T-Birds beat Ice 4-2 in Game 4, move within reach of WHL Championship

KENT, Wash. - Dylan Guenther ripped a slap shot by goaltender Daniel Hauser to break a third period deadlock and the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Winnipeg Ice 4-2 in Game 4 of the WHL Championship series to move within reach of a second WHL title.

Nico Myatovic added an empty net goal for the Thunderbirds with 7.4 seconds left to play as Seattle grabbed a 3-1 series lead with the chance to clinch the championship on home ice in Game 5 on Friday night.

With the game tied at 2-2, Guenther flew into the Winnipeg zone and established possession against the side wall. Luke Prokop and Reid Schaefer maintained the possession in the Ice end with Schaefer getting the puck back to Guenther atop the right circle. Guenther immediately fired a missile into the back of the net to give the Thunderbirds a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"I kind of saw a lane through the middle and didn't really want to throw it away," Guenther said. "I knew I was kind of alone and (Prokop) was coming late. Gave it to him. He made a nice play down to Reid and nice pass to me. I was just trying to get the shot through and it went in."

Guenther and Prokop are both seeking a second straight WHL title after being a part of the Edmonton Oil Kings team that defeated Seattle in the championship last season. Guenther was the last star piece to join the Thunderbirds roster as he was sent down after playing over 30 games in the NHL this season with the Arizona Coyotes. A top 10 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Guenther also scored the game-winning goal for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships this winter.

"These are the games you want to play in," Guenther said. "Those are the moments you want to play in as a player. You dream of these kinds of games in the finals and the game is on the line. It's a lot of fun to be in it."

The game-winning goal against Winnipeg was Guenther's 16th goal of the postseason for Seattle, which leads the team.

"A go-ahead goal in the third, that was a huge goal for us," head coach Matt O'Dette said. "Our bench was pretty fired up after that."

A pair of late penalties against Winnipeg impeded their chances of a comeback effort. Connor McClennon ran into Seattle goaltender Thomas Milic for an interference penalty and Conor Geekie tripped Kyle Crnkovic at center ice with 2:42 left to play as the Ice were forced to play four minutes out of the final seven-and-change down a skater.

Myatovic's goal served as the finishing touch for Seattle as they move within reach of a second WHL title and Ed Chynoweth Cup. The Thunderbirds also won the 2017 championship while led by current New York Islanders standout Mat Barzal.

Kevin Korchinski and Gracyn Sawchyn also scored for Seattle and Milic made 31 saves on 33 shots for the Thunderbirds in the victory. 

"Happy with the way our team finished the game," O'Dette said. "We had a good third period. We needed it. Buckled down and found a way to win the game." 

Seattle had a chance to clinch their previous series at home in Game 5 of the semifinals against the Kamloops Blazers only to fall short and necessitate a return trip to Kamloops for Game 6. The Thunderbirds didn't miss their second chance and earned their spot in the championship series.

Guenther said there's aspects of that performance they can learn from ahead of Friday's chance to win the championship on home ice.

"Big shifts of the game. Stars of periods, shifts after goals. Against Kamloops, they came out hard in the third and scored two goals in the first two shifts and it's hard to come back when you kind of dig a hole line that," Guenther said. "Just making sure we're dialed in, we're getting on our path early and just continuing to play the right way."

The Thunderbirds did still have to dig out of an early deficit on Wednedsday night to find their third straight win in the series against the Ice. 

Matthew Savoie – the No. 9 overall pick in last year's NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres – had a breakaway chance that was disrupted through a hooking penalty against Korchinski. The Thunderbirds managed to successfully kill off the penalty to keep the game scoreless early.

However, the Ice broke through with the first goal of the night with 3:35 left in the period. Milic got caught between wanting the charge a puck thrown into the Seattle zone and staying in his net. Carson Latimer beat Seattle defenseman Jeremy Hanzel to the puck and chipped it over the glove side of Milic to give Winnipeg the 1-0 lead.

Korchinski managed to answer back in the closing seconds of the period. Korchinski threaded a shot through heavy net front traffic on Winnipeg goaltender Daniel Hauser as it found the back of the net for the tying goal with just 15.2 seconds left in the period.

With Ty Nash in the penalty box for a roughing penalty early in the second period, the Thunderbirds found a go-ahead goal. A point shot from Hanzel bounced hard off the end boards back to the front of the net. Sawchyn quickly slapped the puck inside the left post behind Hauser for a power play goal and a 2-1 Thunderbirds lead.

Just over four minutes later, Winnipeg found an answer to bring the game back level. A Ben Zloty shot from the blue line was corralled in front of the net by Evan Friesen as he maneuvered around a sprawling Milic to find the net for an Ice goal.

Winnipeg then seemingly found a go-ahead goal just over two minutes later. A point shot from Winnipeg deflected into the air next to the net and bounced in off Latimer for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. However, upon review, Latimer was deemed to have knocked the puck into the net with a deliberate push from his arm and the goal was disallowed after a lengthy review.

"They didn't tell me anything" Winnipeg head coach James Patrick said. "All I know is the review I saw was inconclusive. The player swears it hits the shaft of his stick. If there's a different view that 100 percent proves it didn't (hit the stick), it would have been nice to see it. But I didn't see it."

The negated goal along with the lengthy stoppage in play seemed to blunt any momentum the Ice had established in the prior minutes.

"I think it was (deflating)," Patrick said. "I think how it took 15 minutes of standing there when we had a lot of momentum. We might have been playing our best hockey of the game at that time. Pretty disappointed that they took that long."

Milic was confident that the right call was made to overturn the goal.

"I probably had the best view out of anyone," he said. "You could see on the replays right after it went in I'm looking around trying to see if anyone else saw it, but from my point of view it was clearly off his arm. I'm not sure which part of it. But we were fortunate it went the way it did."

Guenther's goal with just over 12 minutes left to play ultimately served as the game-winner as the Thunderbirds. Milic delivered some key saves down the stretch, including a point-blank save on Zack Ostapchuk with 7:40 left to play. Ostapchuk had a chance look just outside the goal crease on a pass from Graham Sward.

The Thunderbirds' victory in the 2017 championship came on the road against the Regina Pats in Saskatchewan. Friday night would be the first chance for the franchise to win a championship in front of their home fans.

"I think we set (up) ourselves pretty good for Game 5 here at home, especially," Milic said. "We're going to have a couple of days here to rest up, but we’re going to attack the game."

The WHL champion advances to the Memorial Cup to face the winners of the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Blazers, who are hosting the event in Kamloops in a four-team tournament later this month.