The Portland Winterhawks snapped the Seattle Thunderbirds’ five-game winning streak with a 3-2 shootout victory at the accesso ShoWare Center on Tuesday night.
Despite the loss, the T-Birds (20-14-4-2) have posted points in their last nine Western Hockey League games with a record of 7-0-1-1.
Goalie Cole Kehler stopped Seattle’s first two shooters, Zack Andrusiak and Noah Philp. Seattle Liam Hughes denied Cody Glass with a poke check but was beaten by Ryan Hughes with a backhand.
Sami Moilanen was the T-Birds’ third shooter and needed to score to extend the shootout. Kehler made poke check save on Moilanen’s deke to win the game or Portland.
Portland (24-13-1-2) took a 1-0 lead at 1:31 of the first period on a goal from Skyler McKenzie. Hughes and Glass had the assists.
The Winterhawks took a 2-0 lead at 19:58 of the first on an unassisted goal by Alex Overhardt.
Portland outshot Seattle 8-7 in the first period.
Seattle cut the lead to one 57 seconds into the second period. Zack Andrusiak took a shot from the right point that came off Kehler to Donovan Neuls in the low crease. Neuls backhanded the puck to Sami Moilanen who popped the puck over Kehler for his 17th goal of the season.
The T-Birds tied the game 2-2 at 11:48 of the second on a power-play goal from Reece Harsch. Nolan Volcan won the puck in the right corner of the Portland zone. Volcan skated behind the Portland net and found Harsch pinching down from the right point. Harsch beat Kehler on the glove side for his ninth goal of the season. Neuls had the second assist.
The T-Birds outshot the Winterhawks 33-29 in the game.
Seattle goalie Liam Hughes had 26 saves and his record is 8-4-1-1. Kehler had 33 saves and his record is now 20-9-1-2.
Up next: Rockets on Kent ice
The T-Birds host the Kelowna Rockets at 7:35 p.m. Friday. They are in Portland on Saturday to take on the Winterhawks at 6:05 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Single-game tickets for the 2017-18 season are on sale on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. Season tickets may be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Portland, McKenzie 29 (Hughes, Glass), 1:31. 2, Portland, Overhardt 9, 19:58. Penalties – Volcan, Sea (major-fighting), :54. Mannek, Por (major-fighting), :54. MacEachern, Por (hooking), 9:39. Kolle, Por (cross checking, roughing), 12:37. Lee, Sea (roughing), 12:37.
Second period – 3, Seattle, Moilanen 17 (Neuls, Andrusiak), :57. 4, Harsch 9 (Volcan, Neuls), 11:48 (pp). Penalties – McKenzie, Por (tripping), 10:16. Quigley, Por (tripping), 13:37. Kolle, Por (delay of game), 17:05.
Third period – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.
Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.
Shootout – Seattle 0 (Andrusiak NG, Philp NG, Moilanen NG). Portland 1 (Glass NG, Hughes G).
Shots on goal – Seattle 7-19-8-1-0 35, Portland 8-11-6-3-1 29. Goalies – Seattle, Hughes 28 shots-26 saves (8-4-1-1); Portland, Kehler 35-33 (20-9-1-2). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Portland 0-0. A – 5,020. Referees – Mike Campbell, Mark Pearce. Linesmen – Adam Brastad, Mark Heier.
