Blazers power past Thunderbirds

The Kamloops Blazers defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 in a Western Hockey League game at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, British Columbia, on Saturday night.

Seattle (9-13-3-0) jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead at 1:24 of the first period. Dillon Hamaliuk brought the puck out from behind the Kamloops net at the right post and got a shot on goal. Hamaliuk banged at his rebound and then Noah Philp got a stick on the puck before it popped to Tyler Carpendale in the low slot. Carpendale beat Kamloops goalie Dylan Garand on the glove side with a wrist shot for his third goal of the year.

Kamloops (11-11-1-1) tied the game 1-1 at 11:02 of the first on a goal from Zane Franklin. Orrin Centazzo and Luke Zazula had the assists.

The Blazers took a 2-1 lead on Jermaine Loewen’s power-play goal by Jermaine Loewen at 18:30 of the first. Connor Zary and Martin Lang had the assists.

Quinn Schmiemann scored at 3:13 of the second period to give the Blazers at 3-1 lead. Zary had the only assist.

Andrej Kukuca cut the Blazers’ lead to one goal at 7:08 of the second period. Noah Philp took a pass from Zack Andrusiak and drove the slot. Philp passed the puck to a wide open Kukuca to the left of the net. Kukuca snapped the puck over Garand as the goalie lunged to make the save. With the assist, Andrusiak has an eight-game point streak.

Nolan Volcan tied the game 3-3 at 12:49 of the second. Simon Kubicek took a slap shot for the right point that rebounded into the slot. Volcan got the puck and went forehand then backhand to beat Garand. Volcan has a six-game point streak with the goal.

The Blazers took a 5-3 lead on two power-play goals from Centazzo late in the second.

Seattle pulled goalie Liam Hughes for an extra attacker with 2:20 left in the third period. Kobe Mohr scored an empty-net goal at 1:27 to seal the win for the Blazers.

Seattle outshot Kamloops 12-8 in the third period, but the Blazers finished with a 36-29 advantage in shots.

Hughes finished with 30 saves on 35 shot,s and his record is 9-11-2-0. Garand had 26 saves on 29 shots and his record is 4-1-0-1.

Up next

The T-Birds’ next game is 7:05 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, at the Tri-City Americans. They host the Everett Silvertips at 6:05 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 at the accesso ShoWare Center.

Single-game tickets are on sale online on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare box office.

Fans who purchase the 24-flex ticket package will be able to select any available premium seat for any game, in any ticket combination, during the 2018-19 season.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Carpendale 3 (Philp, Hamaliuk), 1:24. 2, Kamloops, Franklin 16 (Centazzo, Zazula), 11:02. 3, Kamloops, Loewen 10 (Zary, Lang), 18:43. (pp). Penalties – Sillanpaa, Kam (tripping), 3:24. Volcan, Sea (slashing), 14:46. Mohr, Kam (slashing), 14:46. Kukuca, sea (hooking), 17:30.

Second period – 4, Kamloops, Schmiemann 3 (Zary), 3:13. 5, Seattle, Kukuca 7 (Philp, Andrusiak), 7:08. 6, Seattle, Volcan 6 (Kubicek), 12:49. 7, Kamloops, Centazzo 7 (Franklin, Schmiemann), 15:28 (pp). 8, Kamloops, Centazzo 8 (Stuart, Schmiemann), 18:25 (pp). Penalties – Franklin, Kam (tripping), :44. Davidson, Sea (hooking), 4:25. Bench, Sea (too many men-served by Philp), 13:53. Huo, Sea (slashing), 14:42. Williams, Sea (interference), 17:57. McNelly, Sea (roughing), 20:00. Onyebuchi, Kam (roughing), 20:00. Sillanpaa, Kam (roughing), 20:00.

Third period – 9, Kamloops, Mohr 3 (Zary, Onyebuchi), 18:33 (en). Penalties – No penalties.

Shots on goal – Seattle 8-9-12 29, Kamloops 13-15-8 36. Goalies – Seattle, Hughes 35 shots-30 saves (9-11-2-0); Kamloops, Garand 29-26 (4-1-0-1). Power plays – Seattle 0-3; Kamloops 3-5. A – 5,250. Referees – Chris Crich, Stephen Campbell. Linesmen – Michael Bean, Michael McGowan.