Winterhawks turn back T-Birds, 4-2

The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2 Saturday night at the Rose Garden in Portland.

Goalie Danny Mumaugh made his T-Birds debut in the loss. He came on in relief of Brandon Glover at the 5:01 mark of the first period. Mumaugh stopped 29 of 31 shots he faced and was credited with the loss.

The T-Birds have one game remaining before they take a nine-day break for the holidays. They return home to take on the Tri-City Americans at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.

Portland (27-5-1-0) took a 1-0 lead at 3:24 of the first period when Taylor Leier scored an unassisted goal. It was the Winterhawks Teddy Bear Toss game and fans at the Rose Garden littered the ice with stuffed animals after Leier scored. There was a delay of 18 minutes as the stuffed animals were cleared off the ice.

Leier scored at 5:01 of the first to put the Winterhawks up 2-0. Nic Petan had the assist on the goal.

Mumaugh replaced Brandon Glover in the Seattle net after Portland’s second goal. Glover made two saves on four shots.

The Winterhawks outshot the T-Birds 13-4 in the first period.

The Winterhawks took a 3-0 lead on a goal by Derrick Pouliott at the four-minute mark of the second period. Taylor Peters had the only assist on the goal.

Portland led 25-13 in shots after two periods.

Seattle (16-16-1-1) got on the board at 1:17 of the third period. Riley Sheen corralled the puck behind the Portland net and skated out from behind the net on the right side. Sheen centered the puck to a wide open Michal Holub in the slot. Holub snapped the puck past Portland goalie Mac Carruth through traffic. Evan Wardley had the second assist on the goal.

Peters scored at 6:31 to put the Winterhawks back in front by three goals. Leipsic and Petan were credited with the assists.

The T-Birds got a power play late in the third period and were able to capitalize. Seth Swenson took a shot from the left circle that was deflected and went to Alexander Delnov in the right circle. Delnov whipped the puck past Carruth at 18:44 for his 11th goal of the season. Connor Honey had the second assist.

Seattle outshot Portland 14-10 in the third period but Portland finished with a 35-27 advantage in shots.

Carruth finished with 25 saves on 27 shots and his record is now 14-2-0-0.

The T-Birds holiday ticket package is back. Twenty-four- and 12-ticket voucher packages for Thunderbirds home games are available online. Packages also can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Portland, Leier 13, 3:24. 2, Portland, Leier 14 (Petan), 5:01. Penalties – De Champlain, Por (charging), 8:38. Honey, Sea (cross checking), 8:47. Peters, Por (tripping), 12:43. Theodore, Sea (tripping), 14:30. Sheen, Sea (10-minute misconduct), 14:30. Hickman, Sea (major-fighting, game misconduct), 18:48. Iverson, Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:48. Foulk, Sea (major-fighting), 18:48. Mahon, Por (major-fighting), 18:48.

Second period – 3, Portland, Pouliott 8 (Peters), 4:00. Penalties – De Champlain, Por (roughing), 6:17. Honey, Sea (goaltender interference), 9:07. Green, Sea (major-fighting), 16:13. Mahon, Por (major-fighting), 16:13. Elliot, Sea (holding, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 16:44. De Champlain, Por (major-fighting), 16:44.

Third period – 4, Seattle, Holub 2 (Sheen, Wardley), 1:17. 5, Portland, Peters 8 (Leipsic, Petan), 6:31. 6, Seattle, Delnov 11 (Swenson, Honey), 18:44 (pp). Penalties – Mahon, Por (delay of game, major-fighting, game misconduct), 15:11. Elliot, Sea (major-fighting, game misconduct), 15:11. Lockhart, Sea (holding), 15:39. Leipsic, Por (roughing), 16:43. Sheen, Sea (roughing), 16:43. De Leo, Por (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:23. Bench, Sea, 20:00. Bench, Por, 20:00.

Shots on goal – Seattle 4-9-14 27, Portland 13-12-10 35. Goalies – Seattle, Glover 4 shots-2 saves, Mumaugh 31-29 (0-1-0-0); Portland, Carruth 27-25 (14-2-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 1-4; Portland 0-6. A – 10,947. Referee – Derek Zalaski, Brett Montsion. Linesmen – Tim Digby, Chris Sweeting.