WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds Clinch fourth in Western Conference

Published on March 15, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


Everett, March 14, 2008 - The Seattle Thunderbirds clinched fourth place in the Western Conference Friday night with a 3-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips in front of 8,511 at the Everett Events Center.

The T-Birds have a 40-23-5-2 record which is good for 87 points with two games remaining in the regular season. Everett has 81 points on a 39-28-0-3 record, but they can not catch the T-Birds in the standings as they have only two games remaining. The Kelowna Rockets lost 4-2 to the Tri-City Americans Friday night. They have 82 points with one game remaining in the season and can not catch the T-Birds in the standings.

Clinching fourth place in the Western Conference gives the T-Birds home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs against either Everett or Kelowna.

Game 1 will be at KeyArena on Friday, March 21, at 7:35 p.m. Game 2 will be Saturday, March 22, at 7:05 p.m. The dates of Game 3 and Game 4 will be determined when the T-Birds first round opponent is determined.

Single game playoff tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 15, at all TicketMaster outlets, online at www.seattlethunderbirds.com, at the KeyArena Box Office and at The Hockey Store located at 14326 124th Ave NE in Kirkland. Playoff tickets may also be purchased by calling TicketMaster at 206-628- 0888 or the T-Birds at 206-448-PUCK (7825). Single game playoff tickets are $22, $18 and $14

Ten-game playoff ticket packages are available by calling 206-448-PUCK (7825). Ten-game playoff ticket packages are $220.

Seattle took a 1-0 lead at 14:38 of the first period on a power-play goal by Ian McKenzie. Thomas Hickey had the puck at the right point and crossed it to Prab Rai in the left circle. Rai took a shot that Everett goalie Leland Irving stopped. McKenzie was to the right of the goal and put the rebound off the goalie's left leg for his 18th goal of the year.

Both teams had 12 shots on goal in the first period.

Everett tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal by Shane Harper at 7:54 of the second period. Dan Gendur and Zach Hamill had the assists.

Everett outshot Seattle 18-11 in the second period and led 30-23 in total shots after two periods.

Everett's Kyle Beach was assessed a five-minute major for checking from behind in the middle of the third period and Seattle was able to capitalize with two power-play goals.

David Richard had the puck at the right point and fed the puck low to Bud Holloway on the goal line. Holloway skated the puck towards the goal and beat Irving over his left shoulder with a quick snap shot at 9:55. It was Holloway's team leading 39th goal of the year.

Greg Scott scored the second power-play goal on the five-minute Everett penalty at 11:53 of the third. Richard made a pass from the right point across the blue line to Scott Jackson at the left point. Jackson put a wrist shot on goal that deflected off a Tips player in front of Irving to Scott to the right of the goal. Scott poked the puck past Irving for his 38th goal of the year.

Seattle outshot Everett 18-5 in the third period and 41- 35 in the game.

Seattle goalie Riku Helenius stopped 34 of 35 shots and improved his record to 21-12-5-1.

Irving made 38 saves on 41 shots and his record is 27-21-0-3.

The T-Birds take on the Portland Winter Hawks on Saturday at KeyArena at 7:05 p.m. in the final game of the 12-game season series. Seattle has a 10-1-0-0 record against the Winter Hawks this season. The Silvertips are at KeyArena on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. in the regular season finale for both teams.

Check out the Seattle Thunderbirds Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2008


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