Ryan Gropp had a goal and two assists and Mathew Barzal had three assists to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-3 win over the Vancouver Giants on Friday night at the ShoWare Center.
The T-Birds stretched their home-ice winning streak to nine games.
Seattle goalie Taz Burman had 21 saves on 24 shots to improve to 6-3-0-0.
Seattle (16-7-1-0) took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Jarret Tyszka at 3:27 of the first period.
Mathew Barzal passed the puck from the right boards to Sahvan Khaira at right point. Khaira crossed puck to Tyszka at the left point. Tyszka took a slap shot with traffic in front of Vancouver goalie Ryan Kubic. Tyszka’s shot beat Kubic over the left shoulder for his third goal of the season.
Vancouver (5-16-2-2) tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal of their own at 6:25 of the first.
The teams came out for the second period but the ShoWare Center lights were not working. The teams waited for several minutes before the referees sent the teams back to the locker rooms to wait for the lights to come back on.
When the lights came back on the T-Birds started the period with good energy and scored three goals to take a 4-1 lead.
Seattle took the lead back at 5:42 of the second period courtesy of a four-on-three power-play goal from Ethan Bear. Gropp had the puck in the right corner and passed it to Bear in the right circle. Bear wired a slap shot past Kubic on the blocker side for his sixth goal of the season.
The T-Birds took a 3-1 lead at 9:27 of the second on Matthew Wedman’s fourth goal of the season. Tyszka took a slap shot from the left point that Wedman tipped past Kubic.
Gropp scored his 14th goal of the season to put the T-Birds in front 4-1 at 12:27 of the second. Barzal passed the puck from the left corner to Gropp along the left boards. Gropp brought the puck off the boards and skated right at Kubic and snapped a wrist shot over the goalie’s blocker.
Vancouver’s Alec Baer cut the T-Birds lead to two goals at 15:20 of the second when he snuck the puck under Burman. Carter Popoff had the only assist on the goal.
Seattle made it a 5-2 lead 2:57 into the third period. Barzal drew the defense towards him in the left corner and then made a saucer pass to Jerret Smith coming into the high slot. Smith beat Kubic on the glove side for his third goal of the year. Gropp had the second assist on the goal.
Matt Barberis scored at 15:42 to get the Giants third goal of the game.
Vancouver outshot Seattle 9-5 in the third period. The T-Birds finished with a 29-24 advantage in shots.
Kubic made 24 saves on 29 shots and his record falls to 0-7-1-0.
Next up: Moose Jaw
The T-Birds play the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at the ShoWare Center.
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 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, Seattle, Tyszka 3 (Khaira, Barzal), 3:27 (pp). 2, Vancouver, Ronning 13 (Barberis, Popoff), 6:25. Penalties – Thomas, Van (interference), 1:57. Olhaver, Sea (roughing), 6:19. Holowko, Sea (high-sticking), 10:46.
Second period – 3, Seattle, Bear 6 (Gropp), 5:42 (pp). 4, Seattle, Wedman 4 (Hauf), 9:27. 5, Seattle, Gropp 14 (Barzal), 12:27. 6, Vancouver, Baer 4 (Popoff), 15:20. Penalties – Ottenbreit, Sea (roughing), 4:04. Cox, Van (roughing), 4:04. Osipov, Van (high-sticking), 4:59. Thomas, Van (major-fighting), 9:42. Kolesar, Sea (major-fighting), 9:42. Bear, Sea (roughing), 9:42.
Third period – 7, Seattle, Smith 3 (Barzal, Gropp), 2:57. 8, Vancouver, Barberis 5 (Plouffe, Cox) 15:42. Penalties – Kolesar, Sea (charging), :19. Odgers, Van (major-fighting), 2:43. Osterman, Sea (major-fighting), 2:43. Wedman, Sea (slashing), 4:28. Barberis, Van (boarding), 6:28. Thrower, Van (slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:04. Holowko, Sea (slashing), 18:55. Osipov, Van (boarding), 19:01. Ronning, Van (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:02. Eansor, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:02. Benson, Van (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 19:59. Cox, Van (10-minute misconduct), 19:59. Barzal, Sea (10-minute misconduct), 19:59. Hauf, Sea (10-minute misconduct), 19:59.
Shots on goal – Seattle 12-12-5 29, Vancouver 6-9-9 24. Goalies – Seattle, Burman 24 shots-21 saves (6-3-0-0); Vancouver, Kubic 29-24 (0-7-1-0). Power plays – Seattle 2-5; Vancouver 1-7. A – 4,193. Referees – Dexter Rasmussen, Nathan Wieler. Linesmen – Al Creigh, Devon Sephton.
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