Thunderbirds power past Pats | WHL

The Seattle Thunderbirds scored three power-play goals to secure a 4-2 Western Hockey League win over the Regina Pats in front of 4,701 fans at the ShoWare Center on Friday night.

Ryan Gropp had two goals and an assist and Mathew Barzal had three assists in the game.

Goalie Landon Bow stopped 35 of 37 shots to get the win. He has a 4-0-0-0 record in five games with a .960 save percentage, a 1.18 goals against average and one shutout since being acquired from the Swift Current Broncos.

The T-Birds play the Silvertips in Everett tonight in a matchup of the first- and second-place teams in the U.S. Division. The T-Birds are three points behind the Silvertips.

Seattle (24-15-3-0) jumped on the Pats 1:58 into the first period with a power-play goal. Mathew Barzal carried the puck up the left wing into Pats zone. Barzal passed the puck through a defenseman’s legs to Ryan Gropp in the left circle. Gropp faked a shot and passed the puck across the slot to Keegan Kolesar forcing Regina goalie Jordan Hollett down. Kolesar had the whole net to shoot and got his 19th goal of the season.

Regina (19-20-3-3) tied the game 1-1 at 3:56 of the second period on a goal from Luc Smith.

The T-Birds took a 2-1 lead on power-play goal from Gropp at 9:17 of the second. Barzal held the puck along the right boards and then fired it to Alexander True with his back to Hollett. True turned with the puck and got a shot off that Hollett kicked out of the crease. Gropp raced down from the top of the left circle to slam the puck past the goalie.

Gropp struck on the power play for a second time with 43 seconds left in the second period. True moved the puck from behind the Pats net to Barzal on the right boards. Barzal skated up the wall, walked the blue line and made a saucer pass to Gropp in the left circle. Gropp skated towards Hollett and beat the goalie with a hard wrist shot.

The T-Birds made it a 4-1 lead at 6:45 of the third period. Ethan Bear took a slap shot with Donovan Neuls between the circles. Neuls knocked down Bear’s shot and it went under Hollett. Turner Ottenbreit had the second assist on Neuls fifth goal of the season.

Regina replaced Hollett with Tyler Brown in net after the fourth Seattle goal. Hollett made 16 saves on 20 shots and his record falls to 7-5-1-0.

Sean Richards scored for Regina at 10:48 of the third to cut the T-Birds lead to two goals. Chase Harrison had the only assist on the goal.

Regina outshot Seattle 17-7 in the third period and 37-26 in the game.

Brown made six saves in 13 minutes of action.

Ticket information

T-Birds single game tickets for the 2015-16 season 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, Kolesar 19 (Gropp, Barzal), 1:58 (pp). Penalties – Macklin, Reg (checking to head), :50. Osterman, Sea (major-fighting), 2:58. Smith, Reg (major-fighting), 2:58. Barzal, Sea (high-sticking), 10:28. Macklin, Reg (tripping), 11:34.

Second period – 2, Regina, Smith 3 (Schioler, Cole), 3:56. 3, Seattle, Gropp 20 (True, Barzal), 9:17 (pp). 4, Seattle, Gropp 21 (Barzal, True), 19:17 (pp). Penalties – Smith, Sea (holding), 5:31. Berg, Reg (holding), 9:00. Volcan, Sea (major-fighting), 11:08. Hobbs, Reg (major-fighting), 11:08. Zablocki, Reg (high-sticking), 18:48.

Third period – 5, Seattle, Neuls 5 (Bear, Ottenbreit) 6:45. 6, Regina, Richards 1 (Harrison), 10:48. Penalties – Gropp, Sea (slashing), 7:13. Brooks, Reg (tripping), 16:41. True, Sea (tripping), 19:08.

Shots on goal – Seattle 11-8-7 26, Regina 5-15-17 37. Goalies – Seattle, Bow 37 shots-35 saves (13-14-4-0); Regina, Hollett 20-16 (7-5-1-0), Brown 6-6. Power plays – Seattle 3-5; Regina 0-4. A – 4,701. Referees – Derek Zalaski, Sean Raphael. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Al Creigh.