Thunderbirds Declaw Prince George
February 5, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
Kent, WA. - Lukas Svejkovsky scored twice, his first two goals with his new team, and the Seattle Thunderbirds rolled past the Prince George Cougars Friday, 7-2, at the accesso ShoWare Center. The Thunderbirds are back on home ice Saturday. They host the Vancouver Giants at 6:05 p.m.
Able to dress eighteen skaters for the first time in two weeks, the Thunderbirds had fifteen of them earn at least one point in the game. "It is nice to have the full complement of lines and D-pairings," said head coach Matt O'Dette. "It gives you flexibility to play the guys a little more who are going and playing the right way."
Seattle (24-11-4-1) jumped on top with a three goal first period. Two of them came from Svejkovsky. He scored at 4:01 on assists from Jordan Gustafson and Jeremy Hanzel. After Leon Okonkwo Prada scored at 10:03, Svejkovsky struck again at 18:11, with Gustafson and Conner Roulette assisting.
Svejkovsky, acquired back on December 27th in a trade with the Medicine Hat Tigers, had to recuperate from a bout with Covid, but says he's starting to feel one hundred percent. "Every game I'm just feeling better, starting to get more chemistry with my linemates. All the credit goes to them. They played great tonight."
The 2020 fourth round pick of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins believes he's physically close to where he needs to be. "I feel really good. I feel back to normal now. It was definitely a tough couple of weeks trying to get back into game shape. I'm looking forward to contributing more and helping our team win."
The two teams traded goals in the second period with Reid Schaefer picking up his 17th of the season for Seattle just 30-seconds in. Koehn Ziemmer put the Cougars on the board at 19:14.
The Thunderbirds put the game away with a dominate third period, outshooting Prince George 21-3 and outscoring them 3-1. Jared Davidson picked up his team leading 21st at 6:50. Lucas Ciona contributed a power play goal at 11:23 and 68-seconds later Matt Rempe put back a rebound of a Kevin Korchinski shot. Ryker Singer scored an unassisted goal for the Cougars with 52-seconds left to close out the scoring.
While O'Dette said it wasn't a perfect game he said the T-birds deep roster showed up. "When you have lots of guys who can get the job done, you can spread the ice time out a bit," adding, "When you get down to crunch time, guys have more energy, more juice left in the tank and can pour it on in third periods."
Friday's game was the first of three on the weekend for Seattle. After tomorrow's home game, they travel up to Langley, B.C. for a rematch with the Giants at the Langley Events Centre.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
All four of Davidson, Ciona, Korchinski and Henrik Rybinski stretched their point streaks to five games.
The T-birds have scored 32 goals in their last five home games, surrendering just ten. Once again Seattle hit the 40-shot plateau, outshooting Prince George 48-22.
Friday's game was the first of five straight for the T-birds against the B.C. Division.
The T-birds were able to ice a full roster (18-skaters) for the first time since January 22nd, five games ago.
Western Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2022
- Rockets Win Eighth Straight - Kelowna Rockets
- Sanders Strikes Twice, But Raiders Fall To Oil Kings - Prince Albert Raiders
- MacInnes, Silvertips Blank Prince George Cougars 6-0 at Home - Everett Silvertips
- Bains, Rebels Cool of Blades in 6-1 Win - Saskatoon Blades
- Oil Kings Power Their Way to Victory in Prince Albert - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Game Day Hub: February 5 at SPO - Portland Winterhawks
- Americans Host Rockets for First Meeting in Two Years - Tri-City Americans
- Chiefs Look to Bounce Back Saturday against Portland Winterhawks - Spokane Chiefs
- Gameday Preview - February 5 vs Moose Jaw - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Blades Hunt Third Straight Win, Welcome Rebels in CMHA Night - Saskatoon Blades
- Americans Unable to Break Past Gauthier, Fall to Winterhawks - Tri-City Americans
- Silvertips Extend Win Steak to Seven Games with 4-2 Home Win over Victoria - Everett Silvertips
- Thunderbirds Declaw Prince George - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Rebels Battle Hard, Grind out 2-1 Win at Prince Albert - Red Deer Rebels
- Giants Drop a 3-2 Nail-Biter at Home Friday to Kamloops - Vancouver Giants
- Cougars Fall to Seattle - Prince George Cougars
- Broncos Drop Tight 3-1 Game to Hurricanes - Swift Current Broncos
- Rockets Win at Spokane - Kelowna Rockets
- Strong Start Not Enough for Royals in 4-2 Loss to Silvertips - Victoria Royals
- Rockets Pull Away in Third for 4-1 Win over Chiefs - Spokane Chiefs
- Hawks Post Second Straight Shutout, Stretch Point Streak to 15 - Portland Winterhawks
- Pats Lose Heartbreaker After Canes Score in Final Seconds - Regina Pats
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