T-Birds Beat Cougars
Published on February 8, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
SEATTLE, February 8, 2004 â The Seattle Thunderbirds game Sunday night against the Prince George Cougars was a must win game.
The Thunderbirds came through, coming back from two two-goal deficits to beat the Cougars 5-3 in front of 3,392 at KeyArena.
"Tonight was a game in hand and we needed to win," said Thunderbirds assistant coach Rob Sumner. "I thought we really got going and were more physical as the game progressed. I didn't like the start tonight though. It's good that we came back and got the victory."
Seattle gains two points in the standings with the win and now only trails the Spokane Chiefs for the last playoff spot in the U.S. division by six points. The Chiefs were idle Sunday night. Seattle and Spokane play three more times this year, with the next game between the two February 13 in Spokane.
Seattle has 16 games remaining this season, with 11 at home, and 10 against U.S. division opponents, to make up ground in the standings.
Seattle (18-26-8-4) trailed by two goals in both the first and second periods, before scoring four unanswered goals to get the victory.
Prince George (24-27-7-1) took a 1-0 lead at 3:24 of the first when Myles Zimmer put home a loose puck sitting in the crease. Jonathan Filewich took a shot from the top of the right circle. Seattle goalie Bryan Bridges made the initial save, but the puck trickled through his pads and lay in the crease, where Zimmer pounced on it. Chris Falloon had the second assist.
The Cougars quickly took a 2-0 lead when Colin Patterson scored his 21st of the year at 5:20 of the first. Dustin Byfuglien had the lone assist.
Seattle got on the board at 9:56 of the first courtesy of some great skating by Ryan Gibbons. Gibbons carried the puck from blue line to blue line and beat Prince George goalie Justin Pogge low on the stick side with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle. It was Gibbons' ninth goal of the year. Scott Jackson had the only assist on the goal.
"Our goal was to throw the puck on net," said Gibbons. "I just threw it on net and I got a lucky bounce and it went in. I'll take it. It got us going."
Prince George took back the two-goal lead at 11:58 of the second period. Brett Parker beat Bridges five-hole with a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot. It was Parker's eighth goal of the year and was unassisted. Seattle head coach Dean Chynoweth pulled Bridges after the third Prince George goal and put Josh Lepp in net.
Bridges (12-17-3) played 32 minutes and had seven saves on 10 shots.
Seattle cut the Cougars lead to one goal for a second time at 17:59 of the second. Dustin Johner ripped a slap shot from the top of the left circle past Pogge high on the stick side. Chris Durand won a draw to Johner to get an assist on Johner's 21st goal of the year.
Seattle tied the game 3-3 at 2:10 of the third period on a pretty two-on-one break. Tyler Metcalfe took the puck up the left boards. When Metcalfe crossed the red line he hit Johner streaking down the middle of the ice. Johner came in alone on Pogge and beat the Cougars goalie high on the glove side for his second goal of the night.
Seattle took a 4-3 lead at 16:40 of the third when Gibbons crashed the net after an Adam Huxley shot. Pogge stopped Huxley's shot but could not control the rebound and Gibbons poked the puck home for his second of the night. Kyle Fecho had the second assist on the go-ahead goal. It was Gibbons second goal of the night.
Lepp played 28 minutes and had stopped all 17 shots against him. Lepp got the win and his record improves to 5-11-3.
"Josh was solid, especially at the end," said Sumner. "There were some big scrambles in front at the end and he saved us."
Pogge had 30 saves on 34 shots and his record falls to 13-13-2.
Prince George pulled their goal with 1:47 remaining in the game. Seattle took advantage of the empty net with Durand scoring an empty-net goal at 19:35 to give the Thunderbirds some insurance. Nate Thompson had an assist on Durand's 15th goal of the year.
Both Johner and Durand had two points in the win.
This was Seattle's only win in four games against the Cougars this year.
Seattle takes on the Moose Jaw Warrior Wednesday night at KeyArena at 5 p.m. It is the only meeting of the year between Seattle and Moose Jaw.
Western Hockey League Stories from February 8, 2004
- T-Birds Beat Cougars - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Regina Pats Game Notes - Regina Pats
- Schlenker returns to the Agridome - Regina Pats
- T-Birds Split Rival Games - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Biggest Crowd of Season Sees Winter Hawks Win in Rose Garden - Portland Winterhawks
- Chiefs snap losing string with 4-2 victory over Cougars - Spokane Chiefs
- Silvertips Tame the Giants 3-0 - Everett Silvertips
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