Ryan Gropp had a goal and two assists to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-1 Western Hockey League win over the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday night at the ShoWare Center.
Gropp has an eight-game goal streak and a 14-game point streak. Gropp has 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in the last 14 games.
The T-Birds have now won 11 consecutive games at the ShoWare Center.
The T-Birds are in first place in the U.S. Division, one point ahead of the Everett Silvertips. They are three points behind the Prince George Cougars for first place in the Western Conference with two games in hand.
The T-Birds have three games coming up this weekend. They travel to Kennewick to take on the Tri-City Americans at 7:05 p.m. on Friday. They host the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on Joe TV in Seattle. They finish out the weekend at the Winterhawks on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Against Red Deer, Seattle goalie Rylan Toth made 16 saves to get his 30th win of the season. His record is 30-15-1-1.
Seattle (36-16-3-2) took a 1-0 lead at 13:29 of the first period. Keegan Kolesar sprung Mathew Barzal and Ryan Gropp on a two-on-one break. Barzal passed the puck from the right circle to Gropp in the left circle. Gropp took a wrist shot that rebounded up and over Red Deer goalie Riley Lamb and into the Seattle net.
Seattle outshot Red Deer 16-3 in the first period.
The T-Birds scored 26 seconds into the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Barzal forced a turnover on the left wing in the Red Deer zone. Barzal passed the puck to Gropp in the left circle who quickly moved the puck to Kolesar in the right circle. Kolesar snapped the puck past a lunging Lamb for his 18th goal of the season.
Alexander True scored at 2:37 of the second on the power play to make it a 3-0 Seattle lead. Gropp passed the puck from the left circle to True in the slot. True beat Lamb over the glove with a wrist shot. Bear had the second assists.
The Rebels replaced Lamb with Lasse Peterson after True’s goal. Lamb had 16 saves on 19 shots.
Red Deer (23-25-6-3) got on the board at 2:55 of the second on a goal from Colton Bobyk. Adam Musil and Lane Zablocki had the assists.
The T-Birds outshot the Rebels 12-6 in the second period and led 28-9 in shots after two periods.
Elijah Brown put the T-Birds in front 4-1 at 9:08 of the third period. Donovan Neuls passed the puke to Luke Ormsby to send him and Brown on a two-on-one break. Ormsby passed the puck from right faceoff dot across the low slot to Brown. Brown redirected the pass past Peterson low for his second goal of the season.
Seattle outshot Red Deer 35-17 in the game.
Peterson ended the night with 15 saves on 16 shots.
Fans can purchase single-game tickets online or at the ShoWare Center box office.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Gropp 24 (Barzal, Kolesar), 13:29. Penalties – Freadrich, RD (interference), 2:56. Polei, RD (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:37.
Second period – 2, Seattle, Kolesar 18 (Gropp, Barzal), :26. 3, Seattle, True 19 (Gropp, Bear), 2:37 (pp). 4, Red Deer, Bobyk 6 (Musil, Zablocki), 2:55. Penalties – Herauf, RD (slashing), 2:05.
Third period – 5, Seattle, Brown 2 (Ormsby, Neuls), 9:08. Penalties – Tyszka, Sea (high sticking, roughing), 18:04. Adams, Sea (10-minute misconduct), 18:04. Hausinger, RD (10-minute misconduct),18:04. Polei, RD (roughing), 18:04. Strand, Sea (roughing), 19:51.
Shots on goal – Seattle 16-12-7 35, Red Deer 3-6-8 17. Goalies – Seattle, Toth 17 shots-16 saves (30-15-1-1); Red Deer, Lamb 19-16 (12-11-2-2), Peterson 16-15. Power plays – Seattle 1-3; Red Deer 0-2. A – 4,263. Referees – Adam Griffiths, Nick Swaine. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Michael Bean.
