For the first time all season, the Winnipeg ICE have lost three-straight games. And it couldn't have come at a worse time.
Well, losing four-straight would be worse, as it would spell the end of the 2022-23 season for the Canadian Hockey League's No. 1 club over the past two years.
In taking on the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 4 of the Western Hockey League Championship, the ICE fell victim once again to a strong offensive attack and stellar goaltending from the home club, ultimately losing the game 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Having opened the best-of-seven series with 3-2 win on home ice, the ICE fell to the Thunderbirds in the second of two-straight in Winnipeg, sending the series to Kent, WA. for three-straight games.
Now, it appears as though the T-Birds are set to do the unthinkable: beat Winnipeg four-straight times to punch their ticket to the year-end Memorial Cup held in Kamloops from May 26 to June 4.
Sadly, for Winnipeg, it was a must-win game that just didn't quite work out for head coach James Patrick's squad, despite keeping Jets prospect Brad Lambert off the board for the first time in the series.
Battling back all night, the team had a go-ahead goal taken off the board in the second period, before squandering the lead on NHL player Dylan Guenther's 16th of the postseason 4:47 into the third period. Nico Myatovic sealed the deal with an empty-netter as time ticked off the clock.
“A bit of a heart-breaking loss,” the ICE coach said. “We played more like we have to play. The game was there. We had chances when it was 2-2, even when they went ahead we had chances and we weren’t able to get the go-ahead [goal] or [game-tying goal]."
Once again, the 2023 WHL Goaltender of the Year Thomas Milic was spectacular for the Thunderbirds, as he made 31 stops on the 33 shots he faced, picking up his 15th win of the postseason. His trophy runner-up Daniel Hauser played nearly as well, stopping 33 of 36 pucks fired his way.
Winnipeg actually opened the scoring in the game on a strong individual effort from Carson Latimer late in the first. But it was Chicago Blackhawks prospect Kevin Korchinski who evened things up before the break.
Gracyn Sawchyn gave Seattle the lead on a power play strike in the middle stanza, but Winnipeg bounced back with two quick goals to go ahead 3-2... or so it thought.
After Winnipeg product Evan Friesen tied the game on a goalmouth scramble, Latimer's second goal of the game was called off following what appeared to be an inconclusive video review. The lengthy review determined that Latimer had, in fact, possibly used his glove to direct the puck past Milic and into the net.
It remained tied 2-2 until Guenther's go-ahead tally, which he blasted through Hauser on an exceptional one-time setup from Reid Schaefer.
“These are the games you want to play in, those are the moments you want to play in as a player,” Guenther said. “You dream of these kind of games – in the finals when the game is on the line and it’s tight checking. It’s a lot of fun to be in it.”
Now down 3-1 with an elimination game coming up, Patrick knows his club can rebound. But in losing three-straight for the first time all season, he knows the ICE are swimming in uncharted territory. Friday night's Game 5 will be the ultimate test for Winnipeg, as it hopes to send the series back to Manitoba.
"We have to focus on the process," Patrick added. "We can’t think about the what-ifs. We just have to focus on playing the game the right way. We cleaned up a lot of our game from [Game 3]. There’s still some little areas that need improvement. We’ll focus on playing the best game possible and we’ll worry about the result when it’s all said and done.”
Seattle will host Game 5 on Friday at 9:00 PM central time, while a possible Game 6 would be played at Canada Life Centre on Sunday at 7:00 PM. The remainder of the series will continue to be broadcast on TSN.