T-Birds Erase Five-Goal Deficit But Fall in Overtime to Tri-City
October 5, 2015 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENNEWICK, October 4, 2015 - The Seattle Thunderbirds erased a five-goal deficit against the Tri-City Americans Sunday night at the Toyota Center in Kennewick to force overtime and get a point in the standings.
They couldn't get the winning goal though as Parker Wotherspoon scored at 2:13 of overtime to give the Americans a 6-5 victory. This was the first overtime game the T-Birds have played with the new 3-on-3 overtime rules.
Tri-City went up 5-0 after only 21:36 of play at the Toyota Center.
In the first period Joel Topping scored at 6:16 and Vladislav Lukin scored at 9:05 to give the Americans a 2-0 lead before the teams reached the 10-minute mark of the period.
Parker Bowles scored from the right circle on a five-on-three power play at 13:09 of the first to extend the lead to 3-0. Beau McCue scored a power-play goal of his own at 17:55 of the first to make it a 4-0 Americans lead.
The T-Birds replaced goalie Taz Burman with Logan Flodell after the Americans fourth goal. Burman made 10 saves on 14 shots.
Tri-City controlled the first period outshooting Seattle 14-15.
Juuso Valimaki scored at 1:36 of the second period to give the Americans a five-goal lead.
Alexander True started the T-Birds come back at 3:08 of the second period. Luke Osterman passed the puck to True in the low slot and he beat Tri-City goalie Evan Sarthou for his first goal of the season.
Kaden Elder was causing havoc on successive shifts and his diligence paid off when he beat Sarthou at 6:31 of the second. True found the speedy winger in the slot and Elder was able to convert for his first goal of the season.
Donovan Neuls forced a turnover in the Americans zone high in the slot. The puck came to Matthew Wedman who sent it back to Neuls to the left of the Americans net. Neuls held the puck then sent it across the crease to Gustav Olhaver who banged the puck past a lunging Sarthou. Wedman's assist gave him a three-game assist streak.
True scores on shorthanded breakaway with six seconds left in the second period to cut the Americans lead to one goal. Neuls had the puck along the right boards and hit True with a crisp pass in the neutral zone to send him in alone against Sarthou. True beat Sarthou with a backhand shot high.
Seattle (1-1-1-0) outshot Tri-City 1-7 in the second period. Tri-City led 21-17 in total shots after two periods.
Keegan Kolesar scored 11:42 into the third period to tie the game 5-5. Scott Eansor received a pass from Kolesar in the neutral zone and carried the puck towards center ice. Kolesar broke down the right wing, took a return pass from Eansor and beat a defenseman wide. Kolesar came down on Sarthou and beat the goalie over the glove with a snap shot for his first goal of the season.
Tri-City outshot Seattle 7-3 in the third period and 30-22 in the game.
Flodell stopped 14 of 16 shots and his record is now 1-1-0-0.
Sarthou made 17 saves on 22 shots and his record is now 1-1-1-0.
The T-Birds host the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday at ShoWare Center at 7:05pm. They travel to Portland to take on the Winterhawks on Sunday at 5pm at Moda Center.
T-Birds single game tickets for the 2015-16 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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