WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds extinguish Blazers

Published on March 15, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


Seattle, March 14, 2007 - Behind two goals from Prab Rai, the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Kamloops Blazers 3-2 Wednesday night in front of 2,850 at KeyArena to get their ninth consecutive win at home.

The Thunderbirds are 36-19-3-11 in their battle for seeding in the U.S. Division playoffs. The T-Birds have 86 points; they remain four points behind the Tri-City Americans for second in the division. The T-Birds will face the Americans in their last game of the year at KeyArena on Sunday, March 18. Game time is 5:05 p.m.

The Kamloops Blazers (40-25-4-1) outshot the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-4 in a scoreless first period. The T-Birds got on the board first at 13:36 of the second period on the sixth goal of the year from Rai. Thomas Hickey and Josh Schappert fought off four Blazers defenders and worked their way into the Kamloops zone. Hickey went left with the puck and backhanded a no-look pass into the slot for Schappert. Schappert put a shot on goal that was denied by Kamloops goaltender Dustin Butler and fell to the right of the crease. Rai skated in and put the rebound past Butler for the 1-0 lead. The helper increased Hickey's assist streak to three games.

Seattle outshot Kamloops 10-5 in the second. The T- Birds had the advantage, 14-10, heading into the third period.

The Blazers tied the game at 3:08 of the third period on a goal from Matt Kassian. Brenden Dowd had the lone assist.

The T-Birds took a 2-1 lead at 10:18 of the third on the ninth goal of the year from Hickey. A Kamloops player dug the puck out from the near corner and tried to pass it across the slot. Hickey intercepted the pass above the right face off circle and fired a one-timer past the glove side of Butler. Hickey has seven goals and 13 assists in his last 17 games.

Rai did it again at 12:38 of the third with his second goal of the night. Schappert took control of the puck in the right corner of the Kamloops zone and made a nice pass from behind the goal line into the crease. Rai crashed the net and redirected the puck past Butler for his seventh of the year. Benn Olson also had an assist on the goal, increasing his point streak to four games.

The Blazers made it 3-2 at 17:35 of the third on the 35th goal of the year from Brock Nixon. Jordan Rowley assisted on the goal.

Seattle outshot Kamloops 12-5 in the third and 26-15 on the night.

Derek Yeomans stopped 13 of 15 shots fired by the Blazers. His record improves to 30-12-3-9.

Butler stopped 23 of 26 shots and his record goes to 33-20-2-0.

The Thunderbirds are back on home ice on Friday, March 16, against U.S. Division rivals the Portland Winter Hawks. Game time is 7:35 p.m. The T-Birds travel down to Portland the next night, March 17, to complete the home-and-home series with the Winter Hawks. The puck drops in the Rose Garden at 7:30 p.m.

Thunderbirds 10-game Playoff Ticket packages are currently on sale for the 2007 playoffs. Playoff ticket packages are available by calling 206-448-PUCK (7825). Playoff tickets may also be purchased at The Hockey Store located at 14326 124th Ave NE in Kirkland. For additional playoff ticket information call 206-448-PUCK.

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2007


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