Thunderbirds Take Down Tri-City
Published on March 5, 2022 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENNEWICK, Wash. - Mekai Sanders' goal early in the second period broke a 1-1 tie and The Seattle Thunderbirds went on to defeat the Tri-City Americans, 3-1, Friday at the Toyota Center. It was Seattle's eighth win, in eight tries, over Tri-City this season. The T-birds stay on the road for the second game of the weekend, traveling to Everett Saturday to face the Everett Silvertips at Angel of the Winds Arena. Game time is 6:05 p.m.
T-birds head coach Matt O'Dette said it was a case of doing just enough to get the win, against a goalie who was on the top of his game, as Tri-City's Tomas Suchanek denied the T-birds on a number of high-quality scoring chances. "We played okay. Their goalie was good," he said. "Not as efficient as we need to be. Credit to those guys (Tri-City), I thought they played really well." O'Dette said they'll take the two points that puts them on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot.
Seattle (32-14-4-1) fell behind at 11:19 of the first period, when Sam Huo scored his 22nd of the season for the Americans. The T-birds picked up the pace after that and finished the first period with 17-shots on goal. They tied the game with just under two minutes left in the opening period. Conner Roulette snapped home his 18th of the season, finishing off a pass from Jeremy Hanzel. Sam Knazko picked up the second assist on the power play goal.
Sanders game winner came at 5:35 of period two. He took a pass from Gabe Ludwig at center ice and skated into the Americans end. He took a shot as he skated left to right inside the blue line that ricocheted in off the post. Sanders said it may not have been the prettiest goal, but it was effective. "I would say it was a bit of a good, lucky bounce. But shooting mentality was what we were going for in this game." Sanders said he was just trying to give his team some space to make a line change or get over the blue line. "It definitely gave me some time to create some space to shoot through the middle of the D."
The T-birds spent much of the third period protecting their one goal lead, including killing off a late Tri-City power play. After failing on the 5-on-4 advantage, the Americans would pull their goalie in the final minute for the extra skater. But Lucas Ciona iced the win for the T-birds with an empty net goal at 19:31. Nico Myatovic had the lone assist on Seattle's final goal.
While Suchanek was at the top of his game in net for Tri-City, Seattle's Thomas Milic was turning aside 22 of 23 shots he faced to earn his 21st win. O'Dette says his goalie had to be sharp because his team's puck management was not as good as it needed to be. "Just too many odd man rushes. We recovered pretty well on a lot of them but you can't give up that many."
For his part Milic said he was willing to match Suchanek save-for-save. "It's always a competition. It breaks down to me against him in tight games like this. Hats off to him for making those saves but staying solid and making saves at my end is just as good."
After the game in Everett Saturday versus the Silvertips, Seattle returns home to the accesso ShoWare Center Sunday to host Tri-City at 5:05 p.m. It will be the first of four straight home games for the T-birds.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
Henrik Rybinski missed his third consecutive game dealing with an upper body injury suffered last Saturday versus Everett. He is listed as day-to-day.
The T-birds finished the game with a 40-23 shot edge. It was the fourth straight game Seattle has hit the 40-shot mark.
With the win the T-birds are one point away from earning a spot in the 2022 WHL postseason.
Western Hockey League Stories from March 5, 2022
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- Game Day Hub: March 5 vs TC - Portland Winterhawks
- Pats Host Hurricanes in Playoff Type Matchup - Regina Pats
- Warriors Topped by Raiders on Friday Night - Moose Jaw Warriors
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- Suchanek Shines as Americans Fall to Thunderbirds - Tri-City Americans
- Chiefs Battle Back, Beat Cougars 4-3 Friday Night - Spokane Chiefs
- Rockets Rally to Top Royals in OT - Kelowna Rockets
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