T-Birds blow past Hurricanes | WHL

Roberts Lipsbergs had a hat trick and Alexander Delnov had two goals to pace the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 6-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes Saturday night at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge.

Seattle goalie Justin Myles made 27 saves on 29 shots to get the win and improve his record to 3-1-0-0.

Mathew Barzal had four assists and Shea Theodore had three assists. Riley Sheen and Justin Hickman each had two assists.

The T-Birds are in the midst of a six-game road trip. They face the Kootenay Ice at 5 p.m. Sunday. They finish out road trip on Friday, Oct. 11, at the Kelowna Rockets. The T-Birds are 2-2-0-0 on the road trip.

Seattle (5-2-0-0) took a 1-0 lead at 8:43 of the first period on Roberts Lipsbergs third goal of the season. Barzal broke down the left wing and then centered the puck to Lipsbergs. Lipsbergs beat Lethbridge goalie Corbin Boes to give the T-Birds a 1-0 lead. Hickman had the second assist.

The T-Birds went in front 2-0 at 9:49 of the first on Alexander Delnov’s fifth goal of the season. Sheen moved the puck to Theodore at the right point. Theodore put a slap shot on goal that Delnov tipped past Boes for the goal.

Seattle made it a 3-0 lead at 12:12 of the first on a power-play goal from Lipsbergs. Hickman sent the puck out from behind the net to Barzal in the left circle. Barzal hit Lipsbergs in the slot and he one-time the pass past Boes for his second goal of the night.

Lethbridge replaced Boes with Christoper Tai in net after the third Seattle goal. Boes made seven saves on 10 shots and his record falls to 1-3-0-1.

The T-Birds extended the lead to 4-0 at 16:54 of the first on Lipsbergs third goal of the night. Theodore and Barzal had the assists. The hat trick was the first of the season for the T-Birds.

Seattle outshot Lethbridge 14-10 in the first period.

Lethbridge (1-4-0-1) got on the board at 14:55 of the second period on a power-play goal by Jaimen Yakubowski. Russell Maxwell and Brady Ramsay had the assists.

Both teams had eight shots on goal in the second period. The T-Birds led 22-18 in total shots after 40 minutes.

Michal Holub scored 2:33 into the third period to get the T-Birds a 5-2 lead. Theodore and Barzal assisted on Holub’s first goal of the season.

Maxwell scored at 11:43 of the third to get the Hurricanes second goal. Ryan Pilon had the only assist on the goal.

Delnov got his second of the night, at 18:14 of the second, to give the T-Birds a 6-2 lead. Sheen and defenseman Griffin Foulk had the assists.

Seattle outshot Lethbridge 13-11 in the third period and 35-29 in the game.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Lipsbergs 3 (Barzal, Hickman), 8:43. 2, Seattle, Delnov 5 (Theodore, Sheen), 9:49. 3, Seattle, Lipsbergs 4 (Hickman, Barzal), 12:12 (pp). 4, Seattle, Hickman 2 (Lipsbergs), 16:54. Penalties – Yakubowski, Let (high-sticking), 11:56. Hauf, Sea (hooking), 13:13. Hickman, Sea (hooking), 13:44. Derko, Let (interference), 16:02. Honey, Sea (major-fighting), 19:47. Mckechnie, Let (high-sticking, major-fighting), 19:47.

Second period – 5, Lethbridge, Yakubowski 1 (Maxwell, Ramsay), 14:55 (pp). Penalties – Hickman, Sea (high-sticking), 6:20. Hauf, Sea (high-sticking), 13:35.

Third period – 6, Seattle, Holub 1 (Theodore, Barzal), 2:33. 7, Lethbridge, Maxwell 2 (Pilon), 11:43. 8, Seattle, Delnov 6 (Sheen, Foulk), 18:14. Penalties – Erkamps, Let (interference), 3:22. Derko, Let (boarding), 5:05. Estephan, Let (checking from behind), 12:33. Delnov, Sea (roughing), 14:17.

Shots on goal – Seattle 14-8-13 35, Lethbridge 10-8-11 11. Goalies – Seattle, Myles 29 shots-27 saves (3-1-0-0); Lethbridge, Boes 10-7 (1-3-0-1), Tai 25-22. Power plays – Seattle 2-6; Lethbridge 1-5. A – 3,373. Referees – Kevin Bennett, Colin Watt. Linesmen – Matthew Barker, Matt Schoenroth