Greg Scott and Jim O’Brien each had two goals and an assist Saturday night to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 7-2 victory over the Portland Winter Hawks in front of 5,408 at ShoWare Center.
The T-Birds are now one point behind the Everett Silvertip for sixth place and three points behind the Kamloops for fifth place in the Western Conference playoff standings. They face the Chilliwack Bruins on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. at ShoWare Center while both the Silvertips and Blazers are idle.
The T-Birds took a 1-0 lead 42 seconds into first period on the 14th goal of the year by Jeremy Boyer. Goalie Calvin Pickard passed the puck up the ice to Jim O’Brien who carried the puck into the Winter Hawks zone. O’Brien put a shot on goal that Portland goalie Ian Curtis stopped. The puck lay in the crease and Boyer poked the puck across the line for the goal.
Colin Reddin scored at 8:27 of the first period to tie the game 1-1. Brad Ross had the only assist on the first goal.
Portland outshot Seattle 16-14 in the first period.
Portland took a 2-1 lead at 1:23 of the second period on a goal by Chris Francis. Travis Ehrhardt had the only assist on the goal.
Seattle (26-28-1-3) tied the game 2-2 at 9:08 of the second on Greg Scott’s 25th goal of the year. Jonathan Parker carried the puck up the left side and passed it to Prab Rai on his left just inside the Portland blue line. Rai skated past the Portland defenseman and centered the puck to Scott charging down the slot. The pass was right on Scott’s stick and he redirected the puck past a lunging Curtis for the tying goal.
The T-Birds took a 3-2 lead at 11:06 of third on a power-play goal by Scott. Rai fed the puck to Scott at the top of the right circle and he one-timed the pass past Curtis over the glove. Thomas Hickey had the second assist on the goal.
Erik Fleming doubled the T-Birds lead at 12:11 of the second. Boyer had the puck in the left corner and attempted to center the puck. Curtis got his stick on the puck and it deflected to the bottom of the right circle. Fleming was in the right circle and backhanded the puck past a sprawling Curtis.
Portland (14-38-2-2) replaced Curtis with Kurtis Mucha after the fourth Seattle goal. Curtis stopped 22 of 26 shots. Curtis was credited with the loss and his record is now 2-8-1-0.
Rai put the T-Birds up 5-2 when he scored on an unassisted shorthanded breakaway. Rai got to a loose puck in the neutral zone and used his speed to split two Winter Hawk defenders. He came down the slot and Mucha attempted a poke check. Rai skated right and beat the goalie with a backhand shot for his 20th goal of the year.
Seattle outshot Portland 18-8 in the second period and led 32-24 in total shots after two periods.
O’Brien scored a power-play goal at 7:49 of the third period to put the T-Birds in front by four goals. Rai sent the puck from the left corner to Hickey at the left point with O’Brien stationed at the right post. Hickey lined up for a slap shot and Mucha went down. Hickey instead hit O’Brien with a slap pass. O’Brien stopped the puck and then put it into an empty net with Mucha down at the left post.
O’Brien scored a second power-play goal on the night at 14:32 of the third. O’Brien was at the left post and poked the puck in off a scramble in front of Mucha. Hickey and Scott had assists on O’Brien’s 20th goal of the year.
The T-Birds outshot the Winter Hawks 12-5 in the third period and 44-29 in the game.
Seattle goalie Calvin Pickard stopped 27 of 29 shots to improve his record to 15-12-1-3.
Mucha made 15 saves on 18 shots.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Boyer 14 (O’Brien, Pickard), :42. 2, Portland, Reddin 11 (Ross), 8:27. Penalties – Jordan, Por (major-fighting), :04. Acolatse, Sea (major-fighting), :04. Cloud, Sea (interference), 1:43. Schappert, Sea (tripping), 3:51. Lockhart, Sea (tripping), 16:26.
Second period – 3, Portland, Francis 14 (Ehrhardt), 1:23. 4, Seattle, Scott 25 (Rai, Parker), 9:08. 5, Seattle, Scott 26 (Rai, Hickey), 11:06 (pp). 6, Seattle, Fleming 2 (Boyer), 12:11. 7, Portland, Rai 20, 15:45 (sh). Penalties – Dillon, Sea (roughing), 1:52. Schneider, Por (roughing), 1:52. Chaffin, Sea (boarding), 4:45. Ponich, Por (cross checking, roughing, major-fighting), 10:52. Acolatse, Sea (roughing, major-fighting), 10:52. Hickey, Sea (hooking), 15:07.
Third period – 8, Seattle, O’Brien 19 (Hickey, Rai), 9:49 (pp). 9, Seattle, O’Brien 20 (Hickey, Scott), 14:32 (pp). Penalties – Warg, Sea (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 1:39. Ross, Por (major-fighting), 1:39. Ehrhardt, Por (holding), 6:33. Acolatse, Sea (roughing), 12:16. Ehrhardt, Por (elbowing), 13:27. Ross, Por (interference), 18:07.
Shots on goal – Seattle 14-18-12 44. Portland 16-8-5 29. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 29 shots-27 saves (15-12-1-3); Portland, Curtis 26-22 (2- 8-1-0), Mucha 18-15. Power plays – Seattle 3- 4; Portland 0-7. A – 5,408. Referee – Matt Kirk. Linesmen – Kevin Boris, Chris Sweeting.
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