For the Reporter
The Seattle Thunderbirds came back from three one-goal deficits Friday night at the Moda Center in Portland to beat the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 in a shootout.
The T-Birds were down by a goal in all three periods. They battled back to get the tying goal with 2:17 left in the third period to send the game to overtime.
In overtime each team had several chances but Seattle goalie Taran Kozun and Portland goalie Brendan Burke made the saves when called upon.
Portland shot first in the shootout and sent out Dominic Turgeon first. Turgeon beat Kozun to put Portland in front. Seattle sent out Mathew Barzal and he beat Burke to tie the shootout 1-1.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, Portland’s second shooter, was denied by Kozun at the left post. Keegan Kolesar, Seattle’s second shooter, was stopped by Burke when he made a move in close.
Miles Koules came up third for Portland and Kozun made the save. With a chance to win the game Seattle sent up rookie Donovan Neuls as their third shooter. Neuls collected the puck at center ice. Neuls skated down the ice with his head up and wired a hard wrist shot over Burke’s glove for the winning goal.
This was the first shootout of the year for both the T-Birds and Winterhawks.
The T-Birds face the Kelowna Rockets at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at the ShoWare Center.
Portland remains winless
Portland (0-5-0-1) went in front 1-0 at 9:53 of the first period on a goal from Evan Weinger. Layne Viveiros had the only assist on the goal.
The Winterhawks outshot the T-Birds 13-2 in the first period.
Seattle (2-2-0-0) tied the game at 10:14 of the second period. Kolesar worked the puck out of the left corner to Jared Hauf at the left point. Hauf put a wrist shot on goal with traffic in front of Burke. Nick Holowko tipped Hauf’s shot over Burke’s glove for the tying goal. The goal was Holowko’s first as a T-Bird.
The Winterhawks took a 2-1 lead on a shorthanded goal for Bjorkstrand at 16:52 of the second period. Chase De Leo had an assist on the goal.
Both teams had seven shots on goal in the second period and Portland led 20-9 in total shots after two periods.
Kolesar tied the game 2-2 with a power-play goal at 10:18 of the third period. Mathew Barzal dug the puck out of the left corner and passed the puck to Kolesar at the bottom of the left circle. Kolesar came in alone on Burke, went right and slid the puck under Burke’s left pad for the goal. Ethan Bear had the second assist on the goal.
Portland took the lead 3-2 at 17:13 of the third on a goal for Paul Bittner. Bittner scored from the slot off an assist from Keegan Iverson. Viveiros had the second assist.
Seattle came right back and tied the game 3-3 30 seconds after Portland scored. Barzal held the puck in the left circle. He backhanded the puck to Bear alone in the high slot. Bear put a slap shot on goal that Ryan Gropp tipped past Burke for the T-Birds third tying goal of the game.
Seattle outshot Portland 12-6 the third period.
Portland outshot Seattle 3-2 in overtime and 29-25 in the game.
Kozun stopped 26 of 29 shots and his record is now 2-2-0-0.
Burke made 21 saves on 24 shots and his record is now 0-2-0-1.
Tickets
Single game tickets are available online at the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. The ShoWare Center Box Office is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.
Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Portland, Weinger 3 (Viveiros), 9:53. Penalties – Hauf, Sea (holding), 19:04.
Second period – 2, Seattle, Holowko 1 (Hauf, Kolesar), 10:14. 3, Portland, Bjorkstrand 1 (De Leo), 16:52 (sh). Penalties – Hauf, Sea (roughing), 5:52. Cederholm, Por (major-fighting), 12:57. Kolesar, Sea (major-fighting), 12:57. Smith, Por (slashing), 15:51. Khaira, Sea (tripping), 17:54. Wardley, Sea (cross checking), 19:38.
Third period – 4, Seattle, Kolesar 2 (Barzal, Bear), 10:18 (pp). 5, Portland, Bittner (Iverson, Viveiros), 17:13. 6, Seattle, Gropp 3 (Bear, Barzal, Gropp), 17:43. Penalties – Smith, Por (kneeing), 5:05. True, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:45. Koules, Por (tripping), 8:39. Bench, Por (too many men-served by Bittner), 12:24.
Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.
Shootout – Seattle 2 (Barzal G, Kolesar NG, Neuls G). Portland 1 (Turgeon G, Bjorkstrand NG, Koules NG).
Shots on goal – Seattle 2-7-12-2-1 24, Portland 13-7-6-3-0 29. Goalies – Seattle, Kozun 29 shots-26 saves (2-2-0-0); Portland, Burke 24-21 (0-2-0-1). Power plays – Seattle 1-4; Portland 0-5. A – 6,729. Referees – Mike Campbell, Brett Iverson. Linesmen – Ron Dietterle, Tyler Hawthorne.
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