Keegan Kolesar had two goals and Mathew Barzal had three assists to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series in front of 5,092 at the ShoWare Center on Saturday night.
The T-Birds lead the best-of-seven Western Hockey League series 2-0. They beat the Cougars 3-2 in overtime on Friday.
The series moves to Prince George for Game 3 Tuesday and Game 4 Wednesday at the CN Centre. Both games start at 7 p.m.
Seattle goalie Landon Bow made 17 saves on 18 shots to get the win, his second of the playoffs.
The T-Birds outshot the Cougars 44-18 in the game and have outshot them 94-43 in the two games.
The T-Birds took a 1-0 lead 8:05 of the on a four-on-four goal by Kolesar. Barzal had the puck in the left corner and passed it to Kolesar in the left circle. Kolesar snapped the puck over Prince George goalie Ty Edmonds glove for the goal.
Chase Witala tied the game 1-1 for the Cougars at 14:29 of the second.
The T-Birds took a 2-1 lead at 15:43 of the second on a goal from Ethan Bear. Nick Holowko took a shot that Edmonds stopped. Barzal got the rebound and circled around the net. Barzal centered the puck to Bear all alone in the slot and he put a wrist shot over Edmonds’ glove.
Kolesar put the T-Birds in front 3-1 at 5:14 of the third period. Barzal had a one-on-one with a Cougars defenseman. He got the puck around the defenseman but Edmonds came out of his net and poke checked the puck to the right boards. Kolesar got the puck along the boards and whipped it at the net with Edmonds out of position. The puck snuck in at the left post for Kolesar’s second goal of the game.
Scott Eansor scored an empty-net goal with 33 seconds left in the game to seal the win.
Edmonds made 40 saves on 43 in the loss.
SERIES GLANCE
Seattle vs. Prince George, best-of-seven, first-round series
Game 1 At Seattle 3, Prince George 2
Game 2 At Seattle 4, Prince George 1
Game 3 Seattle @ Prince George Tuesday, March 29, 7 p.m.
Game 4 Seattle @ Prince George Wednesday, March 30, 7 p.m.
Game 5 Prince George @ Seattle Friday, April 1, 7:35 p.m.*
Game 6 Seattle @ Prince George Sunday, April 3, 7 p.m.*
Game 7 Prince George @ Seattle Tuesday, April 5, 7:05 p.m.*
* if necessary
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – No scoring. Penalties – Harrison, PG (hooking), 7:30. McDonald, PG (hooking), 11:19. Kolesar, Sea (charging), 12:39. Ruopp, PG (charging), 17:39.
Second period – 1, Seattle, Kolesar 1 (Barzal), 8:05. 2, Prince George, Witala 1 (Harkins, Morrison), 14:29. 3, Seattle, Bear 1 (Barzal, Holowko), 15:43. Penalties – Bench, Sea (too many men-served by Holowko), 9:14. Harrison, PG (cross checking), 11:19. Barzal, Sea (tripping), 12:26. Schumacher, Sea (charging), 17:37. Witala, PG (checking from behind), 17:43. Ottenbreit, Sea (cross checking), 18:01.
Third period – 4, Seattle, Kolesar 2 (Barzal), 5:14. 5, Seattle, Eansor 1 (Volcan), 19:27 (en). Penalties – O’Brien, PG (tripping), 2:13. Bethune, PG (delay of game), 6:14. Leth, Sea (interference), 8:28. Harkins, PG (10-minute misconduct), 19:27.
Shots on goal – Seattle 13-16-15 44, Prince George 6-6-6 18. Goalies – Seattle, Bow 18 shots-17 saves (2-0); Prince George, Edmonds 43-40 (0-2). Power plays – Seattle 0-6; Prince George 0-6. A – 5,092. Referees – Kevin Bennett, Jeff Ingram. Linesmen – Michael Bean, Nathan Van Oosten.
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