For the Reporter
The Seattle Thunderbirds knocked off the Eastern Conference leading Brandon Wheat Kings 6-4 Friday night at Westman Place in Brandon, Manitoba.
This was the T-Birds’ fourth game on a six-game road to the East Division. The T-Birds snapped the Wheat Kings’ six-game winning streak and are now 2-2 on the road trip.
Seattle goalie Danny Mumaugh stopped 28 of 32 shots to get his first win of the season.
Keegan Kolesar had a goal and two assists and Scott Eansor and Shea Theodore each had a goal and an assist in the win.
The T-Birds face the Regina Pats at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Brandt Centre. They finish out the road trip in Swift Current at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Brandon (16-4-1-0), the top team in the Eastern Conference, took a 1-0 lead at 6:14 of the first period on Duncan Campbell’s fifth goal the season. Campbell took a shot that hit the right post, came back to him in the slot and he put the rebound past a lunging Mumaugh. Tanner Kaspick and Colton Waltz had the assists.
Seattle (9-8-2-1) came right back and tied the game four seconds later. Florian Baltram won the faceoff forward where Calvin Spencer got it. Spencer entered the Brandon zone and beat Brandon goalie Logan Thompson from the high slot with a wrist shot.
The T-Birds took a 2-1 lead at 11:33 of the second period. Shea Theodore moved the puck from the left point to Ethan Bear at the right point. Bear held the puck then made a hard pass to Ryan Gropp to the left of the net. Gropp, with his back to the net, backhanded the puck under Thompson for his team leading 10th goal of the season.
Seattle outshot Brandon 9-6 in the first period.
The T-Birds took a 3-1 lead at 2:27 of the second period on a breakaway goal from Justin Hickman. Defenseman Jerret Smith blocked a Brandon point shot just before a Brandon power play ended. Smith sent the puck to Keegan Kolesar in the right circle. Kolesar held the puck, saw Hickman coming out of the penalty box and hit him with a crisp pass. Hickman came in along on Thompson, made a move left getting the goalie to go down and then lifted a backhand shot into the net.
Peter Quenneville cut the T-Birds lead to one goal when he scored on a power play at 6:42 of the second. Ivan Provorov took a shot from the high point that Mumaugh stopped. Quenneville banged the rebound past the goalie for the goal. Ryan Pilon had the second assist.
The Wheat Kings tied the game 3-3 at 13:47 of the second on a power-play goal from John Quenneville. Reid Duke passed the puck to Quenneville on top of the crease and he beat Mumaugh. Eric Roy had the second assist.
Brandon outshot Seattle 16-11 in the second period and led 22-20 in total shots after two periods.
The first goal from Theodore this season put the T-Birds in front 4-3. Kolesar passed the puck to Lane Pederson along the left boards. Pederson cut across the ice and dropped the puck to Theodore at the blue line at center ice. Theodore skated forward, and with Hickman screening Thompson, put a wrist shot on goal that beat the goalie over the glove for a power-play goal at 7:21 of the third.
A great individual effort by Scott Eansor gave the T-Birds a 5-3 lead at 12:55 of the third. Eansor got the puck in the neutral zone while Brandon was making a line change. He broke down the right wing with speed a Brandon defenseman was coming off the bench. Eansor was able to get around a Brandon defenseman and cut towards the net. Eansor lost an edge as he was heading toward the net and the puck and he crashed into the Thompson and the net, with the net coming off its moorings. T
he T-Birds celebrated but the referee waved no goal. The play went to video review, and after a delay of a few minutes, the goal was awarded, as the puck crossed the goal line before the net came off its moorings.
Brandon cut the T-Birds lead to one goal at 16:02 of the third. Jayce Hawryluk came down the right wing and took a shot that rebounded off Mumaugh and right into the slot. Jesse Gabrielle got the loose puck and found the back of the net. Provorov had the second assist.
Kolesar sealed the win 37 second after Brandon’s fourth goal. Eansor passed the puck to Kolesar who entered the Brandon zone on the left side. Kolesar came through the left circle, got around a defenseman and cut to the net. Kolesar slid the puck between Thompson’s legs as he skated over the top of the crease. Smith had the second assist, for his second assist of the game.
Seattle outshot Brandon 13-9 in the third period and 33-32 in the game.
Thompson stopped 27 of 33 shots and his record is now 3-1-0-0.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Brandon, Campbell 5 (Kaspick, Waltz), 6:14. 2, Seattle, Spencer 2 (Baltram), 6:18. 3, Seattle, Gropp 10 (Bear, Theodore), 11:33. Penalties – Roy, Brn (cross checking), 14:05.
Second period – 4, Seattle, Hickman 6 (Kolesar, Smith), 2:27. 5, Brandon, P. Quenneville 5 (Provorov, Pilon), 6:42 (pp). 6, Brandon, J. Quenneville 7 (Duke, Roy), 13:47 (pp). Penalties – Hickman, Sea (roughing), :18. Kolesar, Sea (double minor-spearing), 5:55. Kolesar, Sea (major-fighting), 9:09. Gabrielle, Brn (major-fighting), 9:09. Theodore, Sea (interference), 13:01. Smith, Sea (tripping), 16:47.
Third period – 7, Seattle, Theodore 1 (Pederson, Kolesar), 7:21 (pp). 8, Seattle, Eansor 4, 12:55. 9, Brandon, Gabrielle 12 (Hawryluk, Provorov), 16:02. 10, Seattle, Kolesar 6 (Eansor, Smith), 16:39. Penalties – Duke, Brn (cross checking), 6:25.
Shots on goal – Seattle 9-11-13 33, Brandon 6-17-9 32. Goalies – Seattle, Mumaugh 32 shots-28 saves (1-2-0-0); Brandon, Thompson 33-27 (3-1-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 1-2; Brandon 2-5. A – 4,267. Referees – Chris Schlenker, Kyle Scrivens. Linesmen – Darrell Surminski, Justin Verhaeghe.
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