The Seattle Thunderbirds rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 6,203 at the ShoWare Center.
Seattle (44-23-4-0) finish the regular season at Portland on Sunday. Face-off is 5 p.m.
The U.S. Division champion T-Birds open the Western Hockey League playoffs at home this Friday, March 25, at 7:35 p.m. against the Prince George Cougars. Game 2 of the best-of-seven, first-round series is Saturday, March 26, at 7:05 p.m. at ShoWare Center.
Keegan Kolesar was the T-Birds’ first shooter in the shootout. Kolesar came down on Portland goalie Adin Hill and beat the goalie on the glove side. Seattle goalie Landon Bow stopped Rihards Bukarts with a stretching left pad save.
Jerret Smith was the T-Birds’ second shooter, and Hill made a save on the T-Birds captain. Jack Dougherty beat Landon Bow with a move to his backhand as he lifted the puck high into the net.
Hill stopped Nolan Volcan in the third round of the shootout. Bow made a left pad save on Dominic Turgeon to send the shootout to sudden death.
Donovan Neuls, the T-Birds’ fourth shooter, came down, made a move to his backhand, lost an edge and fell to his knees but was able to beat Hill with a backhand shot through the legs.
Alex Schoenborn needed to score to extend the shootout but missed the net on his shot.
Top prospect gets some ice time
Elijah Brown, the T-Birds’ 2015 first-round bantam pick made his debut in the shootout win.
Portland (34-30-6-1) took a 1-0 lead at 10:57 of the first period on a five-on-three power-play goal at 10:57. Dominic Turgeon and Caleb Jones had the assists.
Portland outshot Seattle 20-6 in the first period.
The Winterhawks went in front 3-0 on goals at 2:43 and 4:20 of the second period. Rihards Bukarts had the first goal, which came on the power play, and Colton Veloso had the second goal.
The T-Birds got on the board at 12:34 of the second on a power-play goal from Scott Eansor. Ethan Bear sent the puck low to Volcan, who brought the puck out of the corner to the Portland net. Eansor jammed the loose puck past Hill.
It was the third straight game Eansor has scored a goal.
The T-Birds cut the Winterhawks’ lead to one goal at 12:24 of the third period on a five-on-three power-play goal from Ethan Bear. Bear had the puck on the top of the right circle and passed it to Neuls on the goal line. Neuls passed the puck back to Bear who one-timed the pass. Bear’s slap shot beat Hill over the glove for his 19th goal of the season.
Seattle tied the game 3-3 at 13:26 of the third on a power-play goal from Alexander True. Kolesar had the puck along the left boards and sent it to Bear at the right point. Bear looked like he was going to take a wrist shot but slid the puck to True to the right of Hill. The Portland goalie had moved to his right, thinking Bear was going to take a wrist shot. True had the whole net to shoot at and he buried it for his 13th goal of the season.
Seattle outshot Portland 12-9 in the third period.
The T-Birds had a power play in overtime but were not able to convert. They outshoot the Winterhawks 6-0 in overtime.
The Winterhawks outshot the T-Birds 38-37 in the game.
Bow made 35 saves on 38 shots and his record is 25-20-4-0.
Hill stopped 34 of 37 shots and his record is now 33-27-5-1.
Tickets
Single-game playoff tickets are on sale on 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., and Saturday and Sunday game days at noon.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Portland, Dougherty 11 (Turgeon, Jones), 10:57 (pp). Penalties – Neuls, Sea (tripping), 4:50. True, Sea (roughing), 9:26. Hauf, Sea (charging), 10:45. Uhrich, Sea (major-fighting), 18:04. McKenzie, Por (major-fighting), 18:04.
Second period – 2, Portland, Bukarts 31 (Iverson, Turgeon), 2:43 (pp). 3, Portland, Veloso 11 (Overhardt, Weinger), 4:20. 4, Seattle, Eansor 12 (Volcan, Bear), 12:34 (pp). Penalties – Kolesar, Sea (hooking), :12. Bench, Sea (too many men-served by Holowko), 1:46. Volcan, Sea (major-fighting), 5:31. Heinrich, Por (major-fighting), 5:31. Hughes, Por (checking to the head), 11:02. Veloso, Por (slashing), 12:34. Kolesar, Sea (roughing), 13:38. Schoenborn, Por (roughing), 13:38. Weinger, Por (roughing), 16:44.
Third period – 5, Seattle, Bear 19 (Neuls, Smith), 12:24 (pp). 6, Seattle, True 13 (Bear, Kolesar), 13:26 (pp). Penalties – Jones, Por (tripping), 11:32. Heinrich, Por (tripping), 11:58. Schuldhaus, Sea (holding), 17:12.
Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – Teixeira, Por (high-sticking), 2:45.
Shootout – Seattle 2 (Kolesar G, Smith NG, Volcan NG Neuls G). Portland 1 (Bukarts NG, Dougherty G, Turgeon NG, Schoenborn NG).
Shots on goal – Seattle 6-12-12-6-1 37, Portland 20-9-9-0-0 38. Goalies – Seattle, Bow 38 shots-35 saves (25-20-4-0); Portland, Hill 37-34 (33-27-5-1). Power plays – Seattle 3-6; Portland 2-6. A – 6,203. Referees – Curtis Marouelli, Derek Zalaski. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Ron Dietterle.
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