloops their first lead of the night. With a delayed penalty pending for Seattle, Stankoven kept the puck in the offensive zone and Caedan Bankier found Seminoff in front of the net to put the Blazers ahead 2-1.
It took just 23 seconds for Kamloops to add to the advantage. Hofer initially hit the post off a pass from Jakub Demek, but cleaned up his own rebound to give the Blazers a 3-1 lead.
Then with Seattle on a power play, Hofer added a short-handed goal on a chance that beat Milic as Kamloops seized control.
"They're a really good team," Ciona said. "And I mean, it's a battle out there. If you make a mistake, it's going to cost you."
Schaefer answered with a power play goal for Seattle before the penalty expired to return the lead to just two goals with 14:12 left to play. However, they were unable to pull any closer.
The Thunderbirds pulled Milic with 2:37 left to play to get an extra attacker on. Ernst made a big save on a Kevin Korchinski chance with 30 seconds left on the best chance Seattle had to cut the deficit.
The series returns to Kamloops for Game 6 on Monday. The winner of the series will face the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL Championship. It would be the second straight trip to the championship series for Seattle if they can advance.
"We're just going in confident," Ciona said. "We still have a 3-2 lead. It takes one win to get this done. So I mean, you know, we've just got to play a simple game and come in ready."
A decisive Game 7 would be back at ShoWare Center on Tuesday night, if necessary.