T-Birds Extinguish Blazers In Overtime

Kolesar scores overtime game-winning goal in 4-3 win over Kamloops

KENT, January 31, 2017 — Keegan Kolesar scored at 1:07 of overtime Tuesday night at ShoWare Center to give the Seattle Thunderbirds a 4-3 overtime victory over the Kamloops Blazers.

Ethan Bear dived to knock the puck away from a Kamloops forward in overtime to spring Kolesar on a breakaway from the T-Birds zone. Kolesar came down on Kamloops goalie Connor Ingram, faked to his backhand, brought the puck back to his forehand and slid it past Ingram’s left leg.

The T-Birds have a six-game win streak and have won 12 of their last 13 games. They moved into second place in the US Division with the win, one point ahead of the Tri-City Americans. The T-Birds are six points behind the first-place Everett Silvertips.

The T-Birds put a season high 58 shots on goal in the game. Ingram made 54 saves.

The T-Birds and Blazers play on Friday at 7:35pm at ShoWare Center. They travel to Portland to take on the Winterhawks on Saturday at 7pm at Moda Center.

The T-Birds outshot the Blazers 21-6 in a scoreless first period. The Blazers did not register their first shot on goal until 6:24 was left on the clock.

Kamloops (31-17-1-2) took a 1-0 lead at 11:10 of the second period on a goal from Devin Sideroff. Rudolfs Balcers and Ondrej Vala had the assists.

The T-Birds outshot the Blazers 16-13 in the second period and led 37-19 in shots after two periods.

Seattle (30-15-3-1) tied the game 1-1 at 3:43 of the third period. Turner Ottenbreit took a shot that Ingram stopped. Mathew Barzal swiped at the puck before Ethan Bear, pinching down from the left point dived and put the puck in the net. The scoring play went to video review and after a few minutes the referees said it was a good goal.

The Blazers took the lead back, 2-1, at 8:42 of the third on a power-play goal by Lane Bauer. Sideroff and Dallas Valentine had the assists.

The T-Birds tied the game 2-2 at 15:51 of the third when Kolesar put back a rebound. Ryan Gropp passed the puck to Ottenbreit at the left point. Ottenbreit took a slap shot that Ingram stopped with the rebound coming right to Kolesar.

Seattle took a 3-2 lead at 17:05 third on Sami Moilanen’s 15th goal of the season. Ottenbreit took a shot that from the left point that Moilanen tipped over Ingram’s shoulder. Donovan Neuls had the second assist.

Kamloops tied the game 3-3 at 18:23 of the third on Bauer’s second goal of the game. Sideroff and Gatenby had the assists.

The T-Birds outshot the Blazers 19-5 in the third period.

Toth made 22 saves on 25 shots and his record is now 25-15-1-0.

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 – Sideroff, Kam (hooking), :57. Mahovlich, Kam (tripping), 6:31.

Second period – 1, Kamloops, Sideroff 29 (Balcers, Vala), 11:10. Penalties – Holowko, Kam (tripping), 3:38. Ottenbreit, Sea (interference), 4:24. Sideroff, Kam (interference), 6:24. Volcan, Sea (embellishment), 6:24. Adams, Sea (elbowing), 7:39. Volcan, Sea (holding), 13:24.

Third period – 2, Seattle, Bear 18 (Barzal, Ottenbreit), 3:43. 3, Kamloops, Bauer 30 (Sideroff, Valentine), 8:42 (pp). 4, Seattle, Kolesar 11 (Ottenbreit, Gropp), 15:51. 5, Seattle, Moilanen 15 (Ottenbreit, Neuls), 17:05. 6, Kamloops, Bauer 31 (Sideroff, Gatenby), 18:23. Penalties – Sideroff, Kam (hooking), 5:50. True, Sea (high-sticking), 7:19.

Overtime – 7, Seattle, Kolesar 12 (Bear), 1:07. Penalties – No penalties.

Shots on goal – Seattle 21-16-19-2 58, Kamloops 6-13-5-1 25. Goalies – Seattle, Toth 25 shots-22 saves (25-15-1-0); Kamloops, Ingram 58-54 (18-9-2-0). Power plays – Seattle 0-4; Kamloops 1-4. A – 4,407. Referees – Mike Langin, Sean Raphael. Linesmen – Nick Bilko, Ron Dietterle.