T-Birds, Bow silence Saskatoon | WHL

The Seattle Thunderbirds shut out the Saskatoon Blades 4-0 in a Western Hockey League game Tuesday night at the ShoWare Center.

The T-Birds peppered Saskatoon goalie Evan Smith with 44 shots while limiting the Blades to just 17 shots.

Seattle goalie Landon Bow got the shutout, his second with the T-Birds and improved his record to 14-15-4-0. Bow has a 5-1-0-0 record with two shutouts, a .945 save percentage and a 1.51 goals against average in seven games with the T-Birds since being acquired from the Swift Current Broncos Bow.

Seattle (25-16-3-0) took a 1-0 lead at 16:56 of the first period on Donovan Neuls seventh goal of the season. Mathew Barzal had the puck behind the Blades net and centered it to Neuls coming down the slot. Neuls beat Saskatoon goalie Evan Smith low for the goal, which gave him a three-game goal streak. Jared Hauf had the second assist on the goal.

The T-Birds jumped out to a 4-0 lead with three goals in 3:04 early in the second period.

Keegan Kolesar snapped a wrist shot past Smith low on the stick side at 3:12 on the power play to make it a 2-0 lead. Barzal curled in the right circle and found Kolesar in the slot. It was Kolesar’s 20th goal of the season.

Bryan Allbee beat Smith with a slap shot from inside the blue line at 4:49 to make it a 3-0 lead. Smith had traffic in front of him and did not see Allbee’s shot. Nolan Volcan and Nick Holowko had the assists.

The T-Birds made it a 4-0 lead on a power-play goal by Barzal at 6:16 of the second. Ethan Bear passed the puck to Ryan Gropp at the top of the left circle. Gropp skated into the slot and took a hard wrist shot. The puck hit Smith but got through the goalie and lay behind him. Barzal was to the left of the net and spotted the puck. He raced to the crease and poked the puck across the line as Smith tried to turn and cover the puck.

Weekend series

The T-Birds have a home-and-home series with the Portland Winterhawks this weekend. The T-Birds are in Portland at 7 p.m. Friday. The teams are at ShoWare Center on Saturday for a 7:05 p.m. face-off in the annual Fred Meyer Teddy Bear Toss Game presented by WARM 106.9 FM.

Teddy Bears are tossed on the ice after the T-Birds first goal and collected by the WARM 106.9 FM Teddy Bear Patrol and given to fire and police departments and other charitable organizations who give them to children in times of emergency or stress.

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.

Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Neuls 7 (Barzal, Hauf), 16:56. Penalties – Graham, Sas (double minor-checking from behind), 4:17.

Second period – 2, Seattle, Kolesar 20 (Barzal), 3:12 (pp). 3, Seattle, Allbee 5 (Volcan, Holowko), 4:49. 4, Seattle, Barzal 13 (Gropp, Bear), 6:16 (pp). Penalties – Sayers, Sas (holding), 2:57. Sayers, Sas (checking to the head), 4:59. Gay, Sas (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:16. Leth, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:16. Hauf, Sea (tripping), 10:33. Ottenbreit, Sea (major-fighting, game misconduct), 18:03. Zajac, Sas (major-fighting), 18:03. Kolesar, Sea (roughing), 20:00.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Hajek, Sas (roughing), 5:20. Hauf, Sea (hooking), 7:56. Hajek, Sas (checking from behind), 18:58.

Shots on goal – Seattle 13-17-14 44, Saskatoon 5-4-8 17. Goalies – Seattle, Bow 17 shots-17 saves (14-15-4-0); Saskatoon, Smith 44-40 (1-5-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 2-6; Saskatoon 0-3. A – 5,177. Referees – Mark Pearce, Nick Swaine. Linesmen – Bevan Mills, Michael Bean.