WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

Rockets Blast Past T-Birds

Published on November 26, 2015 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


KELOWNA, November 25, 2015 - The Kelowna Rockets snapped the Seattle Thunderbirds six-game winning streak Wednesday night with a 5-2 victory at Prospera Place in Kelowna, British Columbia.

The T-Birds had won their previous six games, four of which were on the road. The weekly BMO CHL Top 10 rankings were released in the afternoon on Wednesday. The Rockets were ranked number four and the T-Birds were ranked number six.

The T-Birds return to ShoWare Center for two games this weekend. They play the Vancouver Giants on Friday at 7:35pm and the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7:05pm on Saturday.

Kelowna (18-5-1-0) took a 1-0 lead at 13:38 of the first period. Kole Lind redirected a slap pass from Cole Linaker past Seattle goalie Logan Flodell. Nick Merkley had the second assist.

The T-Birds outshot the Rockets 15-7 in the first period.

Seattle (15-7-1-0) tied the game 1-1 at 10:24 of the second period. Scott Eansor had the puck along the right boards and passed it to Sahvan Khaira at the right point. Khaira attempted a slap shot but his stick broke when he hit the puck. The puck came to Donovan Neuls just in front of the Kelowna net. Neuls snuck the puck under Kelowna goalie Jackson Whistle for his third goal of the season.

The Rockets took a 2-1 lead at 16:42 of the second. Jordan Borstmayer beat Flodell in close when he was left unmarked in front of the Seattle net. Jonathan Smart had the only assist on the goal.

Kelowna outshot Seattle 16-2 in the second period and led 23-17 in shots after two periods.

Lind put back a rebound of a Linaker shot at 6:56 of the third period to give the Rockets a 3-1 lead. Smart had the second assists.

Nick Merkley scored on a breakaway at 16:13 of the third to extend the Rockets lead to 4-1. Calvin Thurkauf sprung Merkley on the breakaway after corralling a loose puck in the neutral zone.

Tomas Soustal made it a 5-1 Kelowna lead when he scored at 19:23 of the third off assists from Justin Kirkland and Tyson Baillie.

Off the ensuing faceoff after Kelowna's fifth goal, Nick Holowko scored on a breakaway to get the T-Birds second goal of the game. Neuls passed the puck from the top of the right circle to Holowko and he beat Whistle over the blocker.

Seattle outshot Kelowna 12-10 on the third period but the Rockets finished with a 33-29 advantage in the game.

Flodell had 28 saves on 33 shots and his record is now 10-4-1-0.

Whistle was very strong for Kelowna in the game and had 27 saves on 29 shots and his record is now 13-3-1-0.

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.

T-Birds season tickets are currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

Check out the Seattle Thunderbirds Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2015


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