Chance Lund had two goals Saturday night at Memorial Coliseum to help lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-2 win over the Portland Winterhawks in the first exhibition game of the season for both teams.
Seattle started Kyle Jahraus in net and he made 44 saves on 46 shots to get the win and the games first star.
Portland outshot Seattle 15-5 in a scoreless first period.
Portland took a 1-0 lead at 13:20 of the second period on a power-play goal by Brad Ross. Troy Rutkowski had the only assist on the goal.
The T-Birds tied the game 1-1 at 18:23 of the first period on a power-play goal by Steve Chaffin. Erik Fleming fed Chaffin the puck and he beat Portland goalie Keith Hamilton with a shot from the point through traffic. Seattle’s first round selection in the 2009 Bantam Draft, Brandon Troock, had the second assist on the goal.
Portland led 33-11 in total shots after two periods by outshooting Seattle 18-6 in the second period.
Seattle went ahead 2-1 at 9:42 of the third period on a two-man advantage. Chance Lund was on top of the crease and redirected a shot past Hamilton for his first preseason goal. Brenden Tutt and Tyler Alos had assists on the go-ahead goal.
Jake Doty gave the T-Birds a two-goal lead at 11:33 of the third. Chaffin and Justin LaChance had assists on the goal.
Portland cut the lead to one goal at 12:27 of third on a goal by Ty Rattie. Riley Boychuk and Taylor Peters had assists on the goal.
Lund added an empty-net goal at 19:46 of the third to seal the game for the T-Birds. Luke Lockhart had the only assist on the goal.
The Thunderbirds have a five-game preseason schedule before the regular season starts. The only home preseason game of the year will be on Saturday, Sept. 12, against the Everett Silvertips at ShoWare Center at 7:05 p.m. This game is a special fundraiser game for the Kent School District.
They play three games in the Silvertips Preseason Tournament at Comcast Arena over Labor Day Weekend. They will play the Prince George Cougars on Friday, Sept. 4 at 11:30 a.m. The T-Birds then take on the Silvertips at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5. They finish out the weekend against the Spokane Chiefs at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6.
The T-Birds will open the 2009-10 Western Hockey League regular season with back-to-back home games against the Silvertips and Winterhawks.
The T-Birds will take on the Silvertips on Friday, Sept. 18, at 7:35 p.m. and then host the Winterhawks on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 7:05 p.m. Both games are at ShoWare Center in Kent.
T-Birds single game tickets for the 2009-10 season are available online at the T-Birds Web site 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 currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
The stats:
First period – No scoring.
Second period – 1, Portland, Ross 1 (Rutkowski), 13:20 (pp). 2, Seattle, Chaffin 1 (Fleming, Troock), 18:23 (pp).
Third period – 3, Seattle, Lund 1 (Tutt, Alos), 9:42 (pp). 4, Seattle, Doty 1 (Chaffin, LaChance), 11:33. 5, Portland, Rattie 1 (Boychuk, Peters), 12:27. 6, Seattle, Lund 2 (Lockhart), 19:46 (en).
Shots on goal – Seattle 5-6-12 23. Portland 15-33-13 46. Goalies – Seattle, Jahraus 46 shots-44 saves (1-0-0-0); Portland, Hamilton 22-19 (0- 1-0-0). Referee – Jassen Nissin. Linesmen – Jarrod Bowman, Brian Fortin.
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