After eight periods of tight, end-to-end hockey Tuesday night in the Western Hockey League playoffs, a pair of Kraken prospects are advancing to the WHL Western Conference final, and two others are finishing their junior seasons able to hold their heads high despite losing a second-round Game 7. The prospects advancing, Spokane center Berkly Catton, the No. 8 overall pick in last summer’s NHL Draft, and Portland defenseman and Kraken 2022 fourth-rounder Tyson Jugnauth and both figured on the scoresheet in big wins for their teams.
On Wednesday, Kraken 2023 third-rounder Caden Price and his Lethbridge teammates pulled out a 3-1 Game 7 win at Calgary to advance to the Eastern Conference final against Medicine Hat. Price assisted on the game’s first goal, setting a tone less than four minutes into the game. Price, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound defenseman, was traded to Lethbridge in a massive trade mid-season with precisely this scenario of going deep into the playoffs. He was plus-2 in the winner-take-all contest.
The conference finals start Friday in the West with Portland visiting Spokane and Lethbridge heading to Medicine Hat out East. Game 2 in the Eastern Conference is Saturday, while Game 2 in Eastern Washington is Sunday.
Spokane won with a late goal in the second overtime, closing out a best-of-seven series in six games against a valiant Victoria team. Portland ousted the home-squad Everett Silvertips, 4-2, in a Game 7 tied 1-1 after 40 minutes, and which included a late empty-net goal that sparked a gleeful celebration at the Winterhawks bench and among a smattering of Portland fans making the drive north. No question, Portland was thrilled to escape with the win and date with Catton and Spokane in the conference final, with the victor playing a WHL title and trip to the coveted Memorial Cup. Portland had fallen behind 2-1 in the third period but roared back with two goals in exactly a half-minute to stake a 3-2 lead salted by the empty-netter.
The scoresheet appearances by Catton and Jugnauth make perfect sense. Catton, who earned three assists, including the primary helper on the game-winning goal 18-plus minutes into double overtime, now leads the WHL in postseason scoring with seven goals and 21 assists for 28 points in 11 games. The second leading scorer overall? Jugnauth, who now has three goals and a league-leading 23 assists after getting his team’s first goal sequence started in the pivotal Game 7.
In the traditional handshake line at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Jugnauth shook hands with a couple of fellow prospects whom he knows from Kraken development camps, 2023 fifth-round defenseman and Everett captain Kaden Hammell and 2024 second-rounder Julius Miettinen. Hammell finished the playoffs with three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 13 games, coming on particularly strong in the last 10 games. There were more than a few Hammell jerseys worn by fans at the game on Tuesday. Miettinen, who has looked strong in all zones since returning from a prolonged lower-body injury, had several solid scoring rushes in the game, including a last-minute drive to the net from behind his own blue line that had the crowd and all Silvertips players standing in anticipation. The Swedish-born center finished the postseason with six goals (second among all teammates) and three assists for nine points in 13 games.
At Spokane Arena, the home squad Chiefs rallied from being 1-0 and 2-1 to build an early third-period 4-2 lead, only for Victoria to score two goals and push the game to extra, extra time. Catton assisted on goals two, four, and five in the thrilling win.
Another Extra, Extra, Read All About It
While some Kraken prospects were sorting out who advances in the WHL postseason, four different Seattle prospects earned primary assists on each goal of a 4-3 Coachella Valley win in Game 1 over the Pacific Division rival Calgary Wranglers in a best-of-three opening round series. Kraken winger Jani Nyman (second round, 2022) earned the primary helper on the Firebirds’ first goal, scored by veteran John Hayden, and fellow 2022 second-rounder (No. 35 overall) Jagger Firkus assisted on the game’s second goal, scored by veteran Brandon Biro, to make it 2-0. Both prospects notched their first AHL postseason points.
Prospect Jacob Melanson assisted on the third CVF goal by veteran Mitchell Stephens to establish a 3-0 margin after two periods; prospect David Goyette picked up a third on the Stephens goal as another indicator of yet another 2022 second-rounder playing well for the AHL affiliate. But Calgary stormed back in the third period to tie it with a mere seven seconds remaining in regulation. But a fourth Kraken prospect, this time 2021 original-draft-class fourth-rounder and Firebirds defenseman Ville Ottavainen, took a shot from the right point that Stephens tipped for his second goal of the night and sending everyone home some five-plus hours after puck drop. Game 2 in the best-of-three divisional showdown with Calgary is Saturday in Coachella Valley, and if necessary, Game 3 will be Sunday in the southern California desert.
