Keegan Kolesar had two goals to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 3-1 Western Hockey League victory over the Kamloops Blazers at the ShoWare Center on Wednesday night.
Seattle goalie Landon Bow made 28 saves in the win, improving to 16-18-4-0.
The T-Birds are in second place in the U.S. Division, five points behind the Everett Silvertips.
Seattle (28-19-3-0) took a 1-0 lead at 14:25 of the first period on a power-play goal from Kolesar. Ryan Gropp passed the puck from the left point to Ethan Bear at the right point. Bear skated down the right wall and then passed the puck back to Kolesar in the slot. Kolesar shot the puck over Kamloops goalie Connor Ingram’s right shoulder for his 25th goal of the season.
Seattle outshot Kamloops 14-7 in the first period.
The T-Birds scored at 8:47 of the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Josh Uhrich got a loose puck in the slot and took a shot. Ingram made the save but the puck rebounded to Matthew Wedman who banged it into the net for his sixth goal of the season.
The T-Birds had a 22-18 advantage in shots after two periods.
Kamloops (23-20-5-3) cut the T-Birds lead to one goal 20 seconds into the third period on a goal from Matt Needham.
Kolesar sealed the win with 50 seconds left on the clock with an empty-net goal. Gropp banged the puck off the left boards and down the ice. Kolesar chased down the puck and put it into the Kamloops net from the left circle.
The Blazers outshot the T-Birds 11-5 in the third period and 29-27 in the game.
Ingram made 24 saves on 26 shots and his record is now 20-12-5-3.
The game saw the debut of T-Birds defenseman Jared Pelechaty, who was paired with Brandon Schuldhaus for most of the game. Pelechaty was signed by the T-Birds on Tuesday.
The T-Birds travel to Portland on Friday to take on the Winterhawks at 7 p.m. at the Moda Center. The T-Birds host the Everett Silvertips at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at the ShoWare Center.
Single-game 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.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Kolesar 25 (Bear, Gropp), 14:25 (pp). Penalties – Shirley, Kam (hooking), 5:04. McDonald, Kam (cross checking), 12:52. Uhrich, Sea (kneeing), 17:52.
Second period – 2, Seattle, Wedman 6 (Uhrich), 8:47. Penalties – Barzal, Sea (hooking), 3:30. Uhrich, Sea (checking from behind), 16:35.
Third period – 3, Kamloops, Needham 15 (Pilon), :20. 4, Seattle, Kolesar 26 (Gropp), 19:10 (en). Penalties – Bench, Sea (too many men-served by Holowko), 4:49.
Shots on goal – Seattle 14-8-5 27, Kamloops 6-12-11 29. Goalies – Seattle, Bow 29 shots-28 saves (16-18-4-0); Kamloops, Ingram 26-24 (20-12-5-3). Power plays – Seattle 1-2; Kamloops 0-4. A – 4,227. Referees – Mark Pearce, Jeff Ingram. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Al Creigh.
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