Blazers upend T-Birds in OT, 4-3

Colin Smith scored 25 seconds into overtime to give the Kamloops Blazers a hard-fought 4-3 overtime victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds Sunday night at the ShoWare Center.

The first period saw both teams head into the locker room tied at 0-0 with Kamloops (15-0-0-1) holding a 15-13 advantage in shots.

The second period saw a change of fortunes for both teams as a six-goal outpouring put the Thunderbirds and Blazers level at 3-3 heading into the third period.

Seattle’s Connor Honey opened the scoring at 1:12 of the second after his shot from the left corner hit off Kozun’s left skate and caromed in. Riley Sheen and Luke Lockhart assisted.

Seattle (7-5-1-0) pushed the lead to 2-0 after some great puck movement in the Blazer’s end. Shea Theodore dropped a pass to Forsberg who rushed in the zone and fed Brenden Rouse who was wide open on the left side of the net. He put it in at 2:22 for his third goal of the season.

Kamloops came roaring back after JC Lipon scored a power-play goal for the Blazers at 8:19 and Sam Grist got a deflected shot past Brandon Glover to tie the game 2-2 at 9:32.

Shea Theodore restored the lead for Seattle after he showcased his wide range of skills. He got to a Blazer clearing attempt in the T-Birds zone, skated around the Seattle net and surged up the right wing into the Blazers’ zone. Theodore faked inside, went outside and put a hard wrist shot above Kozun’s blocker and off his water bottle. It was Theodore’s fourth goal of the year coming at 10:30 and was unassisted.

Kamloops tied the game at 3-3 when JC Lipon scored his second of the game at 13:32 of the period. Colin Smith and Marek Hrbas had the assists.

Shots in the second period were 12-8 in favor of Seattle.

The third period saw a bevy of chances for both teams stopped by good defensive play and solid goaltending on both sides. The Thunderbirds killed off a penalty after Evan Wardley closed his hand on the puck in the T-Birds zone, but with no goals scored the game headed into overtime.

Shots for the period were 16-4 in favor of Kamloops, and the total after three periods was 39-29 Kamloops.

Smith won the game for Kamloops :25 into the 4-on-4 overtime period. His 13th goal of the season was assisted by Tim Bozon and Tlyer Hansen.

Kamloops scored on the first shot in overtime, with the final shot tally 40-29 Blazers.

The Thunderbirds next play the Spokane Chiefs on Tuesday in Spokane at 7:05 p.m.

T-Birds single-game tickets for the season are available online at the T-Birds website – www.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.

T-Birds season tickets are on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – No scoring. Penalties – Grist, Kam (Interference), 15:01. 2. Ranford, Kam (Slashing), 15:58.

Second period – 1. Seattle, Honey 6 (Sheen, Lockhart), 1:12. 2. Seattle, Rouse 3 4-on-4 (Forsberg, Theodore), 2:22. 3. Kamloops, Lipon 14 (Smith, Ranford), 8:19 PP. 4. Kamloops, Grist 2 (Hansen, Bozon), 9:32. 5. Seattle, Theodore 4 (unassisted), 10:30. 6. Kamloops, Lipon 15 (Smith, Hrbas), 13:32. Penalties – Grist, Kam (cross-checking), 1:36. Honey, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct) 1:36. Rehill, Kam (Roughing), 5:15. Rouse, Sea (hooking) 17:34.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Wardley, Sea (closing hand on the puck), 5:22.

Overtime – 7. Kamloops, Smith 13 (Bozon, Hansen) :25 . Penalties – No penalties.

Shots on goal – Seattle 13-12-4-0 29, Kamloops 15-8-16-1 40. Goalies – Seattle, Glover 40 shots-36 saves (6-3-1-0); Kamloops, Kozun 29-26 (5-0-0-1). Power plays – Seattle 0-3; Kamloops 1-2. A – 3,257. Referees – Brett Monstion, Mark Pearce. Linesmen – Chris Sweeting, Nathan Van Oosten