The line of Nolan Volcan, Scott Eansor and Donovan Neuls combined for six points to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 3-2 Western Hockey League win over the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The T-Birds, riding a 10-game winning streak, have won 14 of their last 15 games.
The T-Birds (42-23-3-0) remain atop the U.S. Division, six points in front of the Everett Silvertips, who lost 4-1 to the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. The T-Birds’ magic number to clinch the division title is two points. If the Winterhawks defeat the Silvertips in regulation at Portland on Sunday, the T-Birds will win the division.
Seattle plays the Spokane Chiefs at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at the ShoWare Center. If the Silvertips defeat the Winterhawks on Sunday, the T-Birds can win the division with a win over Spokane.
The T-Birds, who have four games remaining in the regular season, have clinched a playoff spot and no worse than second place in the division.
Seattle opens the playoffs at home for Game 1 and 2 on March 25 and 26 against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.
Volcan, T-Birds start fast
Seattle took a 1-0 lead 1:01 into the game. Eansor brought puck out from behind the Portland net. Eansor passed the puck to Volcan in the low slot. Volcan put a backhand shot over Portland goalie Adin Hill’s glove for his 16th goal of the season. Neuls had the second assist.
Portland (34-30-4-0) tied the game 1-1 at 8:33 of the first on a power-play goal by Dominic Turgeon.
The T-Birds went in front 2-1 at 6:54 of the second period. Brandon Schuldhaus passed the puck from the right boards to Ethan Bear at center ice inside the blue line. Bear passed the puck to Ryan Gropp in the right circle. Gropp whipped a puck at the goal with Matthew Wedman and Luke Osterman screening Hill. Gropp’s shot beat Hill low on the stick side for his team-leading 34th goal of the season.
The Winterhawks tied the game 2-2 at 13:36 of the second. Rodrigo Abols tipped a Keoni Texeira point shot past Seattle goalie Landon Bow.
The line of Neuls, Eansor and Volcan struck with 34 seconds left in the second to put the T-Birds up 3-2. Eansor got the puck into the Portland zone and then passed it down the right boards to Volcan, who held the puck then fed Neuls in the right circle. Neuls skated toward Hill, then took a hard wrist shot that beat the goalie low.
The Winterhawks pulled Hill for an extra attacker with 1:12 left in the third period to try and tie the game. The T-Birds held off a final push from the Winterhawks with several good saves from Bow.
Seattle outshot Portland 13-9 in the third period and 47-31 in the game.
Seattle goalie Landon Bow stopped 29 of 31 shots and his record is now 23-20-4-0.
Hill made 44 saves on 47 shots and his record is now 32-27-3-0.
Tickets
Tickets are available online at the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office, which is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.
Single-game playoff tickets will go on sale at noon Monday. Fans can get playoff tickets before they go on sale to the general public on Monday by purchasing a 10-ticket group package to either Game 1 or Game 2 for $180. The ticket special includes two free tickets and $10 in Chuck-A-Puck vouchers.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Volcan 16 (Eansor, Neuls), 1:01. 2, Portland, Turgeon 34 (Dougherty, Schoenborn), 8:33 (pp). Penalties – McKenzie, Por (roughing), 4:49. Wedman, Sea (tripping), 8:16. Weinger, Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:08. Leth, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:08. Neuls, Sea (tripping), 14:49. Ottenbreit, Sea (hooking), 15:59.
Second period – 3, Seattle, Gropp 34 (Bear, Schuldhaus), 6:54. 4, Portland, Abols 19 (Texeira, Heinrich), 13:36. 5, Seattle, Neuls 13 (Volcan, Eansor), 19:26. Penalties – Barzal, Sea (hooking), 11:31.
Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Heinrich, Por (boarding), 5:12. Kolesar, Sea (hooking), 7:10. Heinrich, Por (tripping), 13:48.
Shots on goal – Seattle 15-19-13 47, Portland 12-10-9 31. Goalies – Seattle, Bow 31 shots-29 saves (23-20-4-0); Portland, Hill 47-44 (32-27-3-0). Power plays – Seattle 0-3; Portland 1-5. A – 8,455. Referees – Fraser Lawrence, Chris Schlenker. Linesmen – Ron Dietterle, Joel Nyberg.
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