The Prince George Cougars defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 in a Western Hockey League shootout Friday night at the ShoWare Center.
The T-Birds play the Everett Silvertips at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Xfinity Arena in Everett.
Alexander True was the T-Birds’ first shooter and his five-hole attempt was stopped by Prince George goalie Ty Edmonds. Jansen Harkins was the first shooter for the Cougars and he beat Seattle goalie Carl Stankowski over the glove.
Sami Moilanen was the second Seattle shooter and his shot hit the crossbar. Jesse Gabrielle was the second Prince George shooter and his shot missed the net.
Matthew Wedman came up third for Seattle needing to score. He beat Edmonds over the glove. Jared Bethune was stopped by Stankowski to send the shootout to sudden death.
Ethan Bear, the fourth Seattle shooter, took a slap shot from the slot that missed the net. Kody McDonald won the game for Prince George by beating Stankowski over the glove.
The T-Birds took a 1-0 lead at 8:32 of the first period on Nolan Volcan’s second goal of the season. Volcan forced a turnover at the Prince George blue line and passed the puck to Wedman. Wedman skated down the slot and then passed the puck back to Volcan in the right circle. Volcan beat Edmonds through the legs with a wrist shot.
Seattle outshot Prince George 9-6 in the first period.
Seattle extended the lead to 2-0 20 seconds into the second period on the power play. Ryan Gropp centered the puck from the left corner to Moilanen in the slot. Moilanen beat Edmonds over the glove for his first goal of the season.
Prince George cut the T-Birds lead to one goal at 8:47 of the second on a power-play goal by Gabrielle. Brad Morrison and Tate Olson had the assists.
The Cougars tied the game 2-2 at 12:15 of the second with a power-play goal. Gabrielle and Morrison were credited with the assists.
Prince George outshot Seattle 13-7 in the second period and led 19-16 in shots after two periods.
T-Birds were awarded a power play early in overtime when Gabrielle tripped up Bear. The T-Bird’ best chance was from True from the bottom of the right circle but Edmonds made a quick glove save.
Both teams had 25 shots on goal in the game.
Stankowski made 22 saves on 24 shots in the loss.
Edmonds stopped 23 of 25 shots.
Tickets
Single-game tickets for the 2016-17 season are on sale. Fans can purchase single game tickets online or at the ShoWare Center box office.
Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Volcan 2 (Wedman), 8:32. Penalties – Ottenbreit, Sea (interference), 9:56. Anderson, PG (charging, major-fighting), 12:39. Schuldhaus, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct, major-fighting), 12:39. Eansor, Sea (roughing), 20:00. McAuley, PG (roughing), 20:00.
Second period – 2, Seattle, Moilanen 1 (Gropp), :20 (pp), 3, Prince George, Gabrielle 4 (Morrison, Olson), 8:47 (pp). 4, Prince George, Harkins 1 (Gabrielle, Morrison), 12:15 (pp). Penalties – Neuls, Sea (checking from behind), :59. Tyszka, Sea (roughing), 7:30. McAuley, PG (high-sticking), 9:44. Bear, Sea (tripping), 11:45. O’Brien, PG (high-sticking), 18:51.
Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Anderson, PG (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:59.
Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – Gabrielle, PG (tripping),
Shootout – Seattle 1 (True NG, Moilanen NG, Wedman G, Bear NG). Prince George 2 (Harkins G, Gabrielle NG, Bethune NG, McDonald G).
Shots on goal – Seattle 9-7-8-1-0 25, Prince George 6-13-4-1-1 25. Goalies – Seattle, Stankowski 24 shots-22 saves (1-0-0-1); Prince George, Edmonds 25-23 (6-1-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Prince George 2-4. A – 3,068. Referees – Bryan Bourdon, Jeff Ingram. Linesmen – Michael Labbe, Scott Mackey.
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