T-Birds fall to Winnipeg Ice 3-2 in Game 1 of WHL Championship
WINNIPEG, CANADA - JANUARY 11: Goaltender Daniel Hauser #31 of the Winnipeg ICE stops a shot by Kevin Korchinski #14 of the Seattle Thunderbirds during action in the overtime period at Wayne Fleming Arena on January 11, 2023 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Ca
The Seattle Thunderbirds fell into a 3-0 hole to the Winnipeg Ice and a third period Thunderbirds rally came up short in a 3-2 loss in Game 1 of the WHL Championship series.
Reid Schaefer and Kevin Korchinski each scored goals for Seattle in the third period, but the Thunderbirds were unable to find a tying goal in the closing minute despite a flurry of chances in front of the Winnipeg net.
Connor McClennon, Evan Freisen and Carson Latimer scored for the Ice and Daniel Hausen made 27 saves on 29 shots to take a 1-0 series lead over the Thunderbirds.
"It wasn't our best game," head coach Matt O'Dette said. "Slow out of the gates. I thought we got better as the game went on. I thought they executed well and cashed in on their chances the first part of the game and that was the difference."
Schaefer scored just 28 seconds into the third period to finally get the Thunderbirds' offense going. Dylan Guenther threw a shot on the Ice net from atop the right circle as Schaefer deflected the shot past Hausen to cut the Winnipeg lead to 3-1.
Seattle goaltender Thomas Milic headed for the bench for an extra skater with over two minutes left to play and the Thunderbirds managed to creep closer. Korchinski managed to direct a pass from Kyle Crnkovic through a sprawled out Hauser with 1:42 left to play.
Brad Lambert got a shot on net with just less than 15 seconds left that caused a mad scramble. Jared Davidson's rebound chance slid through the crease and Schaefer's follow-up effort couldn't get around the post. Hauser lost his stick and blocker in the scramble which led to a late stoppage and Seattle couldn't get another chance as Winnipeg secured the Game 1 win.
"There was a little bit of an adjustment phase the first part of the game getting used to how Winnipeg plays," O'Dette said. "I thought once we got more accustomed to it, we started to do some better things in the game and create some more offensive zone time for ourselves."
The Ice used a power play chance to take the early lead. With Guenther in the box on a tripping call, McClennon ripped a wrist shot from the right circle past Milic's glove to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead.
Just over five minutes later, Owen Pederson stripped the puck from Seattle defenseman Nolan Allan in the neutral zone to create a scoring chance. Pederson's shot deflected off Milic directly to a crashing Evan Freisen for a finish as the Ice took a two-goal lead.
Another Seattle penalty came back to bite them as well. As time was expiring on a Nico Myatovic penalty, Latimer beat Milic clean to the stick side with a perfectly placed shot from the right circle to give Winnipeg a 3-0 advantage. The goal wasn't a power play tally, but it might as well have been given Mytaovic was unable to get into the play before the goal scored.
Milic – the WHL goaltender of the year – made 25 saves on 28 shots for Seattle.
"We're still confident," captain Lucas Ciona said. "Disappointed not getting the first win today. Not the start we wanted to have, but we had a solid third period and you just build of that."
Game 2 is at 4 p.m. PT in Winnipeg on Saturday before the series shifts to Kent for the next three games in the best-of-seven series. The winner will advance to represent the WHL in the Memorial Cup.