Winterhawks zap T-Birds, 10-2 | WHL

The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 10-2 Tuesday night at the Moda Center in Portland.

Portland (16-4-1-1) got goals from five different players in the first period to jump take a 5-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Brendan Leipsic, Paul Bittner, Chase De Leo, Derrick Pouliot and Nic Petan had the first period goals for the Winterhawks. Seattle goalie Justin Myles (6-4-0-0) started the game but was replaced by Danny Mumaugh after the fourth Portland goal of the first period. Myles ended with 8 saves on 12 shots in just over 14 minutes of action.

Bittner scored at 6:04 of second period to get his second goal of the game and give the Winterhawks a 6-1 lead.

Seattle (11-8-0-2) got on the board at 13:35 of the second period. Keegan Kolesar brought the puck out from behind the Portland net and found Shea Theodore at the left point. Theodore took a slap shot that beat Portland goalie Brendan Burke for his 11th goal of the season. Austin Douglas had the second assist on the goal for his first WHL point.

Taylor Leier, Bittner and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored in the first six minutes of the third period to give Portland a 9-1 lead.

Justin Hickman scored a power-play goal at 8:43 of the third to get the T-Birds second goal. Scott Eansor and Theodore had the assists.

De Leo scored at 17:34 of the third to get the Winterhawks final goal of the game.

Portland outshot Seattle 49-26 in the game.

Mumaugh stopped 31 of 37 shots in just over 45 minutes of action.

Burke made 24 saves on 26 shots and his record is now 14-3-1-1.

Prior to the game the T-Birds released 20-year-old center Erik Benoit. Benoit was acquired on waivers from the Saskatoon Blades on September 18. In 19 games with the T-Birds this season he had eight points on three goals and five assists.

The T-Birds travel to Victoria for back-to-back games against the Royals on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s game is at 7:35 p.m. and Saturday’s game is at 7:05 p.m. There next home game is Tuesday against the Kelowna Rockets at ShoWare Center at 7:05 p.m.

Game tickets are available online at tickets.seattlethunderbirds.com 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 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Portland, Leipsic 12, :53. 2, Portland, Bittner 3 (Leipsic, Hanson), 7:20. 3, Portland, De Leo 14 (Bittner, Iverson), 14:24. 4, Portland, Pouliott 3, 14:52. 5, Portland, Petan 12 (Schoenborn, Pouliot), 18:35 (pp). Penalties – McKechnie, Sea (high-sticking), 12:03. Elliot, Sea (cross checking), 15:19. Elliot, Sea (interference), 17:26.

Second period – 6, Portland, Bittner 4 (Viveiros, Petan), 6:04. 7, Seattle, Theodore 11 (Kolesar, Douglas), 13:35. Penalties – Viveiros, Por (holding), 6:25. Swenson, Sea (high-sticking), 9:45.

Third period – 8, Portland, Leier 16 (Bjorkstrand, Petan), :32 (pp). 9, Portland, Bittner 5 (Schoenborn), 4:17. 10, Portland, Bjorkstrand 17 (Leier), 5:47. 11, Seattle, Hickman 5 (Eansor, Theodore), 8:43 (pp). 12, Portland, De Leo 15 (Price, Hanson), 17:34. Penalties – Yakubowski, Sea (major-fighting), 6:05. Rossignol, Por (major-fighting), 6:05. Turgeon, Por (hooking), 7:09. Hauf, Sea (10-minute misconduct), 11:26. Swenson, Sea (roughing), 10:26. De Leo, Por (roughing), 11:26. Leier, Por (10-minute misconduct), 11:26. Haar, Por (hooking), 12:38. Leipsic, Por (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct, 10-minute misconduct), 15:55. Yakubowski, Sea (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct, 10-minute misconduct), 15:55. Kolesar, Sea (roughing), 18:10. Iverson, Por (roughing), 18:10. Hickman, Sea (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 19:01.

Shots on goal – Seattle 7-11-8 26, Portland 18-12-19 49. Goalies – Seattle, Myles 12 shots-8 saves (6-4-0-0), Mumaugh 37-31; Portland, Burke 26-24 (14-3-1-1). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Portland 2-6. A – 5,854. Referees – Jeff Ingram, Mike Campbell. Linesmen – Ryan Gibbons, Bevan Mills.