The Spokane Chiefs defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-4 in overtime at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on Wednesday night.
The T-Birds and Chiefs meet in the second game of the home-and-home series at 7:35 p.m. Friday at the accesso ShoWare Center. The T-Birds play the Portland Winterhawks at 6:05 p.m. Saturday, also on Kent ice. The game against the Winterhawks will be on JOEtv in Seattle.
Seattle (15-14-4-1) took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Nolan Volcan at 17:54 of the first period. Jarret Tyszka passed the puck from the right point to Austin Strand at the left point. Strand one-timed the pass from Tyszka and Spokane goalie Donovan Buskey made the save. Volcan was in front of the net and banged the rebound through Buskey’s legs.
The T-Birds killed off four Spokane power plays in the first period.
Spokane (19-13-1-2) tied the game 1-1 at 6:16 of the second period on a goal from Zack Fischer. Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Dalton Hamaliuk had the assists.
The T-Birds took a 3-1 lead with two goals 3:06 apart late in the second.
Matthew Wedman skated up ice on a three-on-two break. Wedman passed the puck to Blake Bargar on the right wing as they entered the Spokane zone. Bargar sent the puck right back to Wedman who beat Buskey with a backhand shot low at 14:14. Turner Ottenbreit had the second assist.
The T-Birds extended the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 17:20 of the second. Zack Andrusiak had the puck in the left circle as passed it to Reece Harsch at the right point. Harsch passed the puck to Ottenbreit as the two defensemen crisscrossed at the points. Ottenbreit sent the puck back to Harsch at the left point. Harsch beat Buskey with a slap shot with Wedman screening the goalie.
The Chiefs cut the T-Birds lead to 3-2 at 6:28 of the third period on a power-play goal by Hudson Elynuik. Ty Smith and Tyson Helgesen had the assists.
Spokane tied the game 3-3 at 11:02 of the third. Jaret Anderson-Dolan scored off an assist from Jake McGrew.
Seattle took a 4-3 lead at 14:18 of the third. Dillon Hamaliuk skated down the left wing and into the Spokane zone. Hamaliuk took a shot from the bottom of the left circle and beat Buskey on the short side for his sixth goal of the season. Donovan Neuls had the only assist on the goal.
Spokane’s Riley Woods tied the game 4-4 for at 16:12 of the third on an assist from Elynuik.
Fischer scored at 3:46 of overtime to win the game for the Chiefs.
Seattle goalie Matt Berlin had 38 saves on 42 shots and his record is 11-7-2-1. Buskey made 25 saves on 29 shots and his record is 8-5-0-0.
Single-game tickets for the regular season are on sale on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare box office. Season tickets may be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Volcan 14 (Strand, Tyszka), 17:54 (pp). Penalties – Bargar, Sea (holding), :46. Smith, Spo (10-minute misconduct-mouthguard), :46. McIndoe, Spo (roughing), 5:04. Gallagher, Spo (roughing, 5:04. Ottenbreit, Sea (roughing), 5:04. Strand, Sea (goaltender interference), 6:02. Neuls, Sea (interference), 9:26. Lee, Sea (tripping), 13:06. Helgesen, Spo (hooking), 16:45.
Second period – 2, Spokane, Fischer 15 (Anderson-Dolan, Hamaliuk), 6:16. 3, Seattle, Wedman 5 (Bargar, Ottenbreit), 14:14. 4, Seattle, Harsch 7 (Ottenbreit, Andrusiak), 17:20 (pp). Penalties – Harsch, Sea (interference), 10:27. Gallagher, Sea (hooking), 15:31.
Third period – 5, Spokane, Elynuik 18 (Smith, Helgesen), 6:28. 6, Spokane, Anderson-Dolan 17 (McGrew), 11:02. 7, Seattle, Hamaliuk 6 (Neuls), 14:18. 8, Spokane, Woods 14 (Elynuik), 16:12. Penalties – Philp, Sea (tripping), 5:42.
Overtime – 9, Spokane, Fischer 16, 3:46. Penalties – No penalties.
Shots on goal – Seattle 9-16-4-0 29, Spokane 10-13-14-5 42. Goalies – Seattle, Berlin 42 shots-38 saves (11-7-2-1); Spokane, Buskey 29-25 (8-5-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 2-4; Spokane 1-6. A – 5,082. Referees – Troy Paterson, Mark Pearce. Linesmen – Michael Labbe, Michael McGowan.
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