Bear Takes a Bite out of Chiefs
February 20, 2016 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENT - Ethan Bear scored 14 seconds into overtime Friday night at ShoWare Center to give the Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-1 victory over the Spokane Chiefs.
Off the overtime opening faceoff Mathew Barzal won the puck back to Bear. Bear skated backwards with the puck to get in position for a breakout. Bear passed the puck to Ryan Gropp at the Seattle blue line and headed up ice. Gropp passed the puck back to Bear and he carried it into the Spokane zone. Bear took a big slap shot just inside the blue line that beat Spokane goalie Tyson Verhelst over the glove.
Bear scored the T-Birds first goal at 13:15 of the third period to tie the game 1-1. Barzal won a faceoff in the right circle of the Spokane zone back to Bear the right point. Bear moved towards center ice and took a wrist shot with traffic in front of Verhelst. Bear's shot beat the goalie low.
Seattle improves its record to 32-22-3-0 and is now three points behind the Everett Silvertips for first place in the US Division. The T-Birds are in Everett on Saturday to face the Silvertips at 7:05pm at Xfinity Arena.
Seattle goalie Logan Flodell made 17 saves on 18 shots to improve his record to 18-12-3-0.
Spokane outshot Seattle 9-3 in the first period.
Spokane (27-22-5-3) took a 1-0 lead at 11:58 of the second period. Markson Bechtold was held up on a shorthanded breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. Bechtold beat Flodell on the blocker side for the goal.
The T-Birds outshot the Chiefs 12-6 in the second period. Both teams had 15 shots on goal after two periods.
Seattle thought they tied the game at 5:45 of the third period on a goal from Nolan Volcan. Volcan got a stick on a loose puck right next to the Spokane net but was knocked down from behind. While he was on the ice the puck went in the net and the referee pointed at the net to indicate the T-Birds had scored. The play went to video review and it was determined the puck was kicked into the net and the goal was disallowed.
The T-Birds outshot the Chiefs 20-3 in the third period and 36-18 in the game.
Verhelst made 34 saves on 36 shots and his record is now 20-17-1-3.
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 am to 5 pm Saturday game days at 10 am and Sunday game days at noon.
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