Nov. 25: T-Birds soar past Pats
Jeremy Schappert scored two power-play goals and Prab Rai added a goal and two assists to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-2 victory over the Regina Pats on Wednesday night at the ShoWare Center in Kent.
Regina (14-12-3-0) scored the first goal of the game with two players in the penalty box on a breakaway by Garrett Mitchell at 13:16 of the first period. The goal was Mitchell’s eighth of the season.
Seattle (10-14-1-3) evened the score 1-1 at 16:48 of the first. Defenseman Scott Ramsay fired a shot from the left circle that bounced off Regina goalie Damien Kelto’s right blocker and straight to Rai at the right post. Kelto could not scramble back into position before Rai buried the puck in the back of the net to make for his team leading 14th goal of the year
Charles Wells gave the T-Birds a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal at 2:39 of the second period. Wells deflected a cross-ice pass in the T-Bird’s defensive zone and used his speed to beat a Regina defender to the puck at center ice. Wells skated in on net and fired a shot that beat Kelto over the glove for his sixth goal of the season.
The T-Birds outshot the Pats 13-8 in the final period and 38-28 in the game.
T-Birds’ goalie Kyle Jahraus saved 26 of the 28 shots he faced. His record improves to 2-1-0-0. Jahraus got the start in place of Calvin Pickard who is playing for Team WHL at the Subway Super Series in Victoria, B.C.
Nov. 27: T-Birds fall to Winterhawks
The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-4 Friday night at ShoWare Center in Kent.
This was the first game of a home-and-home series between the two teams as they will meet Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at the Rose Garden.
Portland (17-12-0-0) opened the scoring on Nino Niederreiter’s 14th goal of the season at 7:01 of the first period.
Seattle (10-15-1-3) answered quickly when Prab Rai scored his 15th goal of the season at 8:09 of the first period. Rai gained control of the puck on his own blue line and deked around both Portland defensemen. As Rai entered the Portland zone, he cut in front of Portland goalie Ian Curtis, then went to his backhand to finish the play. Charles Wells and Stefan Warg were credited with assists.
Portland outshot Seattle 15-10 in the second period, giving them a 28-27 overall lead in the game through two periods.
Portland tied the game 42 seconds into the third period on Niederreiter’s second goal of the game,
Aronson put the Winterhawks in front 5-4 with his second power-play goal of the game at 13:20 of the third. Johansen and Niederreiter had the assists.
Portland outshot Seattle 16-10 in the third period, giving them the overall advantage 44-37.
Seattle goalie Calvin Pickard (8-11-1-3) stopped 38 of 43 shots in the loss, while Portland goalie Ian Curtis (8-4-0-0) stopped 33 of 37 shots to earn the victory.
Nov. 28: Portland takes win over Seattle
The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-3 Saturday night at the Rose Garden in Portland.
This was the second game of a home-and-home series between the two teams. The Winterhawks won 6-4 at ShoWare Center on Friday night.
Portland (18-12-0-0) took a 1-0 lead at 2:52 of the first period on a goal by Spencer Bennett. Seth Swenson had the only assist on the goal.
Seattle (10-16-1-3) quickly tied the game 1-1 only nine second later when Lindsay Nielsen scored an unassisted goal.
The defenseman tried to cross the puck top the right defenseman but Nielsen intercepted the pass.
Nielsen came down on Portland goalie Ian Curtis all alone. Nielsen went right and beat Curtis with a backhand flip over the glove.
The Winterhawks went ahead 2-1 at 4:20 of the first on a goal by Brad Ross. Ryan Johansen and Ty Rattie had the assists.
Prab Rai cut the Portland lead to one goal 39 seconds into the third period with an unassisted goal.
Rai got a loose puck at center ice and came down on Curtis on a breakaway. Rai beat Curtis with a quick move right and then backhanded the puck over the goalie’s glove for his team leading 16th goal of the year. Rai has a four-game goal streak.
Portland outshot Seattle 14-11 in the third period and 46-27 in the game.
Seattle goalie Calvin Pickard made 41 saves on 45 shots and his record falls to 8-12-1-3.
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