‘Birds Bury Blazers In Shootout For Seven-Game Win Streak

T-Birds win 9-round shootout to beat Blazers 3-2

KENT, February 3, 2017 — Zach Andrusiak scored in the ninth round a shootout and goalie Rylan Toth stopped the last Kamloops Blazers shooter to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 3-2 shootout win Friday night at ShoWare Center.

The T-Birds moved into second place in the US Division with the win, one point ahead of the Tri-City Americans. They are four points behind the first place Everett Silvertips. The T-Birds have a seven-game win streak and have won 13 of their last 14 games.

Mathew Barzal and Keegan Kolesar scored in the first and second rounds of the shootout. Barzal beat Kamloops goalie Connor Ingram at the right post and Kolesar scored glove side.

Lane Bauer and Collin Shirley matched the T-Birds through two rounds with five-hole goals on Toth.

Ingram and Toth then denied the next six shooters they faced. The T-Birds sent out Nolan Volcan, Sami Moilanen, Ryan Gropp, Donovan Neuls, Alexander True and Ethan Bear who were all stopped. The Blazers sent out Rudolfs Balcers, Deven Sideroff, Garret Pilon, Nick Holowko, Nick Chyzowski and Quinn Benjafield who were all unsuccessful.

Andrusiak came out to start the ninth round of the shootout. He came down on Ingram and beat the goalie with a wrist shot over the glove.

Erik Miller needed to score for Kamloops to send the shootout to a 10th round. Miller went to a backhand move, Toth slid to his right and Miller missed the net on his shot.Toth made 35 saves on 37 shots and his record is now 26-15-1-0.

The T-Birds travel to Portland to play the Winterhawks Saturday at 7:05pm.

The Blazers outshot the T-Birds 10-7 in the first period.

Kamloops (31-18-3-2) went in front 1-0 at 7:16 of the second period on a power-play goal from Nick Holowko. Collin Shirley and Joe Gatenby had the assists.

Seattle (31-15-3-1) quickly came back and tied the game 1-1 at 7:59 of the second. Aaron Hyman took a wrist shot from the right point that deflected down towards the ice. Kamloops goalie Connor Ingram went down to make the save. The goalie got a piece of the puck but it snuck through his legs and lay in the crease behind him. Luke Ormsby fought through a check and poked the puck into the net for his fifth goal of the year. Alexander True had the second assist.

The Blazers took a 2-1 lead at 11:25 on a goal from Deven Sideroff. Rudolfs Balcers and Ondrej Vala were credited with the assists.

The T-Birds tied the game 2-2 at 15:21 of the second on the power play. Ethan Bear took a slap shot that Ingram stopped. True was in front of the goalie and tried to sweep the puck on net but it went wide left and past the goal line. Ryan Gropp got to the loose puck and shot it from behind the goal line at Ingram and the puck went off the goalie’s chest and into the net.

Kamloops outshot Seattle 15-10 in the second period and led 25-17 in shots after two periods.

The Blazers outshot the T-Birds 10-8 in the third period and 37-26 in the game.

Ingram had 24 saves on 26 shot and his record is now 18-9-3-0.

T-Birds single game tickets for the 2016-17 season are currently on sale. Fans can purchase single game tickets online or at the ShoWare Center box office.

T-Birds 2016-17 season tickets are currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – No scoring. Penalties – Barzal, Sea (tripping), 8:53. Loewen, Kam (boarding, major-fighting), 11:52. Kolesar, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct, major-fighting), 11:52.

Second period – 1, Kamloops, Holowko 5 (Shirley, J. Gatenby), 7:16 (pp). 2, Seattle, Ormsby 5 (Hyman, True), 7:59. 3, Kamloops, Sideroff 30 (Balcers, Pilon), 11:25. 4, Seattle, Gropp 14 (True, Bear), 15:21 (pp). Penalties – Volcan, Sea (hooking), 3:16. Ottenbreit, Sea (boarding), 6:30. Zazula, Kam (major-fighting), 15:06. Moilanen, Sea (major-fighting), 15:06.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Bishop, Sea (tripping), 6:16. Ingram, Kam (delay of game),14:31.

Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.

Shootout – Seattle 3 (Barzal G, Kolesar G, Volcan NG, Moilanen NG, Gropp NG, Neuls NG, True NG, Bear NG, Andrusiak G). Kamloops 2 (Bauer G, Shirley G, Balcers NG, Sideroff NG, Pilon NG, Holowko NG, Chyzowski NG, Benjafield NG, Miller NG).

Shots on goal – Seattle 7-10-8-1-1 27, Kamloops 10-15-10-2-0 37. Goalies – Seattle, Toth 37 shots-35 saves (26-15-1-0); Kamloops, Ingram 26-24 (18-9-3-0). Power plays – Seattle 1-2; Kamloops 1-4. A – 4,259. Referees – Bryan Bourdon, Mark Pearce. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Spencer Lockert.