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WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds Edged in Prince Albert

October 26, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - The Seattle Thunderbirds fought back from a three-goal deficit but eventually dropped a 4-3 decision to the Prince Albert Raiders Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. Nathan Pilling scored twice in the setback as Seattle lost its second straight game. The T-Birds conclude their six-game road trip Saturday in Swift Current.

For the second straight contest Seattle (5-8-1-0) fell behind 3-0 after the first period. The Raiders scored on their first shot of the game then added two more via the power play.

"That's been the trend," said T-Birds head coach Matt O'Dette of his team's slow start. "Good start we win, bad start we lose. That's the trip summarized so far. It's frustrating."

The Thunderbirds roared back in period two to forge a 3-3 tie going into the second intermission. Nathan Pilling sandwiched his two goals around a Braeden Cootes goal. The goals were Pilling's ninth and tenth of the season.

"We didn't have a really good start, so having a strong second was big," said the 20-year-old left winger. "Just getting to the interior and finding two pucks sitting there. Happy to contribute but would have been nice to close that one out, for sure."

Prince Albert regained the lead with the only goal of the third period and held on for their first win at home this season. "The things we did in the second, we didn't come out doing in the third," summarized O'Dette. "We needed to play the way we can play, with our formula, the entire sixty minutes."

Grayson Malinoski got the start in net for Seattle and made 31-saves, including a number of key stops that gave the T-Birds a chance for the comeback. "He was great," said O'Dette of his rookie netminder. "Really happy with Mali's response. He made several key saves to keep us within striking distance."

The loss snapped a four-game road winning streak for the Thunderbirds in Prince Albert, having not previously lost at the Art Hauser Centre since 2012.

T-BIRDS EXTRAS

With an assist on Seattle's third goal, Ashton Cumby earned his first point of the season and his first point as a Thunderbird. Cumby joined the team in the middle of last season.

In addition to playing without the injured Antonio Martorana and Owen Boucher, both out week-to-week, the T-Birds were missing Will Jamieson, who was hurt in Wednesday's loss in Saskatoon.

The Thunderbirds went 2-for-4 on the power play and 5-of-7 on the penalty kill. There were no penalties assessed in the third period.

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