Calvin Pickard made 25 saves Sunday night at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-0 shutout victory over the Vancouver Giants.
Pickard stopped seven shots in the first period and nine shots in the second and third periods to get his third shutout of the season. His record is now 7-8-1-3.
Pickard shut out the Everett Silvertips on Saturday night at Comcast Arena in Everett when he stopped 29 shots. Pickard has not allowed a goal since the 8:10 mark of the third period against the Kamloops Blazers on Friday. That is a scoreless streak of 131:50.
The T-Birds currently have a four-game win streak, with all the wins coming on the road, and have outscored their opponents 20-3 on the streak. They beat the Chilliwack Bruins 4-1 on November 8, the Kamloops Blazers 7-2 on November 13, the Everett Silvertips 4-0 on November 14 and the Giants on Sunday night.
The T-Birds will look to extend the road win streak to five games when they travel to Kennewick to take on the Tri-City Americans on Tuesday, November 17, at 7:05 p.m. at Toyota Center. They return home to ShoWare Center on Friday, November 20, to face the Kamloops Blazers at 7:35 p.m.
Sena Acolatse and Prab Rai gave Pickard and the T- Birds all the offense they needed by scoring two goals each.
Seattle (8-12-1-3) took a 1-0 lead at 10:06 of the first period on a goal by Acolatse. Brendan Rouse won a face off in the right circle to Acolatse. Acolatse put a hard shot on goal that beat Vancouver goalie Brendan Jensen for his seventh goal of the year.
The T-Birds went in front 2-0 on a power-play goal by Charles Wells at 11:59 of the first. Stefan Warg had the puck at the right point and sent it down the boards to Rai. Rai held the puck and then made a cross-ice pass to Wells in the left circle. Wells moved towards Jensen and then beat the goalie with a quick snap shot over the blocker.
The T-Birds outshot the Giants 10-7 in the first period.
Acolatse put the T-Birds in front 3-0 at 15:35 of the second period when he scored on a coast-to-coast unassisted goal. Acolatse got the puck behind the Seattle net on a delayed penalty call on Vancouver. Acolatse headed up ice on the left side, cut the center ice in the neutral zone and then came into the Vancouver zone on the left side. Acolatse skated into the left circle and put a quick snap shot on goal that beat Jensen low for his second goal of the night.
Vancouver (15-7-1-2) outshot Seattle 9-3 in the second period and led 16-13 in total shots after two periods.
Seattle went in front 4-0 on a power-play goal by Rai at 11:13 of the third period. Jeremy Schappert took a slap shot from center ice just inside the blue with Lindsay Nielsen in front of the Vancouver net. Jensen made the save but couldn’t control the rebound. Nielsen took a whack at the puck and the puck rebounded to the goalie’s left right to Rai. Rai backhanded the puck past Jensen for his 10th goal of the year. Schappert extended his point streak to a team high five games with the assist.
Rai added an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:19 of the third to seal the win for the T-Birds. Rai got the puck along the right boards, skated into the neutral zone and just over the red line launched a wrist shot at the empty Vancouver net. It was his 11th goal of the year.
Both teams had nine shots on goal in the third period and the Giants finished with a 25-22 advantage in total shots.
Jensen stopped 18 of 21 shots and his record is now 3-2-1-0.
T-Birds’ single-game tickets for the 2009-10 season are available online at the T-Birds website 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.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Acolatse 7 (Rouse), 10:06. 2, Seattle, Wells, 5 (Rai, Warg), 11:59 (pp). Penalties – Nielsen, Sea (hooking), 3:52. Kytnar, Van (hooking), 10:21.
Second period – 3, Seattle, Acolatse 8, 15:35 (pp). Penalties – Warg, Sea (holding), 3:43. Kytnar, Van (tripping), 13:37. Toigo, Van (interference), 15:35. Schappert, Sea (interference), 16:13.
Third period – 4, Seattle, Rai 10 (Nielsen, Schappert), 11:13 (pp). 5, Seattle, Rai 11, 19:19 (en). Penalties – Rai, Sea (tripping), 1:58. Piluso, Van (interference), 7:17. Henry, Van (roughing), 10:57. Dillon, Sea (cross checking), 16:21.
Shots on goal – Seattle 10-3-9 22. Vancouver 7-9-9 25. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 25 shots- 25 saves (7-8-1-3); Vancouver, Jensen 21-18 (3-2-1-0 Power plays – Seattle 3-5; Vancouver 0-5. A – 7,876. Referee – Ryan Bonnett, Chris Savage. Linesmen – Clayton Richardson, Nathan Van Oosten.
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