T-Birds Fall Short in Game Three
May 3, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KAMLOOPS, B.C. -Nolan Allan scored their only goal, but it was not enough as the Seattle Thunderbirds fell to the Kamloops Blazers, 4-1, Tuesday at the Sandman Centre in Game Three of the Western Conference Championship Series. Seattle still leads the best of seven series, 2-1. Game Four is scheduled for Thursday, also at the Sandman Centre. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
Thunderbirds head coach Matt O'Dette said his team needed to be better against a determined opponent. "You get what you deserve, and we didn't play well enough to deserve the win," he lamented. "That's the bottom line."
The Thunderbirds took three penalties in the first period. They were able to kill off the first, but not the second as Olen Zellweger scored at 8:29. Seattle responded quickly with Allan's goal coming ninety seconds later.
O'Dette said they started the first period well but didn't maintain it. "The first ten minutes, I thought we were playing the way we needed to play," he remarked. "The last ten I think we fell off that." He mentioned the penalties being an issue. "It's hard to get momentum when you're killing like that. It may have been the reason we fell off the path."
Kamloops regained the lead for good when Jakub Demek jammed home a puck that had trickled through Thunderbirds goalie Thomas Milic. The goal came with two and a half minutes left in the first period.
Seattle came close to tying to game midway through the second period. While on the power play, Gracyn Sawchyn popped a puck up over Blazer's goalie Ethan Ernst. But somehow Ernst was able to keep the puck from crossing the goal line as it rolled down his back. The play did go to review where the call on the ice was confirmed.
"I didn't see the replay clearly," commented O'Dette of the play in question. But he said they had other chances. "There were some posts, some bounces that didn't go our way. But you have to earn your luck. That's the old adage. The harder you work the luckier you are. We just didn't have the luck in our favor tonight."
Down a goal in the final two minutes of the game, the Thunderbirds pulled Milic for the extra attacker but turned the puck over leading to an empty net goal for Kamloops. The Blazers added one more late to complete the scoring.
The loss guarantees there will be a Game 5. It is scheduled for Saturday at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent. Game time is 6:05 p.m.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
The loss snapped the Thunderbirds ten game winning streak to start the postseason, a franchise record.
"Winning ten games in a row in the playoffs is not easy to do," said O'Dette. "We believe this is going to be a long, hard-fought series. We need to tap into our resiliency and bounce back after a game that didn't go our way."
Seattle is now 4-1 on the road in the 2023 postseason.
Thunderbirds defenseman Sawyer Mynio, a Kamloops native, has assisted on the T-birds last two goals.
Western Hockey League Stories from May 3, 2023
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- Gameday: Blades vs ICE at 7:00pm CST - Saskatoon Blades
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- T-Birds Fall Short in Game Three - Seattle Thunderbirds
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