Roberts Lipsbergs had two goals and Branden Troock scored the shootout winning goal to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-3 shootout win over the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday at the ShoWare Center.
The 5,098 in attendance on opening night saw a back-and-forth game between the I-5 rivals. The T-Birds took a two-goal lead and a single goal lead in the game only to have the Winterhawks come back both times before the won the shootout 2-1.
Mathew Barzal was the first shooter for Seattle and he came down on Portland goalie Brendan Burke and beat the goalie with a backhand shot. Nic Petan was the first Portland shooter and he beat Seattle goalie Justin Myles over the left pad.
Alexander Delnov was the second shooter for Seattle and Burke made the save on a five-hole shot. Myles stopped Chase De Leo’s shot, but the puck was rolling towards the goal line Myles reached back and swiped the puck away.
Troock was the third Seattle shooter and he made a move right and snuck the puck under Burke for the goal. Oliver Bjorkstrand was the third Portland shooter and Myles was able to stop him to get the win for the T-Birds.
The T-Birds took a 1-0 lead at 15:40 of the period on a Lipsbergs goal. Jared Hauf kept the puck in the Portland zone along the left boards just inside the blue line. Seth Swenson grabbed at the puck, got it and then skated towards Burke. Lipsbergs, a left-handed shot, was along the goal line to the left of Burke. Swenson crossed the puck through the slot to Lipsbergs forcing Burke to his knees. Lipsbergs had a wide open net to shoot with the goalie out of position. He buried the shot for his first goal of the season.
Seattle (1-0-0-0) outshot Portland 16-8 in the first period.
Lipsbergs scored at 4:48 of the second period to extend the T-Birds lead to 2-0. Griffin Foulk took a shot from the left point that rebounded off Burke into the right circle. Barzal got the puck and put a shot on goal while spinning to his right. The shot rebounded right to Lipsbergs at the bottom of the left circle. Lipsbergs had the whole net to shoot at and scored his second of the night.
Portland (1-0-0-1) got on the board at 13:37 of the second when Ethan Price scored an unassisted goal directly off a faceoff.
The Winterhawks outshot the T-Birds 16-12 in the second period. The T-Birds led in shots, 28-24, after two periods.
The Winterhawks tied the game 2-2 51 seconds into the third period just after a power-play ended on a goal from Bjorkstrand. Petan and Taylor Leier were credited with the assists.
Seattle went in front 3-2 on a power-play goal from Jerret Smith at 5:52 of the third period. Smith beat Burke over the glove with a right point slap shot through traffic. Delnov and Keegan Kolesar had the assists.
Portland tied the game 3-3 at 12:08 of the third on a goal from Chase De Leo. Anton Cederholm and Leier had the assists.
Portland outshot Seattle 17-9 in the third period and led 41-37 in total shots after regulation.
Myles made 39 saves on 42 shots to get the win. His record is 1-0-0-0.
Burke stopped 38 of 41 shots and his record falls to 1-0-0-1.
Next up, Vancouver
The T-Birds next game is Wednesday when they travel to Vancouver to take on the Giants at Pacific Coliseum at 7 p.m. They are back home on Friday to play the Tri-City Americans at 7:35 p.m. at the ShoWare Center.
Single-game tickets are available online at the T-Birds website – tickets.seattlethunderbirds.com – 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.
Season tickets are on sale. They can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Lipsbergs 1 (Swenson, Hauf), 15:40. Penalties – MacPherson, Por (hooking), 6:58. De Champlain, Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:10. Barzal, Sea (hooking), 18:32.
Second period – 2, Seattle, Lipsbergs 2 (Barzal, Foulk), 4:48. 3, Portland, Price 1, 13:37. Penalties – Foulk, Sea (hooking), 7:17. De Leo, Por (slashing), 11:09. Lipsbergs, Sea (embellishment), 11:09. Barzal, Sea (hooking), 18:47.
Third period – 3, Portland, Bjorkstrand 2 (Petan ), :51. 5, Seattle, Smith 3 (Delnov, Kolesar), 5:52 (pp). 6, Portland, De Leo 3 (Cederholm, Leier) 12:08. Penalties – Cederholm Por (tripping), 4:24. Hauf, Sea (holding), 7:23. Lipsbergs, Sea (slashing), 13:54. Schoenborn, Por (charging), 15:57.
Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.
Shootout – Seattle 2 (Barzal G, Delnov NG, Troock G). Portland 1 (Petan G, De Leo NG, Bjorkstrand NG).
Shots on goal – Seattle 16-12-9-3-1 41, Portland 8-16-17-1-0 42. Goalies – Seattle, Myles 42 shots-39 saves-39 (1-0-0-0); Portland, Burke 40-37 (1-0-0-1). Power plays – Seattle 1-4; Portland 0-5. A – 5,098. Referees – Brett Iverson, Mike Campbell. Linesmen – Bevan Mills, Kevin Boris.
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