T-Birds Finish Regular Season With Second Most Wins In Franchise History

T-Birds 4-1 win over Portland gives them 45 wins on season

PORTLAND, March 20, 2016 — The Seattle Thunderbirds finished the regular season Sunday night with a 4-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks at the Moda Center in Portland.

The win gives the T-Birds a 45-23-4-0 (w-l-otl-sol) record and the second most wins in a regular season in franchise history. The 1989-90 T-Birds finished with a 52-17-3 (w-l-t) record. The 2002-03 T-Birds had a 44-22-3-3 (w-l-t-sol) record.

The T-Birds finish the season with a league best 29-5-2-0 record at ShoWare Center. This is the second best home record in team history. The 1989-90 team had a 31-4-1 (w-l-t) record at home.  

The T-Birds are the number one penalty killing team in the WHL this season. They allowed 44 goals on 300 opponent opportunities for an 85.3% success rate.

The T-Birds finish the season with the third best power play in the league. They scored 70 power-play goals this season on 295 opportunities for a 23.7% conversion percentage. The Lethbridge Hurricanes (28.9%) and Kelowna Rockets (24.5%) are the only two teams ahead of the T-Birds on the power play.

Mathew Barzal finishes the season with 27 goals and 61 assists for 88 points which puts him in a tie for 11th in the league in scoring. Barzal is tied with Brayden Point of the Moose Jaw Warriors who had 35 goals and 53 assists.

Ethan Bear finishes the season fifth in the league in scoring by a defenseman. Bear had 19 goals and 46 assists for 65 points.

Seattle goalies Landon Bow and Logan Flodell combined for a league best eight shutouts by a goalie tandem this season. Bow had five shutouts and Flodell had three shutouts for the T-Birds.

Bow had two shutouts with the Swift Current Broncos before he was acquired at the trade deadline. Bow led the league in shutouts with seven, one ahead of Everett’s Carter Hart.

The U.S. Division Champion T-Birds enter the playoffs having secured a point in 14 consecutive games. They have also won 17 of their last 19 games.

The T-Birds will open the playoffs at ShoWare Center on Friday, March 25, at 7:35pm against the Prince George Cougars. Game 2 of the best-of-seven first round series will be Saturday, March 26, at 7:05pm at ShoWare Center.

Games 3 and 4 of the series are on Tuesday, March 29, and Wednesday, March 30, at the CN Centre in Prince George. Both games start at 7pm.

Game 5 if necessary is Friday, April 1, at the ShoWare Center at 7:35pm.

Game 6 if necessary is Sunday, April 3, at the CN Centre at 7pm.

Game 7 if necessary is Tuesday, April 5, at the ShoWare Centre at 7:05pm.

Seattle vs. Prince George First Round Schedule
Game 1 Prince George @ Seattle Friday, March 25, 7:35pm
Game 2 Prince George @ Seattle Saturday, March 26, 7:05pm
Game 3 Seattle @ Prince George Tuesday, March 29, 7pm
Game 4 Seattle @ Prince George Wednesday, March 30, 7pm
Game 5 Prince George @ Seattle Friday, April 1, 7:35pm*
Game 6 Seattle @ Prince George Sunday, April 3, 7pm*
Game 7 Prince George @ Seattle Tuesday, April 5, 7:05pm*
* if necessary

Single game playoff tickets are currently on sale on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. The ShoWare Center Box Office is open Monday through Friday 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday and Sunday game days at noon.

Portland (34-31-6-1) took a 1-0 lead at 17:03 of the first period. Dominic Turgeon put back a rebound of a Caleb Jones shot one second after a T-Birds power play ended.

The Winterhawks outshot the T-Birds 12-8 in the first period.

The T-Birds tied the game 1-1 1:48 into the second period. Elijah Brown backhanded the puck from the left boards to Nolan Volcan in the left corner. Volcan centered the puck to Donovan Neuls in the slot. Neuls beat Portland goalie Michael Bullion low for his 14th goal of the season.

Brown’s assist was his first career point as a T-Bird. Brown was the T-Birds first round selection, 15th overall, in the 2015 Bantam Draft.

Seattle took a 2-1 lead on an unassisted power-play goal from Barzal at 13:54 of the second. Barzal took control of a loose puck on the right boards in Portland’s zone and skated to the bottom of the right circle. Barzal made a centering pass to Alexander True but the puck hit a defenseman’s skate and redirected past Bullion.

True scored on a breakaway with 48 seconds left in the second to give the T-Birds a 3-1 lead. Neuls stole the puck from Portland in the neutral zone, spun towards the Portland zone then backhanded the puck past two Portland defenseman to True. True beat Bullion low on the glove side for his 14th goal of the season.

Portland led 24-17 in shots by outshooting the T-Birds 12-9 in the second period.

Brown scored a power-play goal with 49 seconds left in game to get the T-Birds fourth goal. Barzal had the puck in the left circle and passed it to Brown just to the left of the Portland net. Brown had his back to Bullion and took the pass on his backhand. Brown spun to his right bringing the puck to his forehand and then lifted it with over Bullion’s left shoulder with a backhand shot. It was Brown’s first career goal as a T-Birds and gave him a two-point night. Bear had the second assist on the on the goal.

Portland outshot Seattle 10-8 in the third period and 34-25 in the game.

Flodell made 33 saves on 34 shots to improve his record to 22-14-3-0.

Bullion had 21 saves on 25 shots and his record is now 2-4-0-1.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Portland, Turgeon 35 (Jones), 17:03. Penalties – Osterman, Sea (boarding), 4:43. Schumacher, Sea (double minor-high sticking), 9:38. Clayton, Por (hooking), 15:02.

Second period – 2, Seattle, Neuls 14 (Volcan, Brown), 1:48. 3, Seattle, Barzal 27, 13:54 (pp). 4, Seattle, True 14 (Neuls), 19:12. Penalties – Schoenborn, Por (hooking), 8:05. Iverson, Por (high-sticking), 13:44. Ottenbreit, Sea (tripping), 15:04.

Third period – 5, Seattle, Brown 1 (Barzal, Bear), 19:11 (pp). Penalties – Barzal, Sea (tripping), 4:24. Ottenbreit, Sea (roughing), 11:49. Schoenborn, Por (slashing), 16:09. De Jong, Por (slashing), 17:56.  Wedman, Sea (roughing), 19:21. Clayton, Sea (roughing), 19:21. Ormsby, Sea (roughing), 20:00. Czaikowski, Por (roughing), 20:00.

Shots on goal – Seattle 8-9-8 25, Portland 12-12-10 34. Goalies – Seattle, Flodell 34 shots-33 saves (22-14-3-0); Portland, Bullion 25-21 (2-4-0-1). Power plays – Seattle 2-5; Portland 0-6. A – 10,947. Referees – Chris Crich, Jeff Ingram. Linesmen – Nick Bilko, Nathan Van Oosten.