The Seattle Thunderbirds scored two goals in the first 2:49 of the game Saturday night at the ShoWare Center against the Victoria Royals and never looked back, skating to a 6-3 victory.
The T-Birds have now won three games in a row and face the Spokane Chiefs Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Sunday at Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane. The game Sunday is the first of three consecutive games against the Chiefs.
Seattle (15-9-1-3) jumped out to a 1-0 lead 2:11 into the game on Alexander Delnov’s 13th goal of the season. Jared Hauf sent the puck from the left point to Delnov behind the Victoria goal. Delnov came out from behind the net on the left side and shot the puck off the back of Victoria goalie Patrik Polivka’s leg and into the net. It was Delnov’s fourth goal in the last three games.
The T-Birds scored 38 seconds after Delnov’s goal to take a 2-0 lead. Mathew Barzal made a nice play along the left boards to control the puck and send it to Hauf at the left point. Hauf took a slap shot that Roberts Lipsbergs tipped past Polivka for his 16th goal of the season.
Victoria called their timeout after the T-Birds second goal.
Victoria (18-11-0-1) cut the T-Birds lead to one goal at 11:03 of the first. Mitch Skapski poked in a loose puck in the crease. Logan Fisher and Ryan Gagnon had the assists.
Victoria outshot Seattle 11-8 in the first period.
A T-Birds turnover to the right of their net led to the Royals second goal. Logan Fisher banged in a loose puck in the slot at 4:45 of the second period to tie the game. Skapski had the only assist.
The T-Birds scored four goals in 4:56 of the second, three in 1:04, to take a 6-2 lead into the second intermission.
Goalie Danny Mumaugh moved the puck up to the neutral zone to Seth Swenson. Swenson dropped the puck for defenseman Shea Theodore who sped into the Royals zone on a two-on-one. Theodore came down on the left wing and snapped the puck over Polivka’s glove for the go-ahead goal at 12:41 of the second.
The T-Birds doubled the Royals at 16:33 of the second with a power-play goal by Mathew Barzal. Branden Troock had the puck along the left boards. He centered it to Lipsbergs who snapped a shot on goal. The puck hit the right post and lay in the crease behind Polivka. Barzal skated in from the goal line to the left of the goal, dove behind Polivka and poked the puck into the net.
The T-Birds took a 5-2 lead at 16:52 of the second on a nice play from Ryan Gropp and Troock. Gropp skated around a Victoria defenseman in the neutral zone and headed down the left wing. Gropp sent a saucer pass to Troock coming down the slot. Troock batted the puck out of the air and past Polivka for the goal.
The Royals replaced Polivka with Coleman Vollrath after the T-Birds fifth goal. Polivka had 17 saves on 22 shots and his record is now 13-9-0-0.
The T-Birds struck for a power-play goal 45 seconds after their fifth goal to take a 6-2 lead. Troock had the puck along the left boards and passed it to Theodore inside the blue line at center ice. Theodore took a slap shot that Lipsbergs tipped past Vollrath for his second goal of the game.
The T-Birds outshot the Royals 18-7 in the second period and led 26-18 after two periods.
The Royals scored a third goal at 7:12 of the third period. Brandon Fushimi got the goal off assists from Axel Blomqvist and Ben Walker.
The T-Birds outshot the Royals 33-30 in the game.
Seattle goalie Danny Mumaugh stopped 27 of 30 shots to improve his record to 7-5-1-3.
Vollrath made 10 saves on 11 shots in 17:36 of action.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Delnov 13 (Hauf), 2:11. 2, Seattle, Lipsbergs 16 (Hauf, Barzal), 2:49. 3, Victoria, Skapski 1 (Fisher, Gagnon), 11:03. Penalties – Magee, Vic (major-fighting), 7:05. Yakubowski, Sea (major-fighting), 7:05. Swenson, Sea (hooking), 8:33.
Second period – 4, Victoria, Fisher 2 (Skapski), 4:45. 5, Seattle, Theodore 12 (Swenson, Mumaugh), 12:41. 6, Seattle, Barzal 4 (Lipsbergs, Troock), 16:33 (pp). 7, Seattle, Troock 9 (Gropp, Delnov), 16:52. 8, Seattle, Lipsbergs 17 (Theodore, Troock), 17:37 (pp). Penalties – Reddekopp, Vic (tripping), 6:30. Hodges, Vic (hooking), 15:49. Kanzig, Vic (delay of game), 17:03. Hodges, Vic (checking to the head), 19:42.
Third period – 9, Victoria, Fushimi 11 (Blomqvist, Walker), 7:12. Penalties – Eansor, Sea (slashing), 1:50. Lipsbergs, Sea (kneeing), 5:01. Troock, Sea (high-sticking), 12:42.
Shots on goal – Seattle 8-18-7 33, Victoria 11-7-12 30. Goalies – Seattle, Mumaugh 30 shots-27 saves (7-5-1-3); Victoria, Polivka 22-17 (13-9-0-0), Coleman 11-10. Power plays – Seattle 2-4; Victoria 0-4. A – 3,598. Referees – Steve Papp, Colin Watt. Linesmen – Bevan Mills, Nathan Van Oosten.
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