Alexander True scored two goals to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 3-1 Western Hockey League victory over the Victoria Royals in front of 4,346 fans at the ShoWare Center on Friday night.
Seattle took a 1-0 lead at 1:33 of the second period. Sami Moilanen and Cavin Leth worked the puck out of the right corner. Moilanen brought the puck around the Victoria net and found True in the slot. True beat Victoria goalie Dylan Myskiw with a wrist shot over the blocker.
The line of True, Moilanen and Leth struck again at 5:36 of the second on the power play. Leth passed the puck to Moilanen on the goal line. Moilanen drew a defenseman towards him and then passed True on top of the crease. True tapped the puck past Myskiw for his fourth goal of the season.
Seattle outshot Victoria 11-9 in the second period. Victoria led 19-8 in shots after two periods.
The T-Birds took a 3-1 lead at 3:09 of the third period. Scott Eansor took a shot that rebounded off Myskiw to the left of the goal. Nolan Volcan had his back to the net and backhanded the puck while falling down past Myskiw. Ethan Bear had the second assist.
Victoria avoided the shutout with a power-play goal by Chaz Reddekopp at 12:14 of the third. Tyler Soy had the only assist.
Victoria outshot the T-Birds 10-9 in third period and 29-27 in the game.
Seattle goalie Rylan Toth had 28 saves on 29 shots to get his first win of the season.
Myskiw made 26 saves on 29 shots and his record is now 0-1-0-0.
Dealings
T-Birds general manager Russ Farwell announced after the game against the Royals the team acquired goalie Matt Berlin from the Spokane Chiefs for a conditional selection in the 2018 Bantam Draft.
This season Berlin has appeared in one game for Chiefs, playing 10 minutes in their season opening game against the Tri-City Americans. In seven career WHL games with the Chiefs, Berlin had a 1-1-2-0 record with a 4.45 goals-against-average and .847 save percentage.
Up next: Spokane
The T-Birds’ next game is Tuesday against the Chiefs at ShoWare Center at 7:05 p.m. This is the first Director’s Mortgage 2-for-Tuesday of the season. Tickets to the game are all 2-for-1. There are concession specials at the game, including 2-for-1 beer purchases and $2 soda, hot dogs and popcorn.
Single-game tickets for the 2016-17 season 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 – No scoring. Penalties – Volcan, Sea (hooking), 8:12. Moilanen, Sea (tripping), 12:38. Wedman, Sea (tripping), 17:03.
Second period – 1, Seattle, True 3 (Moilanen, Leth), 1:33. 2, Seattle, True 4 (Moilanen, Leth), 5:36 (pp). Penalties – Pachel, Vic (tripping), 4:59. Neuls, Sea (major-fighting), 8:37. Bargar, Vic (major-fighting), 8:37. Neuls, Sea (major-fighting), 8:37. Oliver, Vic (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:37. Harsch, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:37. Gagnon, Vic (slashing), 9:29. Reddekopp, Vic (tripping), 10:36.
Third period – 3, Seattle, Volcan 1 (Eansor, Bear), 3:09. 4, Victoria, Reddekopp 1 (Soy), 12:14 (pp). Penalties – Pachal, Vic (tripping), 4:39. Walford, Vic (roughing), 11:37. Leth, Sea (double minor-roughing), 11:37. Ottenbreit, Sea (holding), 17:59.
Shots on goal – Seattle 7-11-9 27, Victoria 10-9-10 29. Goalies – Seattle, Toth 29 shots-28 saves (1-2-0-0); Victoria, Myskiw 27-24 (0-1-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 1-4; Victoria 1-6. A – 4,346. Referees – Jason Nissen, Andrew Wilk. Linesmen – Zack Brooks, Jarrod Boman.
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