Americans Shut Out T-Birds
January 23, 2015 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENNEWICK - The Tri-City Americans shut out the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-0 Friday night at Toyota Center in Kennewick.
Seattle (22-18-2-3) will play the Portland Winterhawks Saturday at 7:05pm at ShoWare Center. The game is the annual Fred Meyer Teddy Bear Toss game presented by WARM 106.9 FM. They travel to the Spokane to play the Chiefs at 5:05pm on Sunday.
Mathew Barzal returned to the T-Birds lineup after missing 26 games with a fractured kneecap.
Tri-City goalie Evan Sarthou made 25 saves to get the shutout.
Tri-City (23-22-0-2) opened the scoring at 11:35 of the first period. Richard Nejezchleb brought the puck out from behind the Seattle net at the right post. He centered to Beau McCue in the low slot. McCue beat a lunging Taran Kozun for the goal. Parker Bowles had the second assist.
Tri-City outshot Seattle 7-2 in the first period.
Bowles scored two power-play goals in under three minutes in the second period to give the Americans a 3-0 lead. The first one came at 10:37 on a feed from Nejezchleb behind the net. The second one came at 13:26, on a four-on-three power play, off assists from Wotherspoon and McCue.
The Americans led in shots 16-10 after two periods.
Lucas Nickles scored an unassisted empty-net goal at 18:56 of the third period to seal the win for the Americans.
Seattle outshot Tri-City 15-8 in the third period and 25-24 in the game.
Kozun stopped 20 of 23 shots and his record is now 20-13-2-3.
T-Birds single game tickets for the 2014-15 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.
• Discuss this story on the Western Hockey League message board...
Western Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2015
- Kelowna wins over Everett - Kelowna Rockets
- Tigers Win Third Straight vs. Cougars 5-2 - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Americans Shut Out T-Birds - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Giants Bump Slump in Lethbridge - Vancouver Giants
- Hitmen blank Broncos - Calgary Hitmen
- Winterhawks Defeat Spokane 4-1 Friday - Portland Winterhawks
- Pats lose in overtime - Regina Pats
- Warriors Relieve Maclachlan - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Blazers Clash with Royals on Friday Night CHL Hockey on Sportsnet - Kamloops Blazers
- Game 46: January 23 vs. Prince George - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Preview: Regina Pats vs. Moose Jaw Warriors - Regina Pats
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
