Six different Seattle Thunderbirds scored a goal Saturday night as the T-Birds defeated the Tri-City Americans 6-0 in front of 5,596 at ShoWare Center.
Seattle goalie Calvin Pickard made 24 saves to get the shutout and improve his record to 21-15-1-4.
The T-Birds took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Greg Scott at 16:09 of the first period. Jim O’Brien won a faceoff in the right circle backwards through his legs. Jeremy Boyer came in front the left hash mark and sent the puck to Scott at the right point. Scott carried the puck to his left and then put a wrist shot on goal with traffic in front of Tri-City goalie Brent Martyniuk. Scott’s shot beat Martyniuk over the glove for his 29th goal of the year.
Seattle (32-31-1-4) went up 2-0 44 seconds after their first goal. Sena Acolatse had the puck in the left corner. He brought the puck out of the corner and made a pass into the crease. Martyniuk got a stick on the pass the puck trickled to his left. Devon LeBlanc was to the right of the goal and poked the loose puck under Martyniuk for his 13th goal of the year.
Tri-City (48-18-0-3) outshot Seattle 9-5 in the first period.
Sena Acolatse blasted a slap shot from the left circle past Martyniuk at 5:51 of the second period to put the T-Birds in front 3-0. Scott sent the puck from the right point down the boards to O’Brien. O’Brien carried the puck back up the boards and then curled into the high slot. O’Brien fed the puck to Acolatse who one-timed pass. Acolatse’s seventh goal of the season was a power-play goal.
The T-Birds took a 4-0 lead at 11:35 of the second on Boyer’s 18th goal of the year. Brad Haber sent the puck up the right boards to a streaking Scott. Scott carried the puck behind the Americans net and into the left corner. He then centered the puck to Boyer on top of the crease and Boyer redirected the puck through Martyniuk’s legs.
Tri-City replaced Martyniuk with Drew Owsley after the fourth Seattle goal. Martyniuk faced 12 shots and made 8 saves and his record is now 6-2-0-0.
The Americans outshot the T-Birds 11-8 in the second period and led 20-13 in total shots after two periods.
Chris Cloud scored 15 seconds into the third period to give the T-Birds a 5-0 lead. LeBlanc sent the puck from the left corner to Hickey at the left point. Hickey put a quick shot on goal that rebounded into the high slot to Cloud. Cloud beat Owsley with a snap shot over the blocker for his 13th goal of the year.
Brenden Silvester scored at 1:54 of the third to make it a 6-0 lead for the T-Birds. Silvester corralled a loose puck the Seattle zone and streaked up the left side. Silvester came across the Americans blue line and stopped at the top of the left circle. He then put a slap shot on goal that beat Owsley through the legs for his sixth goal of the year.
Seattle outshot Tri-City 15-4 in the third period and 28- 24 in the game.
Owsley stopped 14 of 16 shots.
This was the second of two games in a row against the Americans. Tri-City won 4-2 on Friday night.
The T-Birds have clinched a spot in the 2009 WHL Playoffs. The T-Birds will start the playoffs on the road against an opponent to be determined. Games 3 and 4 of the first round playoff series will be at ShoWare Center March 24 and March 25. Both games are at 7:05 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Scott 29 (Boyer, O’Brien), 16:09. (pp). 2, Seattle, LeBlanc 13 (Acolatse), 16:53. Penalties – LeBlanc, Sea (slashing), 9:54. Shinnimin, Tri (kneeing), 16:03.
Second period – 3, Seattle, Acolatse 7 (O’Brien, Scott), 5:51 (pp). 4, Seattle, Boyer 18 (Scott, Haber), 11:35. Penalties – Lazo, Tri (double minor, high-sticking), 2:30. Schappert, Sea (tripping), 6:47. Warg, Sea (holding), 13:56.Schappert, Sea (hooking), 16:09.
Third period – 5, Seattle, Cloud 13 (Hickey, LeBlanc), :15. 6, Seattle, Silvester 6, 1:54. Penalties – Humphries, Tri (holding, boarding),10:45. Plouffe, Tri (holding), 11:08.
Shots on goal – Seattle 5-8-15 28. Tri-City 9- 11-4 24. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 24 shots- 24 saves (21-15-1-4); Tri-City, Martyniuk 12-8 (6-2-0- 0), Owsley 16-14. Power plays – Seattle 2-6; Tri-City 0-4. A – 5,596. Referee – Derek Herman, Matt Kirk. Linesmen – Trent Knorr, Chris Dehaan.
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