Sean Richards had two goals and Cole Schwebius made 31 saves to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-3 Western Hockey League win over the Swift Current Broncos at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Saskatchewan on Saturday night.
The retooled Thunderbirds (15-21-4-0) have won three straight and four of their last five games on a six-stop WHL East Division road trip.
The Broncos came out strong in the third period, but Schwebius stopped 18 of 20 shots. He made six saves in the first period, seven more in the second period.
Richards, who scored in a 7-2 rout at Moose Jaw on Friday night, has three goals in the last two games.
Tyler Carpendale, Jarret Tyszka and Andrej Kukuca each scored against the Broncos and the Warriors in the last game.
Seattle went in front 4:48 into the first period. Richards came off the right wall with puck and skated into the slot, took a wrist shot that beat Swift Current goalie Isaac Poulter over the glove.
Tyszka extended the lead to 2-0 at 9:08 of the first. Graeme Bryks won a faceoff in the Broncos zone back to defenseman Owen Williams, who passed the puck to Tyszka at the right point. Tyszka took a wrist shot with Payton Mount and Bryks screening Poulter. Tyszka’s shot beat Poulter low on the glove side for his fourth goal of the season.
Carpendale gave the T-Birds a 3-1 lead at 2:47 of the second period. Williams sent the puck behind the Swift Current net from the left point to Jaxan Kaluski. Kaluski came out at the right post and centered to Carpendale skating into the low slot. Carpendale redirected the puck past Poulter for his sixth goal of the season.
Swift Current got on the board at 7:07 of the second period on a power-play goal from Tanner Nagel. Joona Kiviniemi and Alex Moar had the assists.
Richards struck a second time at 12:03 of the second to give the T-Birds a 4-1 lead. Henrik Rybinski chased the puck down the right wing and then backhanded it off the boards to Noah Philp trailing the play. Philp crossed the puck to Richards all alone in the low slot. Richards beat Poulter over the blocker for the goal.
Matthew Stanley scored at 7:51 for Swift Current to cut the T-Birds lead to two goals.
Kukuca got the three-goal lead back for Seattle when he scored on a breakaway at 16:25 of the third. Carpendale sprung Kukuca on the breakaway from just inside the Seattle blue line. Kukuca faked Poulter with a forehand, backhand, forehand move before putting it over the goalie’s glove.
Stanley scored with 1:28 left to get the Broncos’ third goal.
Both teams finished the game with 34 shots.
Strong outing
On Friday night, Kukuca and Philp each had three points to lead the Thunderbirds to a dominating victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Kukuca had two goals and an assist and Philp had three assists. Nolan Volcan and Tyszka each had a goal and an assist and Henrik Rybinski and Tyrel Bauer each had two assists.
Seattle goalie Roddy Ross was very good in net, making 24 saves on 26 shot to get his third win of the season in as many starts. Ross stopped Justin Almeida on a shorthanded breakaway in the second period and Tristin Langan on a power-play breakaway in the third period.
Up next
The T-Birds travel to Kennewick to play the Tri-City Americans at 7:05 p.m. Friday.
They come home to Kent on Saturday, Jan. 19, against the Victoria Royals. The puck drops at 6:05 p.m. at the accesso ShoWare Center. The game will feature the Fred Meyer Teddy Bear Toss presented by WARM 106.9.
Single-game tickets are on sale on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare box office.
Fans who purchase the 24-flex ticket package will be able to select any available premium seat for any game, in any ticket combination, during the 2018-19 season.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Richards 12, 4:48. 2, Seattle, Tyszka 4 (Williams, Bryks), 9:08. Penalties – Nagel, SC (major-fighting), 6:28. Bauer, Sea (major-fighting), 6:28.
Second period – 3, Seattle, Carpendale 6 (Kaluski, Williams), 2:47. 4, Swift Current, Nagel 6 (Kiviniemi, Moar), 7:07 (pp). 5, Seattle, Richards 13 (Philp, Rybinski), 12:03. Penalties – Richards, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct, unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:54. Jeri-Leon, Sea (tripping), 17:43.
Third period – 6, Swift Current, Stanley 2 (Chorney, Regnier), 7:51. 7, Seattle, Kukuca (Carpendale), 16:25. 8, Swift Current, Stanley 3 (Buchanan, Houk), 18:32. Penalties – Volcan, Sea (charging, roughing), 4:01. Stanley, SC (roughing), 4:01.
Shots on goal – Seattle 13-14-7 34, Swift Current 6-8-20 34. Goalies – Seattle, Schwebius 34 shots-31 saves (2-5-1-0); Swift Current, Poulter 34-29 (2-9-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 0-0; Swift Current 1-4. A – 2,432. Referees – Ward Pateman, Allan Scott. Linesmen – Devan Thiessen, Logan Tisdale.
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