Hawks Fall 4-1 to Seattle in Season Opener Friday

The Portland Winterhawks fell 4-1 to the Seattle Thunderbirds Friday at the Moda Center in the 2014-15 season opener in front of 8,318 fans.

After a scoreless first period, the Hawks opened the scoring on a power play 4:28 into the second when Tyson Predinchuk pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired it in for a 1-0 Portland lead. Seattle evened it at the 14:39 mark when Keegan Kolesar scored on a power play to make it 1-1, which remained the score going into the third.

Seattle took a lead 2:34 into the third when Alexander True scored to give the visitors a 2-1 lead, and they followed with a power play goal from Ryan Gropp at 4:03 to make it 3-1. Gropp added one more with a second to play to give the Thunderbirds a 4-1 win.

Adin Hill was solid in net for the Hawks, making 33 saves. Taran Kozun stopped 24 of 25 shots for Seattle.

Portland was playing with seven players away at National Hockey League training camps: Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brendan Burke, Anton Cederholm, Chase De Leo, Keegan Iverson, Nic Petan and Dominic Turgeon. Defensemen Josh Hanson and Blake Heinrich were also out due to injury.

The Hawks are back on the ice tomorrow at home at the Moda Center against the Prince George Cougars.