Winterhawks Dethrone Oil Kings 5-2, Move to 6-0-0
October 12, 2022 – Western Hockey League (WHL) – Portland Winterhawks News Release
Multi-point nights from Luca Cagnoni and Diego Buttazzoni helped the Winterhawks knock off the Oil Kings on Tuesday.
Game #6: Portland (5) vs Edmonton (2)
SOG: POR (43) – EDM (18)
PP: POR (0/5) – EDM (0/2)
Saves: Giannuzzi (16/18) – Hay (38/43)
SCORING:
POR – 7:54 – First Period – Aidan Litke (1) from Diego Buttazzoni and Luca Cagnoni
POR – 10:26 – First Period – Josh Zakreski (2)
EDM – 14:42 – First Period – Carson Golder (1) from Cole Carrier and Rhett Melnyk
POR – 17:35 – First Period – Marcus Nguyen (2) from Diego Buttazzoni and Josh Mori
EDM – 19:26 – First Period – Marshall Finnie (2) from Gavin Hodnett and Ethan Peters
POR – 11:23 – Second Period – Luca Cagnoni (3) from James Stefan
POR – 12:17 – Third Period – Luke Schelter (3) from Jonah Bevington and Carter Sotheran
The Story:
The Portland Winterhawks struck three times in the first period and never looked back, riding multi-point performances from Luca Cagnoni and Diego Buttazzoni to a 5-2 win over the defending WHL Champion Edmonton Oil Kings.
With the victory, Portland moves to 6-0-0 on the year. Dante Giannuzzi stopped 16 of 18 shots against to boost his personal record to 4-0-0.
A back-and-forth first period kicked off with Aidan Litke’s first of the year to put Portland ahead. After Cagnoni hit Buttazzoni with a stretch pass at the far blue line, the 16-year-old picked up first assist of the night with a drop pass to Litke, who wired a wrist shot top-shelf from the top of the circles. Josh Zakreski soon doubled Portland’s lead with a spectacular individual effort, carrying the puck from out wide and fending off defenders before chipping the puck past Kolby Hay’s left shoulder.
Carson Golder managed a response for Edmonton, but Marcus Nguyen soon restored the Hawks’ two-goal lead as he finished off a seeing-eye pass from Buttazzoni. Still, the Oil Kings pressed and earned a second tally with 30 seconds left in the frame as Marshall Finnie found twine.
Both teams began to settle into a defensive rhythm in the second period, but Cagnoni still lit the lamp with a one-timed laser midway through the frame, set up by James Stefan. Portland continued to control play in the final frame as Luke Schelter bagged his third of the year with a quick shot off the rush.
The Hawks are back in the Glass Palace this Saturday, Oct. 15, to take on the Kamloops Blazers during Hawktoberfest at 6:00 P.M.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT presented by BBF TECHNOLOGIES:
“Our team’s buzzin’ right now, six-and-oh…three games in four nights is always hard but we fought through it and won at the end of the day, so that’s all that matters.”
Winterhawks forward Diego Buttazzoni
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