T-Birds Fly Past Winterhawks In Shootout

T-Birds finish regular season Sunday in Portland

KENT, March 19, 2016 — The Seattle Thunderbirds came back from a three-goal deficit Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 6,203 at ShoWare Center to defeat the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 in a shootout.

Seattle (44-23-4-0) has one game remaining in the regular season. They play the Winterhawks Sunday in Portland at 5pm.

The U.S. Division Champion 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.

The T-Birds had their team awards ceremony after the shootout win against Portland.  The winners of the team awards were:

HUMANITARIAN AWARD – Jerret Smith

SCHOLASTIC PLAYER – Matthew Wedman

MOST IMPROVED – Matthew Wedman

MOST DEDICATED (voted on by team) – Donovan Neuls

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Jarret Tyszka

TOP SCORER – Mathew Barzal

DEFENSEMAN OF THE YEAR – Ethan Bear

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER – Mathew Barzal

Keegan Kolesar was the first T-Birds shooter in the shootout. Kolesar came down on Portland goalie Adin Hill and beat the goalie on the glove side. Seattle goalie Landon Bow stopped Rihards Bukarts with a stretching left pad save.

Jerret Smith was the T-Birds second shooter and Hill made a save on the T-Birds captain. Jack Dougherty beat Landon Bow with a move to his backhand as he lifted the puck high into the net.
Nolan Volcan was stopped by Hill in the third round of the shootout. Bow made a left pad save on Dominic Turgeon to send the shootout to sudden death.

Donovan Neuls was the T-Birds fourth shooter  Neuls came down, made a move to his backhand, lost an edge and fell to his knees but was able to beat Hill with backhand shot through the legs.

Alex Schoenborn needed to score to extend the shootout. Schoenborn missed the net on his shot.

T-Birds 2015 first round bantam pick Elijah Brown made his T-Birds debut in the shootout win.

Portland (34-30-6-1) took a 1-0 lead at 10:57 of the first period on a five-on-three power-play goal at 10:57. Dominic Turgeon and Caleb Jones had the assists.

Portland outshot Seattle 20-6 in the first period.

The Winterhawks went in front 3-0 on goals at 2:43 and 4:20 of the second period. Rihards Bukarts had the first goal, which came on the power play, and Colton Veloso had the second goal.

The T-Birds got on the board at 12:34 of the second on a power-play goal from Scott Eansor. Ethan Bear sent the puck low to Nolan Volcan. Volcan brought the puck out of the corner to the Portland net. Eansor jammed the loose puck past Portland goalie Adin Hill. It was the third straight game Eansor has scored a goal.

The T-Birds outshot the Winterhawks 12-9 in the second period. The Winterhawks lead 29-18 in total shots after two periods.

The T-Birds cut the Winterhawks lead to one goal at 12:24 of the third period on a five-on-three
power-play goal from Ethan Bear. Bear had the puck on the top of the right circle and passed it to Donovan Neuls on the goal line. Neuls passed the puck back to Bear who one-timed the pass. Bear’s slap shot beat Hill over the glove for his 19th goal of the season.

Seattle tied the game 3-3 at 13:26 of the third on a power-play goal from Alexander True. Kolesar had the puck along the left boards and sent it to Bear at the right point. Bear looked like he was going to take a wrist shot but slid the puck to True to the right of Hill. The Portland goalie had moved to his right thinking Bear was going to take a wrist shot. True had the whole net to shoot at and he buried it for his 13th goal of the season.

Seattle outshot Portland 12-9 in the third period.

The T-Birds had a power play in overtime but were not able to convert. They outshoot the Winterhawks 6-0 in overtime.

The Winterhawks outshot the T-Birds 38-37 in the game.

Bow made 35 saves on 38 shots and his record is 25-20-4-0.

Hill stopped 34 of 37 shots and his record is now 33-27-5-1.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Portland, Dougherty 11 (Turgeon, Jones), 10:57 (pp). Penalties – Neuls, Sea (tripping), 4:50. True, Sea (roughing), 9:26. Hauf, Sea (charging), 10:45. Uhrich, Sea (major-fighting), 18:04. McKenzie, Por (major-fighting), 18:04.

Second period – 2, Portland, Bukarts 31 (Iverson, Turgeon), 2:43 (pp). 3, Portland, Veloso 11 (Overhardt, Weinger), 4:20. 4, Seattle, Eansor 12 (Volcan, Bear), 12:34 (pp). Penalties – Kolesar, Sea (hooking), :12. Bench, Sea (too many men-served by Holowko), 1:46. Volcan, Sea (major-fighting), 5:31. Heinrich, Por (major-fighting), 5:31. Hughes, Por (checking to the head), 11:02. Veloso, Por (slashing), 12:34. Kolesar, Sea (roughing), 13:38. Schoenborn, Por (roughing), 13:38. Weinger, Por (roughing), 16:44.

Third period – 5, Seattle, Bear 19 (Neuls, Smith), 12:24 (pp). 6, Seattle, True 13 (Bear, Kolesar), 13:26 (pp). Penalties – Jones, Por (tripping), 11:32. Heinrich, Por (tripping), 11:58. Schuldhaus, Sea (holding), 17:12.

Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – Teixeira, Por (high-sticking), 2:45.

Shootout – Seattle 2 (Kolesar G, Smith NG, Volcan NG Neuls G). Portland 1 (Bukarts NG, Dougherty G, Turgeon NG, Schoenborn NG).

Shots on goal – Seattle 6-12-12-6-1 37, Portland 20-9-9-0-0 38. Goalies – Seattle, Bow 38 shots-35 saves (25-20-4-0); Portland, Hill 37-34 (33-27-5-1). Power plays – Seattle 3-6; Portland 2-6. A – 6,203. Referees – Curtis Marouelli, Derek Zalaski. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Ron Dietterle.