T-Birds Burned Early by Blazers

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WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds Burned Early by Blazers

March 5, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


KENT, Wash. - The Seattle Thunderbirds fell behind early and could not catch up, dropping a 3-2 game to the Kamloops Blazers Tuesday at the accesso ShoWare Center. The T-Birds missed a chance to increase their lead in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference but still maintain their edge over both the Blazers and Wenatchee Wild. The Thunderbirds play twice this coming weekend, a home-and-home against the Portland Winterhawks that will see them play in Portland Friday and back home Saturday.

Seattle dug themselves an early hole falling behind 3-0 after the first period. We did not come out with the level of urgency we needed," said Head coach Matt O'Dette of the slow start. "We came out on the wrong foot and were down three goals in the blink of an eye."

Kamloops got those three goals in an eight-minute span in the middle of the opening frame. They scored on the power play at 7:51, doubled their lead less than two minutes later, then added the game winner at 16:10.

After a scoreless second period, the T-Birds (24-31-4-1) fought back in the third period to pull within one, scoring twice on 19 shots. "If the team that showed up in the third was there at the start of the game, we wouldn't be having this conversation about a loss," remarked an exasperated O'Dette.

Seattle got on the board at 2:19 of the third with Nathan Pilling scoring his team leading 30th of the season, assisted by Braeden Cootes and Hyde Davidson. Two and a half minutes later Vanek Popil's first WHL goal cut the deficit to one.

"It felt really good to get my first goal," said the rookie defenseman. "It took a little longer than I expected, but yeah, it felt good. It's unfortunate that we lost the game, but we're gonna come back hard this weekend." Colton Gerrior had the lone assist.

The T-Birds hold a three-point lead over Wenatchee and are up four points in the standings on Kamloops. All three teams have eight games remaining as they battle for the final playoffs spot.

"We've played some good hockey lately but in games like tonight, we have to be the more urgent team," explained O'Dette of the loss. "We're a young team. With our success recently it's easy to forget that, plus playing four in five with travel, but you have to be able to manage that and mentally prepare yourself for that. It's a learning process."

T-BIRDS EXTRAS

The T-Birds finished the four game regular season series against Kamloops with a record of 2-2, splitting two games on the road and two at home.

The Thunderbirds final eight games will all be against the U.S. Division, with four against Portland, three against Tri-City and one against Spokane.

Of the T-Birds remaining games, three will be at home and five are on the road.

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