T-Birds’ win streak at three with shutout of Everett Nov. 14

Calvin Pickard made 29 saves Nov. 14 at Comcast Arena in Everett to help lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Everett Silvertips.

Brendan Rouse had a goal and two assists and Sena Acolatse had a goal and an assist as the T-Birds extend their winning streak to three games. All three wins have come on the road.

Pickard made nine saves in the first period, seven saves in the second period and 13 saves in the third period to get his second shutout of the season. Pickard shut out the Tri-City Americans on October 2 when he made 57 saves in a 1-0 win.

Seattle outshot Everett 11-9 in the first period.

The T-Birds took a 1-0 lead at 6:11 of the second period when Everett goalie Kent Simpson shot the puck into his own net on a Silvertips power play. Rouse got to a loose puck and cleared it from the Seattle zone down the left side of the ice. The puck slowed and Simpson left his net to get it just in front of the goal line along the boards. Prab Rai put pressure on Simpson and the goalie attempted to play the puck behind his net to a defenseman but shot it into his net instead. Rouse was credited with the goal as he was the last T-Birds to touch the puck.

Seattle (7-12-1-3) took a 2-0 lead on a power-play goal by Acolatse at 9:15 of the second. Rouse sent the puck to Colin Jacobs at the left point. Jacobs crossed the puck to Acolatse who sent it right back to Jacobs. Jacobs held the puck briefly then crossed the puck back to Acolatse who one-time the pass. Acolatse’s shot beat Simpson over the shoulder for his sixth goal of the year.

The T-Birds extended the lead to 3-0 at 11:48 of the second with a power-play goal by Lindsay Nielsen. Jeremy Schappert brought the puck out from behind the Seattle net and made a stretch pass to Charles Wells at the Everett blue line on the right side. Wells received the puck and then quickly centered it to Nielsen, charging through the neutral zone, to send him in alone on Simpson. Nielsen beat Simpson over the glove a quick snap shot for his second goal of the year.

Everett (12-6-1-0) outshot Seattle 7-5 in the second period and both teams had 16 shots on goal after two periods.

Jonathan Parker scored at 17:07 of the third period, just as a power play ended, to give the T-Birds a 4-0 lead. Acolatse passed the puck from the left point down to Parker at the hash marks in the left circle. Parker carried the puck back up the boards, cut into the left circle and then put a hard wrist shot on goal. Parker’s shot beat Simpson on the blocker side for his team leading 11th goal of the year. Rouse had the second assist on the goal to give him three points in the game.

Everett outshot Seattle 13-10 in the third period and 29-26 in the game.

Simpson stopped 22 of 26 shots and his record is now 4-4-0-0.

The T-Birds finish out the weekend against the Vancouver Giants 5 p.m. Nov. 15 at Pacific Coliseum. They will travel to Kennewick to face the Tri- City Americans Nov. 17, at 7:05 p.m. They are back home at ShoWare Center Nov. 20, to take on the Kamloops Blazers at 7:35 p.m.

T-Birds single game tickets for the 2009-10 season are available online at the T-Birds Web site 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.

T-Birds’ season tickets are currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – No scoring. Penalties – Chaffin, Sea (holding), 9:32. Maxwell, Evt (roughing), 10:07. Maxwell, Evt (slashing), 12:48. Nielsen, Sea (holding), 17:18. Langkow, Evt (unsportsmanlike conduct), 20:00.

Second period – 1, Seattle, Rouse 3, 6:11 (sh). 2, Seattle, Acolatse 6 (Jacobs, Rouse), 9:15 (pp). 3, Seattle, Nielsen 2 (Wells, Schappert) 11:48 (pp). Penalties – Chaffin, Sea (holding), 4:46. Iwanski, Evt (tripping, roughing), 8:48. Rai, Sea (roughing), 8:48. Tochkin, Evt (instigator, major- fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 11:08. Jacobs, Sea (major-fighting), 11:08. Lockhart, Sea (hooking), 19:09.

Third period – 4, Seattle, Parker 11 (Acolatse, Rouse), 17:07. Penalties – Schappert, Sea (interference), 12:22. Abney, Evt (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:06.

Shots on goal – Seattle 11-5-10 26. Everett 9- 7-13 29. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 29 shots- 29 saves (6-8-1-3); Everett, Simpson 26-22 (4-4-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 2-6; Everett 0-5. A – 8,347. Referee – Jason Nissen, Andy Thiessen. Linesmen – Tim Digby, Clayton Richardson.