Portland Ends T-Birds' Streak at 4
Published on December 9, 2012 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENT - The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-2 Saturday night at ShoWare Center to end the Thunderbirds' four-game win streak.
The Thunderbirds next play Victoria on December 11 at ShoWare Center at 7:05pm.
The Thunderbirds (16-14-1-0) took the lead 2:23 into the first period off Jesse Forsberg's slap shot from the slot. Connor Honey moved the puck up to Shea Theodore on the blue line who lifted a pass across the ice to Forsberg. He had room to skate into the slot and ripped a slapper low past Portland netminder Mac Carruth for his third goal of the season.
Portland(24-5-1-0) tied the game 1-1 on a 5-on-3 power-play goal from Ty Rattie. Brendan Leipsic and Seth Jones had the assists on the goal coming at 5:45 of the period.
The Winterhawks then took the lead on Preston Kopeck's goal at 13:42. Taylor Leier and Troy Rutkowski had the assists on the goal.
Shots in the first period were 13-10 in favor of Portland.
The Winterhawks scored two goals in the first two minutes of the second period to take a 4-1 lead. Their first came just 21seconds in when Leipsic tipped a shot past Seattle goalie Brandon Glover. Derrick Pouliot and Nicolas Petan had the assists.
Portland's fourth goal of the game came at 1:21 of the second when Petan scored from the front of the net. Rattie and Leipsic were credited with the assists.
Seattle got one back on a shorthanded goal by Connor Sanvido. Theodore moved the puck to Jerret Smith in the neutral zone who found Sanvido skating up the middle for a breakaway. He split the Portland defense and fired a shot high past Carruth's blocker to cut the lead to 4-2 Portland at 14:55 of the second.
Shots in the second period were 13-12 in favor of the Thunderbirds, with the two-period total 25-23 Portland.
Portland added two more goals in the third period to close out the game. Adam De Champlain scored 3:00 in on a breakaway chance to make it 5-2 Portland. Tyler Wotherspoon and Carruth had the assists on the play.
The final goal came when Kopeck notched his second of the night for Portland at 5:39 of the period. Peters and Jones had the assists to take the final score to 6-2.
Shots in the third were 16-13 in favor of Portland, and finished 41-37 Winterhawks.
Carruth stopped 39 shots for Portland to push his record to 13-2-0-0, while Glover's 35 saves sees his record stand at 15-11-1-0 on the season.
T-Birds single game tickets for the 2012-13 season are available online at the T-Birds website 3Ms-2NfJSzPWGjegbp-Bw=] 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.
Western Hockey League Stories from December 9, 2012
- Kamloops Downs Giants 4-1 Sunday - Vancouver Giants
- Winterhawks Defeat Tri-Cities 4-1 Sunday - Portland Winterhawks
- Blazers Down Giants 4-1 - Kamloops Blazers
- Teddy Bear Toss Night a Huge Success - Lethbridge Hurricanes
- Saskatoon Wallops Pats 7-0 - Regina Pats
- Tuesday is Rain Check Night - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Pats vs Blades Teddy Bear Toss Gameday Preview - Regina Pats
- Royals Buck Broncos - Victoria Royals
- Lofthouse Hat Trick Spurs Win over Giants - Everett Silvertips
- Portland Ends T-Birds' Streak at 4 - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Giants Lose to Silvertips 4-1 in Everett - Vancouver Giants
- Winterhawks Win 6-2 in Seattle Saturday - Portland Winterhawks
- Hitmen fall 4-2 - Calgary Hitmen
- Kelowna extends streak - Kelowna Rockets
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