T-Birds take Game 1 of series against Winterhawks | WHL playoffs

For the Reporter

The Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 in a wild Game 1 of their first-round Western Hockey League playoff series Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

The T-Birds had a two-goal lead in the first period but Portland came back on three consecutive goals. Seattle tied it up midway through the third period and then scored with under thee minutes left to get win. They had to kill off two Portland power plays, the second of which was a 6-on-4 advantage, in the last five minutes of the game.

The T-Birds lead the best-of-seven series 1-0 with Game 2 at 5 p.m. today at the Moda Center.

Mathew Barzal had two goals, Ryan Gropp had two assists and Cory Millette had a goal and an assist in the win.

Seattle goalie Taran Kozun stopped 34 of 37 shots to get the win.

Barzal gave the T-Birds 1-0 lead 1:01 into the game. Gropp carried the puck up the left wing into the Portland zone. Gropp centered the puck to Barzal in the high slot. Barzal beat Portland goalie Adin Hill through the legs for goal.

Millette gave the T-Birds a 2-0 lead at 15:43 of the period with a power-play goal. Jerret Smith took a wrist shot from the right point with Millette in front of Hill. The goalie made the save but Millette was right there to bang in the rebound. Shea Theodore had the second assist.

Defenseman Blake Heinrich scored for Portland with five seconds left in the period.

Portland outshot Seattle 10-8 in the first period.

Portland tied the game 2-2 on a power-play goal from Adam Henry at 8:37 of the second period.

The Winterhawks led 28-20 in shots after two periods.

Gropp was hauled down from behind on a breakaway at 6:17 of the third period and awarded a penalty shot. Gropp came down on Hill and the goalie made a blocker save on a low shot by Gropp to keep the game tied.

Portland came down and scored off the ensuing face-off from the missed penalty shot to take a 3-2 lead. Evan Weinger beat a T-Birds defenseman down the left wing and jammed the puck under Kozun. Miles Koules and Heinrich had the assists.

Scott Eansor tied the game 3-3 at 11:41 of the third. Nolan Volcan had a partial breakaway and got a shot on Hill. Hill looked behind him to his right for the puck as it lay in the crease to his left. Eansor was trailing the play and punched the puck into the net.

The T-Birds went to the penalty kill with just under five minutes left in the game. They were able to kill off the penalty and keep the game tied.

Seattle took a 4-3 lead with 2:42 left in the game. Millette moved the puck up the right side to Gropp. Gropp carried the puck into the Portland zone but lost control of it in the right circle. At the bottom of the right circle he got the puck back and backhanded it into the slot to Barzal. Barzal beat Hill low for his second goal of the game.

Portland pulled Hill for an extra attacker with a minute to go just before Gropp was called for high sticking with 57 seconds left. The Winterhawks had a 6-on-4 power play to end the game. The T-Birds were able to hold off the Winterhawks on the penalty kill and win the game.

Seattle outshot Portland 13-9 in the third period. Portland finished the game with a 37-33 advantage in shots.

Hill made 29 saves on 33 shots in the loss.

Tickets

Tickets for Games 3 and 4 are on sale on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. The box office is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.

Game 3 will be a Director’s Mortgage 2-for-Tuesday game. All tickets for Game 3 are 2-for-1 and ShoWare Center will feature concession specials including $2 beer, $2 hot dogs, $2 soda and $2 popcorn for all fans.

The T-Birds have a special ticket offer for Game 4. Fans can get 10 tickets for $200. Anyone who purchases the playoff ticket package will also receive two additional playoff tickets to Game 4, a T-Birds T-shirt of their choice from the Hockey Store in the ShoWare Center and $10 in Chuck-a-Pucks. Fans can purchase this package on the T-Birds website.

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PLAYOFF GLANCE
Seattle vs. Portland,  first-round series

Game 1 – Seattle 4, at Portland 3
Game 2 – Seattle @ Portland, March 29, 5 p.m. (Moda)
Game 3 – Portland @ Seattle, March 31, 7:05 p.m.
Game 4 – Portland @ Seattle, April 2, 7:05 p.m.
Game 5 – Seattle @ Portland, April 4, 6 p.m.* (VMC)
Game 6 – Portland @ Seattle, April 7, 7:05 p.m.*
Game 7 – Seattle @ Portland, April 8, 7 p.m.* (VMC)

*If necessary

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Barzal 1 (Gropp), 1:01. 2, Seattle, Millette 1 (Smith, Theodore), 15:43 (pp). 3, Portland, Heinrich 1 (Bittner, Petan), 19:55. Penalties – Hanson, Por (checking from behind), 5:38. Schoenborn, Por (interference), 15:35.

Second period – 4, Portland, Henry 1 (Bjorkstrand, Viveiros), 8:37 (pp). Penalties – Hauf, Sea (hooking), 7:26.

Third period – 5, Portland, Weinger 1 (Koules, Heinrich), 6:27. 6, Seattle, Eansor 1 9 (Volcan), 11:41. 7, Seattle, Barzal 2 (Gropp, Millette), 17:18. Penalties – Cederholm, Por (tripping), 6:17. Spencer, Sea (interference), 14:56. Gropp, Sea (high-sticking), 19:07.

Shots on goal – Seattle 8-12-13 33, Portland 10-18-9 37. Goalies – Seattle, Kozun 37 shots-34 saves (1-0); Portland, Hill 33-29 (0-1). Power plays – Seattle 1-2; Portland 1-3. A – 7,072. Referees – Steve Papp, Sean Raphael. Linesmen – Jarrod Bowman, Joel Nyberg.