Keegan Kolesar had a hat trick to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-2 Western Hockey League win over the Victoria Royals at the ShoWare Center on Sunday night.
The loss snapped the Royals’ 11-game win streak. Victoria had a 2-1 lead with more than seven minutes into the third period before the T-Birds struck for three goals.
The T-Birds swept the four-game season series with the Royals. Seattle goalie Logan Flodell, who won all four games against Victoria this season, made 33 saves on 35 shots Sunday night to improve his record to 16-12-3-0.
Seattle is 31-22-3-0, five points behind the Everett Silvertips for first place in the U.S. Division.
The hat trick was Kolesar’s second of the season. He had three goals against the Brandon Wheat Kings in a 7-2 win at ShoWare on Oct. 27. Kolesar has 30 goals this season.
Seattle opened the scoring at 7:06 of the first period. Kolesar skated the puck down the right wing on a two-on-two with Nick Holowko. From the right circle, Kolesar crossed the puck to Holowko. The pass hit a Victoria defenseman’s stick and went over Victoria goalie Coleman Vollrath’s right shoulder for the goal.
Victoria (37-16-2-3) tied the game 1-1 at 10:07 of the first on a goal from Tyler Soy. The Royals took a 2-1 lead at 1:33 of the second period on a goal from Dante Hannoun.
The T-Birds tied the game 2-2 at 7:36 of the third period on Kolesar’s second goal of the game. Scott Eansor passed the puck from the neutral zone to Ryan Gropp skating down the left wing. Gropp centered the puck from the left wing with Eansor and Kolesar going to the net. Kolesar poked the loose puck through Vollrath for the tying goal.
The T-Birds took the lead 3-2 at 14:12 of the third on the power play. Mathew Barzal passed the puck to Ethan Bear inside the blue line at center ice. Bear put a slap shot on goal that beat Vollrath high for his 13th goal of the season. Gropp had the second assist on the go-ahead goal.
Kolesar iced the game at 18:33 of the third with an unassisted empty-net goal.
Victoria outshot Seattle 10-8 in the third period and 35-27 in the game.
Vollrath had 24 saves on 27 shots, and his record is 24-13-0-2.
Next up: Spokane on home ice
The T-Birds host the Spokane Chiefs at 7:35 p.m. Friday at the ShoWare Center. They play the Everett Silvertips at Xfinity Arena in Everett at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets are available online at the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. The ShoWare Center Box Office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Kolesar 28 (Holowko, Ottenbreit), 7:06. 2, Victoria, Soy 33 (Bobylev, Walker), 10:07. Penalties – Smith, Sea (hooking), 1:52. Soy, Vic (goaltender interference), 4:25. Smith, Sea (tripping), 12:34. Kolesar, Sea (charging), 19:42.
Second period – 3, Victoria, Hannoun 21 (Reddekopp, Walford), 1:33 (pp). Penalties – Smith, Sea (double minor-high sticking), 6:58. Uhrich, Sea (checking from behind), 15:52.
Third period – 4, Seattle, Kolesar 29 (Gropp, Eansor), 7:36. 5, Seattle, Bear 13 (Barzal, Gropp), 14:12 (pp). 6, Seattle, Kolesar 30, 18:33 (en). Penalties – Ibragimov, Vic (holding), 13:12.
Shots on goal – Seattle 12-5-8 27, Victoria 10-15-10 35. Goalies – Seattle, Flodell 35 shots-33 saves (16-12-3-0); Victoria, Vollrath 27-25 (24-13-0-2). Power plays – Seattle 1-2; Victoria 1-6. A – 4,003. Referees – Curtis Marouelli, Dexter Rasmussen. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Al Creigh.
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