T-Birds Conquer Royals
October 18, 2015 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENT - The line of Ryan Gropp, Mathew Barzal and Keegan Kolesar combined for three goals and four assists Saturday night at ShoWare Center to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-2 victory over the Victoria Royals.
The T-Birds improve to 5-1-1-0 and have won four consecutive games. The T-Birds GLOW Valley Medical Pink The Rink night is Wednesday, October 21, against the Tri-City Americans at 7:05pm at ShoWare Center. The Thunderbirds will be wearing special themed jerseys that will be auctioned off during the game to support uncompensated care at the Breast Center at Valley Medical.
Barzal has two goals and six assists in the last four games. Kolesar has five goals and seven assists in the last seven games. Gropp has two goals and two assists in the last four games.
Seattle goalie Logan Flodell had 21 saves on 22 shots and his record is now 3-0-1-0.
Seattle (5-1-1-0) went in front 1-0 at 6:34 at of the first period on a power-play goal from Mathew Barzal. Ethan Bear sent the puck from the left point to Keegan Kolesar behind the Victoria net. Kolesar centered the puck to Barzal skating from left to right into the slot. Barzal beat Victoria goalie Coleman Vollrath over the glove for his second goal of the season.
The T-Birds outshot the Royals 10-7 in the first period.
The T-Birds took a 2-0 lead on a greasy goal from Ryan Gropp. Gropp crossed the puck from the right circle to Barzal at the left post. Vollrath slid left to right to make a good stick save on Barzal. The puck rebounded into the slot to Kolesar. Kolesar took a couple of whacks at the puck before it popped over to Gropp at the right post. Gropp slammed the puck past Vollrath as he sprawled over to try and make the save.
The Gropp-Barzal-Kolesar line struck on their very next shift to make it a 3-0 T-Birds lead. Barzal got a loose puck inside the Victoria blue line. Barzal made a drop pass to Kolesar coming into the zone. Kolesar had the Gropp on his left but elected to shoot and beat Vollrath over the blocker.
Seattle led 25-15 in shots after two periods by outshooting Victoria 15-8 in the second period.
Victoria (7-3-0-0) replaced Vollrath with Griffen Outhouse to start the third period. Vollrath made 22 saves on 25 shots and his record falls to 7-3-0-0.
Ethan Price scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 2:07 of the third period to get Victoria's first goal.
Jared Dmytriw scored off a cross slot pass at 9:31 of the third to cut the T-Birds lead to one goal. Logan Fisher and Joe Hicketts had the assists.
Nolan Volcan put the T-Birds back in front by two goals when he scored at 15:16 of the third. Jamal Watson broke up ice on a two-on-one break with Volcan on his left. Watson took a shot that was blocked by a Victoria defenseman. Watson got the puck back and took another shot that Outhouse stopped. Volcan was at the left post and poked the puck past Outhouse for his third goal of the year.
The T-Birds had to kill off back-to-back penalties after their fourth goal to seal the win.
Outhouse ended the game with 13 saves on 14 shots.
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 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 October 18, 2015
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- T-Birds Conquer Royals - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Royals Doubled up by Thunderbirds - Victoria Royals
- Rockets Earn the Split with 6-2 Win in PG - Kelowna Rockets
- Chiefs Sluggish in Fifth Straight Loss - Spokane Chiefs
- Wheat Kings Blow By Blades - Saskatoon Blades
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