Landon Bow made 27 saves to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-0 shutout of the Prince George Cougars in Game 3 of their first-round Western Hockey League playoff series Tuesday night at the CN Centre.

The T-Birds lead the best-of-seven series 3-0 and can close out the series in Game 4 Wednesday night. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

Bow had eight saves in the first period, 12 saves in the second period and 14 saves in the third period for his first career playoff shutout.

The T-Birds have outscored the Cougars 12-3 in the three games so far.

Seattle took a 1-0 lead 3:07 into the first period. From the left circle, Mathew Barzal attempted a slap shot but his stick broke. The puck went into the slot where Keegan Kolesar got a stick it. Nick Holowko picked up the loose puck in high slot and beat Prince George goalie Ty Edmonds with a wrist shot.

The T-Birds took a 2-0 lead at 9:27 of the first. Holowko won a puck battle along the left boards and got the puck to Kolesar. Kolesar came off the board and skated through the left circle into the high slot. Kolesar beat Edmonds with a wrist shot over the blocker for his third goal of the playoffs.

Seattle struck at 3:31 of the second period on a power-play goal from Alexander True to take a 3-0 lead.

Cavin Leth scored at 1:49 of the third period to give the T-Birds a 4-0 lead. Leth scored a shorthanded goal at 6:29 of third to get the T-Birds’ fifth goal.

Seattle outshot Prince George 14-9 in the third period and 34-27 in the game.

If necessary, Game 5 of the series is Friday at the ShoWare Center at 7:35 p.m.

Seattle vs. Prince George First Round Schedule

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Holowko 1 (Kolesar, Barzal), 3:07. 2, Seattle, Kolesar 3 (Holowko), 9:27. Penalties – Johnson, PG (charging), 13:16. Ottenbreit, Sea (holding), 18:11.

Second period – 3, Seattle, True 2 (Smith, Bear), 3:31 (pp). Penalties – Bench, PG (too many men-served by Johnson), 1:54. Kolesar, Sea (checking from behind), 11:12. Witala, PG (roughing), 12:55. Leth, PG (roughing), 12:55. Witala, PG (slashing), 16:57.

Third period – 4, Seattle, Leth 2 (Schumacher), 1:49. 5, Seattle, Leth 3 (Eansor), 6:29 (sh). Penalties – Schumacher, Sea (goaltender interference), 4:50. Gabrielle, PG (major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 7:14. Barzal, Sea (slashing), 7:14. Witala, PG (roughing), 7:14. Schuldhaus, Sea (roughing), 7:14. Hauf, Sea (holding), 18:02.

Shots on goal – Seattle 8-12-14 34, Prince George 8-10-9 27. Goalies – Seattle, Bow 27 shots-27 saves (3-0); Prince George, Edmonds 9-6 (0-3), McBride 24-22. Power plays – Seattle 1-3; Prince George 0-4. A – 3,491. Referees – Mike Campbell, Reagan Vetter. Linesmen – Chris Carlson, Ron Dietterle.