WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds Win Wild Game In Spokane

February 12, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


Spokane, February 11, 2008 - Bud Holloway had three goals and Jeremy Boyer added two goals to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a wild 9-7 win over the Spokane Chiefs Monday night in front of 5,581 at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

Seattle had a season high five goals in the first period and then added three more in the second period and one in the third period. The T-Birds improved their record to 30-18-5-2 and now have a season high five- game winning streak.

The T-Birds move into fifth place in the Western Conference playoff standings with the win. They are one point ahead of the Everett Silvertips with four games in hand. The T-Birds are three points behind the Kelowna Rockets for fourth place in the conference with two games in hand. The nine goals by the T-Birds are a season high. They scored eight goals against Swift Current on December 15 at KeyArena.

This game was originally scheduled for Friday, February 8, in Spokane but was postponed when the T-Birds could not get over Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 due to blizzard conditions.

Seattle took a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal at 4:08 of the first period. Jim O'Brien stole the puck at the Seattle blue line along the right boards. He headed down the ice on a breakaway. Prab Rai jumped into the play and joined O'Brien for a two-on- none break. O'Brien made a pass across the crease from the bottom of the right circle to Rai and he put the puck into an empty net. Rai extended his point streak to six games with his ninth goal of the year.

Bud Holloway put the T-Birds up 2-0 at 5:24 of the first when he scored his 28th goal of the year. Scott Jackson fed Holloway the puck and he came down the ice on a two-on-two break with Isak Quakenbush. Holloway put a shot on goal that rebounded to the right of the just past the goal line. Holloway got to the puck and shot it in off the back of Spokane goalie Kevin Armstrong's left leg for the goal. Sena Acolatse had the second assist on the goal. Holloway extended his point streak to nine games with the goal. Holloway put the T-Birds up 3-0 at 7:22 of the first when he slid a shot under Armstrong. Lindsay Nielsen had the assist on Holloway's 29th goal of the year.

Jared Spurgeon scored for Spokane (39-13-1-4) at 7:46 of the first to get the Chiefs on the board. Chris Bruton had the only assist on the goal.

Mitch Wahl scored at 10:23 of the first period to cut the T-Birds lead to one goal. Stefan Ullmer and Drayson Bowman had the assists on the goal.

Ian McKenzie and Jim O'Brien teamed up to score a power-play goal at 14:36 of the first to put the T-Birds in front 4-2. McKenzie brought the puck up ice and split two Spokane defenders at the blue line and got a shot on goal. Armstrong made the save but the puck came to the left of the net. O'Brien was crashing the net on the shot and put the rebound past Armstrong for his 15th goal of the year.

Seattle got the three-goal lead back at 18:40 of the first when Lindsay Nielsen scored. Jackson sent the puck from the left boards to Greg Scott in the left corner. Scott quickly sent the puck to the front of the Spokane net. Nielsen was coming down the slot and tipped the puck past Armstrong for his 11th goal of the year. Scott now has a nine-game point streak with the assist on Seattle's fifth goal of the game.

Seattle outshot Spokane 15-8 in the first period.

Spokane replaced Armstrong with Dustin Tokarski to start the second period. Armstrong made 10 saves on 15 shots.

Jeremy Boyer put the T-Birds up 6-2 at 2:48 of the second period. Ian McKenzie helped get the T-Birds sixth goal by taking the puck hard to the net and getting a shot on goal. Boyer was following the play and got to the rebound just above the crease and put the puck past Tokarski for his 14th goal of the year.

Boyer put the T-Birds up by five goals at the eight- minute mark of the second. Quakenbush got the puck to Scott on the left boards in the Spokane zone. Scott made a centering pass to Boyer in the high slot. Boyer cradled the puck and then beat Tokarski with quick wrist shot over the glove.

Drayson Bowman scored the Chiefs third goal of the game at 10:11 of the second. Trevor Glass and Ullmer had the assists.

Jeremy Schappert put the T-Birds up 8-3 at 16:23 of the second with his first goal of the year. Rai fed the puck from the Seattle zone to David Richard in the neutral zone. Richard brought the puck across the Spokane blue line with two Chiefs defenders in front of him. Richard made a drop pass to Schappert trailing the play. Schappert had Boyer to his left but elected to shoot and beat Tokarski over the glove for the goal.

Bowman scored at 18:48 to get the Chiefs fourth goal. Mike Reddington had the only assist on the goal.

The T-Birds outshot the Chiefs 12-8 in the second period and led 27-16 in total shots after two periods.

Ullmer scored a power-play goal at 6:13 of the third period to cut the Seattle lead to three goals. Bowman and Wahl had the assists.

Judd Blackwater scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 17:21 of the third to cut the T-Bird lead two goals.

Spokane pulled Tokarski for an extra attacker when Seattle was called for a penalty with just over two minutes left in the game. Seattle was able to take advantage of the empty net when Holloway scored a shorthanded empty-net goal. Nielsen had the assist on the goal.

Spokane remained on the power play though as Seattle was called for a delay of game penalty just after the Holloway goal. Spokane pulled Tokarski a second time and Bruton was able to score a six-on- three power-play goal at 19:47 of third. Blackwater and Bowman had the assists

Spokane outshot Seattle 17-3 in the third period and finished with a 33-30 advantage in shots on goal.

Seattle goalie Jacob DeSerres made 23 saves on 30 shots and his record is now 13-9-0-1.

Tokarski made 11 saves on 14 shots and his record is now 23-8-0-2.

The T-Birds stay on the road to take on the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday, February 13, at 7:05 p.m. at the Toyota Center. They are back home on Friday, February 15, to face the Chilliwack Bruins at 7:35 p.m. at KeyArena.

Season tickets are currently on sale for 2007-08 at KeyArena. Fans purchasing 2007-08 season tickets will have the highest seating priority for the 2008-09 season as the Thunderbirds open the new Kent Events Center. Priority can be established right now by calling 206-448-PUCK (7825) or for more information go to www.seattlethunderbirds.com.

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