Thunderbirds outlast Giants in shootout for 40th win | WHL

The Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Vancouver Giants 4-3 in a shootout Sunday night at the ShoWare Center, getting their 40th win of the WHL season.

Seattle (40-22-2-4) holds a four-point lead over the Spokane Chiefs for fourth place in the Western Conference.

Seattle has its final two home games of the regular season this week, starting on Tuesday when the T-Birds host the Chiefs at 7:05 p.m. Seattle hosts the Portland Winterhawks at 7:35 p.m. Friday.

Vancouver (31-28-7-3) is seventh in the West.

Danny Mumaugh made 32 saves on 35 shots, getting his 15th win of the season.

“He’s a battler and competes ever day in practice,” said Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk. “It’s tough when you don’t play as much … he went in there and played well and battled in the shootout.”

Mumaugh added:

“Our team battled really well in front of me and every single guy played a full 60 minutes,” he said Mumaugh about the team’s effort in the game. “As a goalie, you have to stay mentally sharp. … I just worry about my end of the bargain in stopping shots.”

Payton Lee took the loss, making his record 18-19-2-3. Lee stopped 43 of 46 shots.

Overtime saw a few opportunities for each team, the best of which came from Seattle’s minute-long stretch of possession in the offensive zone with less than three minutes left. Vancouver was only able to clear the puck away for an icing, giving the T-Birds another chance. The rest of the extra time saw rushes up the ice from both teams, including a 2-on-1 for the Giants with 30 seconds left.

Seattle’s first two shooters, Branden Troock and Mathew Barzal, missed in the shootout, putting them in a 1-0 hole after Vancouver’s first shooter, Cain Franson. scored. Shea Theodore beat Lee with a backhand move to send the shootout to sudden death. Roberts Lipsbergs scored in the fifth round, cutting across the slot and beating Lee with a wrist shot, to get the win.

Seattle’s third power play of the night came with five minutes left in the first period. Barzal scored the tying goal a minute into this man advantage, tipping a Shea Theodore shot from the point to make it 1-1. Theodore and Adam Henry had the assists on the goal.

Seattle took the lead at 6:52 of the second period. Theodore managed to hold the puck in the zone during a long offensive possession. The defenseman then deked around two Giants and threw a pass to Alexander Delnov, who managed to work it out of his skates and put a backhanded pass past Lee. It was Delnov’s 28th goal this year, with Theodore and Sam McKechnie getting the assists.

Jerret Smith extended the T-Birds lead to 3-1 at 16:26, tipping the puck into the net on a delayed penalty. Scott Eansor made the pass to Smith, throwing the puck through traffic to the streaking defenseman. Eansor had the primary assist on the goal, which came after Jaimen Yakubowski drew a delayed penalty. Theodore had the secondary assist, giving him three on the night.

The Giants pulled even with a pair of goals in the third period.

Tickets

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 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Vancouver, Atwal 5 (Franson), 3:45 (pp). 2, Seattle, Barzal 13 (Theodore, Henry), 16:10 (pp). Penalties – Hamilton, Vancouver (tripping), :54. Elliot, Seattle (boarding), 3:41. Lofthouse, Vancouver (tripping), 4:39. Eansor, Seattle (10-minute misconduct), 9;52. Yakubowski Seattle (tripping), 9:52. Yakubowski, Seattle (major-fighting), 9:52. Houck, Vancouver (major-fighting), 9:52. Houck, Vancouver (instigator), 9:52. Houck, Vancouver (10-minute misconduct), 9:52. Morrison, Vancouver (10-minute misconduct), 9:52. Wardley, Seattle (cross-checking), 10:27. Leone, Vancouver (tripping), 15:06. Kolesar, Seattle (10-minute misconduct), 20:00. Geertsen, Vancouver (10-minute misconduct), 20:00. Atwal, Vancouver (unsportsmanlike conduct), 20:00.

Second period – 3, Seattle, Delnov 28 (Theodore, McKechnie), 6:52. 4, Seattle, Smith 3 (Eansor, Theodore), 16:26. Penalties – No penalties.

Third period – 5, Vancouver, Geertsen 4 (Hamilton, Sward), 10:01 (pp). 6, Vancouver, Franson 30 (unassisted), 10:06. Penalties – Houck, Vancouver (goaltender interference), 6:08. Elliot, Seattle (hooking), 8:19.

Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.

Shootout – Seattle 2 (Troock NG, Barzal NG, Theodore G, McKechnie NG, Lipsbergs G). Vancouver 1 (Franson G, Popoff NG, Kulak NG, Ronning NG, Lofthouse NG).

Shots on goal – Seattle 13-19-12-2-1 47, Vancouver 12-7-13-3-0 35. Goalies – Seattle, Mumaugh 35 shots-32 saves (15-9-2-3); Vancouver, Lee 46-43 (18-19-3-3). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Vancouver 2-3. A – 3,584. Referees – Brett Iverson, Curtis Marouelli. Linesmen – Ryan Gibbons, Spencer Lockert.