The line of Erik Benoit, Sam McKechnie and Seth Swenson each had a goal Tuesday night to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings at the ShoWare Center.
This was McKechnie’s first game with the T-Birds since being acquired on October 24 from the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Seattle goalie Danny Mumaugh made 30 saves to get the win and improve his record to 5-1-0-2.
The T-Birds play the Portland Winterhawks at 7:05 p.m. Friday at the ShoWare Center. They travel to Everett Saturday night to take on the Silvertips at Comcast Arena at 7:05 p.m.
Seattle (11-3-0-2) took a 1-0 lead at 7:54 of the first period. Swenson chased down a puck heading towards the left corner. He got to the puck and centered it to Benoit coming down slot. Benoit redirected the puck at Brandon goalie Jordan Papirny. The goalie made the save but the rebound lay in the crease. McKechnie battled through a Brandon defenseman to poke the puck into the net.
Both teams had 11 shots on goal in the first period.
Seth Swenson was awarded a penalty shot 49 seconds into the second period when he was hooked from behind on a breakaway. Swenson converted the penalty shot to put the T-Birds in front 2-0. Swenson came down on Papirny and beat the goalie over the blocker with a hard wrist shot from between the circles.
Brandon (7-8-0-0) got on the board at 2:10 of the second on a goal from Ryley Lindgren. Brett Kitt had the only assist.
The T-Birds got the two-goal lead back with a high energy shift from the Benoit-McKechnie-Swenson line. The trio kept the puck in the Wheat Kings zone for an extended length of time to get the goal. Benoit moved the puck out of the right corner to Evan Wardley at the right point and then headed towards slot. Wardley held the puck then put a slap shot on net with Swenson standing in front of Papirny. The goalie made the save but the puck rebounded into the slot right to Benoit. Benoit carried the puck through the slot and beat a sprawling Papirny with a high shot for the goal.
Seattle outshot Brandon 14-11 in the second period and led 25-22 in total shots after two periods.
The Wheat Kings cut the T-Birds lead to one goal at 13:44 of the third period on scramble goal from Jens Meilleur. Quintin Lisoway and Tyler Coulter had the assists.
Seattle sealed the win with an empty-net goal by Shea Theodore with 45 seconds left in the game. Adam Henry passed the puck from the left corner to Theodore in the left corner. Theodore, from his own goal line, banked the puck off the glass and it rolled all the way down the ice and into the Brandon net. It was his seventh goal of the season.
Seattle outshot Brandon 33-32 in the game.
Papirny stopped 29 of 33 shots and his record is now 1-3-0-0.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, McKechnie 2 (Benoit, Swenson), 7:54. Penalties – Hickman, Sea (tripping), 8:52. Wardley, Sea (roughing), 9:41. Cooper, Brn (roughing), 9:41. Quenneville, Brn (roughing), 10:30. Yakubowski, Sea (major-checking to the head, major-fighting, game misconduct), 12:46. Waltz, Brn (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 12:46.
Second period – 2, Seattle, Swenson 8, :49 (ps). 3, Brandon, Lindgren 2 (Kitt), 2:10. 4, Seattle, Benoit 3 (Swenson, Wardley), 4:54. Penalties – Hickman, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct) 5:11. Lindgren, Brn (slashing), 15:49. Hickman, Sea (major-fighting), 19:08. Green, Brn (major-fighting), 19:08.
Third period – 5, Brandon, Meilleur 3 (Lisoway, Coulter), 13:44. 6, Seattle, Theodore 7 (Henry), 19:15 (en). Penalties – Wardley, Sea (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 5:14. Kitt, Brn (major-fighting), 5:14. Roy, Brn (10-minute misconduct), 19:15. Hauf, Sea (major-fighting), 19:52. Green, Brn (major-fighting), 19:52. Hickman, Sea (10-minute misconduct), 19:52. Quenneville, Brn (10-minute misconduct), 19:52.
Shots on goal – Seattle 11-14-8 33, Brandon 11-11-10 32. Goalies – Seattle, Mumaugh 32 shots-30 saves (5-1-0-2); Brandon, Papirny 32-29 (1-3-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 0-2; Brandon 0-3. A – 4,096. Referees – Jeff Ingram, Nick Swaine. Linesmen – Kevin Boris, Justin Nicol.
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