Lipsbergs Leads T-Birds over Tips
November 28, 2012 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENT, November 27, 2012 - Roberts Lipsbergs had a hat trick Tuesday night at ShoWare Center to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-3 victory over the Everett Silvertips.
Justin Hickman had a goal and an assist and Jesse Forsberg had a goal to complete the scoring for Seattle. Connor Honey and Seth Swenson each had two assists.
Lipsbergs gave the T-Birds a 1-0 lead at 3:24 of the first period. Lipsbergs beat Everett goalie Daniel Cotton from the right circle through a screen for his seventh goal of the season. Honey and Alexander Delnov had the assists. Both Lipsbergs and Delnov extended their point streaks to six games.
Seattle (12-12-1-0) went in front by two when Lipsbergs scored a power-play goal at 5:36 of the first. Jesse Forsberg sent the puck from the inside the blue line at center ice to Luke Lockhart in the left circle. Lockhart one-timed the pass from Forsberg and the shot hit Cotton in the pads and rebounded to Hickman who took a shot. Hickman's shot went to Lipsbergs in the slot. With Cotton down having made the save on Hickman, Lipsbergs skated left to get an angle and lifted the puck over the goalie's outstretched blocker.
The T-Birds outshot the Silvertips 19-3 in the first period.
The T-Birds took a 3-0 lead on a shorthanded goal by Forsberg at 4:21 of the second period. Forsberg blocked an Everett point shot, gathered the puck and raced up ice on a three-on-two break. He fed the puck to Swenson who gained the Silvertips zone on the left side. Swenson paused then fired a cross-ice pass back to Forsberg above the right circle. Forsberg put a wrist shot on goal that beat Cotton on the blocker side.
Everett (10-17-0-2) got on the board with a shorthanded goal of their own at 10:21 of the first when Kohl Bauml scored. Reid Petryk had the assist on the goal.
The Tips but the T-Birds lead to one goal at 15:38 of the second when Josh Winquist scored a power-play goal Mirco Mueller and Petryk were credited with the assists.
Everett tied the game 3-3 at 17:22 of the second on a goal from Carson Stadnyk. Trent Lofthouse and Petryk got the assists.
Everett outshot Seattle 8-6 in the second period but the T-Birds led in shots, 25-11, after two periods.
Lipsbergs completed the hat trick at 1:56 of the third period to give the T-Birds a 4-3 lead. Honey had the puck behind the Everett net and backhanded it to Lipsbergs in the low slot. Lipsbergs beat Cotton low for the goal.
Hickman gave the T-Birds a two-goal lead at 15:21 of the third. Swenson gave the puck to Hickman as he entered the Everett zone. Hickman controlled the puck with his skate, gathered it and then snapped a shot that beat Cotton five-hole for his fifth goal of the season.
Everett outshot Seattle 12-10 in the third period but Seattle finished with a 38-23 advantage in shot.
Seattle goalie Brandon Glover stopped 20 of 23 shots to get the win and improve his record to 11-9-1-0.
Cotton made 33 saves on 38 shots and his record is now 7-6-0-0.
The T-Birds travel to Portland to face the Winterhawks on Saturday at 7pm. Seattle is at ShoWare Center on Saturday and Sunday for back-to-back home games. They play the Kelowna Rockets at 7:05pm on Saturday and the Kamloops Blazers at 5:05pm on Sunday.
T-Birds single game tickets for the 2012-13 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.
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