Victoria Royals fall to Seattle Thunderbirds in shootout | Hockey

The Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the Victoria Royals 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night at the ShoWare Center in Kent.

The game was tied 3-3 after a scoreless overtime period. The T-Birds Branden Troock was the first shooter in the shootout. He was denied by Victoria goalie Keith Hamilton. Logan Nelson was the first shooter for the Royals and was stopped by Seattle goalie Calvin Pickard.

Burke Gallimore was the second shooter for Seattle and was stopped by Hamilton. Kevin Sundher was the second shooter for Victoria. He was denied by Pickard.

Colin Jacobs was the third shooter for the T-Birds and he beat Hamilton with a shot through the goalie’s legs for the T-Birds only goal in the shootout. Jamie Crooks was the final shooter for the Royals and Pickard made the stop to give the T-Birds the win.

Pickard stopped 35 in 38 shots increasing his record to 12-12-0-2.

Connor Honey had his first career WHL assist on Seattle’s first goal of the night. Honey was held against the boards by a Royals’ defender. He got the puck loose and passed it to Sean Aschim. Aschim took a slap shot, which hit the right side of the goal post and went in, for his eighth of the season. Tyler Alos also had an assist on the goal which came at 17:24 of the first period.

The T-Birds led in shots on goal 9-7 after the first period.

Seattle (12-15-0-1) went in front 2-0 at 2:51 of the second period on Alos’ first goal of the season. Mitch Elliot carried the puck around the Victoria net and attempted a wraparound shot at the left post. Hamilton blocked the shot but the puck squirted to Alos in the high slot. Alos snapped a wrist shot over Hamilton’s right shoulder.

The T-Birds extended their lead to 3-0 at 10:20 of the second with a power-play goal. Jacobs and Gallimore were against the boards with two Victoria defenders fighting for the puck. Gallimore got the puck loose to Jacobs who skated towards the net along the goal line. Jacobs spotted Kyle Verdino pinching down from the right point and sent him the puck forcing Hamilton to challenge Verdino. Verdino sent the puck right back to Jacobs and he lifted a blind backhand shot over a lunging Hamilton for his first goal of the season.

Seattle led Victoria in shots 27-23 after two periods of play.

Victoria (13-18-1-2) scored three power-play goals to tie it 3-3 at the beginning of the third period when Justin Hickman was given a major penalty for fighting.

Logan Nelson scored at 3:59 on an assist from Kevin Sundher.

Kade Pilton then scored at 5:22 on slap shot with traffic in front of Pickard. The goal was assisted by Steven Hodges and Jesse Pauls.

Hayden Rintoul scored the third goal for Victoria at 6:18. Nelson and Sundher were credited with the assists on the game-tying goal.

After three periods, Victoria led Seattle 37-33 in shots.

The Royals led in shots 38-36 after the overtime period.

Hamilton made 33 saves on 36 shots and is credited with the loss bringing his record to 12-15-1-2.

Seattle faces the Vancouver Giants on Tuesday, December 13, at 7:05 p.m. at the ShoWare Center in Kent. The T-Birds play the Tri-City Americans in a weekend home-and-home series on Friday, December 16, at the Toyota Center and Saturday, December 17, at the ShoWare Center. Both games are at 7:05 p.m.

T-Birds single game tickets for the 2011-12 season 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 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 – 1, Seattle, Aschim 8 (Alos, Honey), 17:24. Penalties – Elliot, Sea (roughing), 5:32. Rintoul, Vic (double minor – roughing), 5:32. Machacek, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct, 10-minute misconduct), 8:28. Carroll, Vic (high sticking), 10:00. Hodges, Vic (unsportsmanlike conduct), 20:00.

Second period – 2, Seattle, Alos 1 (Elliot, Doty), 2:51. 3, Seattle, Jacobs 1 (Verdino, Gallimore), 10:20 (pp). Penalties – Sundher, Vic (unsportsmanlike conduct), 0:00. Aschim, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), :00. Elliot, Sea (tripping), 6:12. Crunk, Vic (major – cross-checking, game misconduct), 8:59. Alos, Sea (checking from behind), 8:59. Magee, Vic (slashing), 9:36. Verdino, Sea (holding), 11:56. Carroll, Vic (tripping), 13:38. Aschim, Sea (hooking), 18:42. Jones, Vic (goaltender interference), 18:51.

Third period – 4, Victoria, Nelson 19 (Sundher), 3:59 (pp). 5, Victoria, Pilton 4 (Hodges, Pauls), 5:22 (pp). 6, Victoria, Rintoul 8 (Nelson, Sundher), 6:18 (pp). Penalties – Hickman, Sea (major – fighting, game misconduct), 1:39. Walker, Vic (tripping), 1:39. Sundher, Vic (slashing), 13:31. Sundher, Vic (high sticking), 16:38.

Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.

Shootout – Seattle 1 (Troock NG, Gallimore NG, Jacobs G), Victoria 0 (Nelson NG, Sundher NG, Crooks NG).

Shots on goal – Seattle 9-18-6-3-1 37. Victoria 7-16-14-1-0 38 Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 38 shots-35 saves (12-12-0-2); Victoria, Hamilton 36-33 (12-15-1-2). Power plays – Seattle 1-9; Victoria 3-4. A – 4,053. Referee – Ryan Benbow, Sean Raphael.Linesmen – Kevin Boris, Zach Brooks.