Sports stats



WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds Get Fancy to Chase Down Rebels

February 16, 2019 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


KENT - Henrik Rybinski and Matthew Wedman each had two goals Friday night in front of 4,575 at accesso ShoWare Center to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 6-4 win over the Red Deer Rebels.

Noah Philp had a goal and an assist. Sean Richards and Jarret Tyszka each had two assists.

Seattle improves to 22-27-5-1 and now lead the Kamloops Blazers by three points for the second wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Blazers have one game in hand on the T-Birds.

The T-Birds host the Everett Silvertips on Saturday at 6:05pm at accesso ShoWare Center. They travel to Portland to play the Winterhawks on Sunday at 4pm in a game that is being televised on JOEtv Channel 22/110.

Seattle took a 1-0 lead at 7:45 of the first period on Philp's 21st goal of the season. Rybinski sent the puck from the neutral zone at the Red Deer net. Rebels goalie Byron Fancy played the puck into the right circle where Sean Richards got it. Richards dropped the puck for Philp who skated to the left post and jammed the puck past Red Deer goalie Byron Fancy.

Red Deer (29-20-4-1) tied the game 1-1 at 8:22 of the first on a goal by Zak Smith. Alex Morozoff had the only assist.

The T-Birds scored four goals in the second period to get a 5-1 lead over the Rebels after two periods.

Richards was tripped up on a two-on-one break with Wedman in the neutral zone. Richards got up and chased the puck to the top of the left circle. Richards crossed the puck to Wedman in the slot. Wedman put the puck over Fancy's left pad at 4:34 with a slap shot as the goalie tried to slide over and make the save.

Seattle then scored three goals in 4:59 to make it 5-1.

Rybinski made it a two-goal lead at 10:13 on the power play. Tyszka crossed the puck to Philp at the right point. Philp skated to the top of the right circle and made a wrist pass with Rybinski in the slot. Philp's pass went off Rybinski's stick and past Fancy for his second goal of the game. Wedman had the second assist.

Andrej Kukuca scored unassisted at the 14-minute mark to make it a 4-1 lead. Kukuca intercepted a pass in the high slot and came in on Fancy. Kukuca beat Fancy over the blocker for his 20th goal of the season.

Rybinski scored his second of the game, at 15:14 of the, to make it 5-1. Tyszka put the puck in the left corner to Rybinski. Rybinski found Graeme Bryks in the low slot. Bryks took a shot that Fancy stopped but Rybinski followed the play and banged in the rebound for his fifth goal of the season.

Red Deer cut the T-Birds lead to two with goals by Alexander Alexeyev at 3:30 and Oleg Zaytsev at 4:03 of the third period.

Red Deer pulled Fancy with 2:57 left in the third for an extra attacker. It paid off as Reese Johnsons scored at 18:34 off an assist from Cameron Hausinger.

Fancy stayed on the bench for the extra attacker. Jaxan Kaluski cleared the puck up the right boards where Wedman chased the puck down. Wedman hit the empty net from the blue at 19:02 to secure the win. Tyrel Bauer had the second assist.

Seattle outshot Red Deer 44-31 in the game.

Seattle goalie Roddy Ross had 27 saves on 31 shots and his record is now 9-4-0-1.

Fancy made 38 saves on 43 shots and his record is now 5-6-0-1.

Single game tickets are on sale online on the T-Birds website and at the accesso ShoWare Center box office.

The T-Birds are now taking orders for Flex-24 Ticket packages. Fans that purchase the 24-Flex Ticket Package will be able to select any available premium seat for any game, in any ticket combination, during the 2018-19 season.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period - 1, Seattle, Philp 21 (Richards), 7:45. 2, Red Deer, Smith 10 (Morozoff), 8:22. Penalties - Richards, Sea (holding), 12:19. Zaytsev, RD (tripping), 14:50.

Second period - 3, Seattle, Wedman 29 (Richards), 4:34. 4, Seattle, Philp 22 (Tyszka, Wedman), 10:13 (pp). 5, Seattle, Kukuca 20, 14:00. 6, Seattle, Rybinski 5 (Bryks), 15:52. Penalties - Volcan, Sea (roughing), 7:27. McNelly, Sea (cross checking), 7:27. Hagel, RD (roughing), 7:27. Douglas, RD (roughing), 10:05. Ashton, Sea (roughing), 15:52. Zaytsev, RD (roughing), 15:52.

Third period - 7, Red Deer, Alexeyev 8 (Tarzwell), 1:25. 8, Red Deer, Zaytsev 11 (Hagel), 4:03. 9, Red Deer, Johnson 21 (Hausinger), 18:34. 10, Seattle, Wedman 30 (Kaluski, Bauer), 19:51. Penalties - Alexeyev, RD (kneeing), 1:25. Lee, Sea (roughing), 6:28. Hausinger, RD (roughing), 6:28. Morozoff, RD (hooking), 9:01. Tyszka, Sea (cross checking), 9:27. Bains, Sea (high-sticking), 19:50. McNelly, Sea (10-minute misconduct), 19:50.

Shots on goal - Seattle 12-19-13 44, Red Deer 9-9-12 31. Goalies - Seattle, Ross 31 shots-27 saves (9-4-0-1); Red Deer, Fancy 43-38 (5-6-0-1). Power plays - Seattle 1-5; Red Deer 0-3. A - 4,575. Referees - Ian Jendro, Sean Raphael. Linesmen - Mark Heier, Brett Mackey.

Check out the Seattle Thunderbirds Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Seattle Thunderbirds Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central