Friday, May 19th, 2023 is a night Nico Myatovic of Prince George won’t forget.
Not only did the 18-year-old forward become a WHL champion but he scored the game-winning goal for the Seattle Thunderbirds.
It came on a penalty shot at 2:27 of the third period in the Thunderbirds 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg ICE before 6,202 fans in Kent, Washington.
NICO MYATOVIC CASHES IN ON THE PENALTY SHOT!
The @SeattleTBirds go up by two early in the third period!#NHLDraft | #WHLChampionship | #FeedingtheFuture pic.twitter.com/HQtR6sQjPe
— The WHL (@TheWHL) May 20, 2023
Seattle won the series 4-1 to advance to the Memorial Cup May 26-June 4 in Kamloops.
The game summary is here.
Myatovic’s 4th goal of the playoffs gave Seattle a 2-0 lead.
Winnipeg got one back less than three minutes later before the Thunderbirds sealed the title with an empty netter.
Winning goalie Thomas Milic was named WHL Playoff MVP.
Seattle went 16-3 in the playoffs, sweeping Kelowna (4-0) and Prince George (4-0), knocking off Kamloops in six (4-2) and then winning the last four against Winnipeg after dropping the opener.
Myatovic notched seven points in 19 playoff games with two game-winning goals and a plus eight rating.
He is ranked 26th by Central Scouting among North American skaters for the NHL Draft which will span two days in Nashville.
The first round will be held Wednesday, June 28, with rounds 2-7 to follow on Thursday, June 29th.
Riley Heidt of the Prince George Cougars is ranked 21st and his Cougars teammate Koehn Ziemmer is listed one spot ahead of Myatovic at 25th.
everyone say champs!! https://t.co/o2nkh3SktZ
— y – Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) May 20, 2023