T-Birds Fly Past Tri-City
WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds Fly Past Tri-City

Published on March 8, 2026 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


KENT, Wash. -Matej Pekar scored twice, Brock England chipped in with three assists and the Seattle Thunderbirds knocked off the Tri-City Americans, 5-1, Saturday at the accesso ShoWare Center. With the win Seatle moved into a playoff spot in the Western Conference with seven games remaining in the regular season. The Thunderbirds return to action Tuesday at home versus the Victoria Royals. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

"It was a big win, for sure," remarked head coach Matt O'Dette as the T-Birds jumped into seventh place. "It's still a long way to go. We're not trying to look ahead. We've been doing a good job of focusing on the next two points and our focus is the next game and blocking out the other stuff and controlling what we can control. I think we'll stick to that approach."

Seattle (26-26-5-4) jumped out to a two-goal lead within the game's first five minutes. Pekar scored unassisted at 2:28 and Noah Kosick added a power play goal two minutes later with Pekar and England assisting.

"We made a couple of tweaks, emphasized a couple of things we needed to do better from last night," explained O'Dette after a 5-4 shootout loss in Kennewick Friday. "We got out on the right foot, really got to our game plan. We managed the puck well and got the forecheck going and got rewarded for it."

Tri-City cut the T-Birds lead in half with a goal in the first minute of the second period but that's as close as they would get the rest of the way. "We had some hiccups in the second period," stated O'Dette, who said goaltender Marek Sklenicka helped preserve the lead. "He made a few big saves at key moments and kept us in the lead."

The Thunderbirds pulled away with a three goal third period. Brayden Holberton started it with his third of the season at 3:25, putting back a rebound of an England shot that rang off the post. "It was just a good play by the D getting north, and just Brock doing his thing," said Holberton, back in the lineup after a five-game suspension. "Driving, using his speed, putting it on net and (me) driving the net and poking it in."

Sawyer Mayes made it 4-1 Seattle with a redirect of an England shot at 9:47. Pekar closed out the scoring with his third goal of the weekend, and 22nd of the season into an empty net at 16:16. "I thought the work we did in the first forty set us up for success in the third," stated O'Dette. "I think it's understanding what works for us and having the buy in to execute it."

T-BIRD EXTRAS

The T-Birds end the season series against Tri-City with a 4-0-0-2 record. Over the last five seasons Seattle is 30-6-1-2 against Tri-City.

The Thunderbirds have points in five straight games (3-0-1-1)

Antonio Martorana sat out the third game of his four game, league imposed, suspension. He is eligible to return to action March 13th.

Boxscore: Tri-City Americans at Seattle Thunderbirds - Saturday, March 7, 2026

Check out the Seattle Thunderbirds Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 8, 2026


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