Kent sellout crowd sees Spokane shut out Thunderbirds at ShoWare Center

Published 11:23 am Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A sellout crowd of 6,125 packed the ShoWare Center Tuesday night in Kent for the Seattle Thunderbirds hockey game.

But despite the full house, the Spokane Chiefs beat Seattle 2-0 in the Western Hockey League contest.

The T-Birds set a season high for single-game attendance. Fans were able to buy two tickets for the price of one as part of a 2-for-Tuesdays promotion.

The sellout was just short of the ShoWare record-setting crowd of 6,151 for a Jan. 23, 2010 game against the rival Portland Winterhawks. Portland won that game 6-1.

Seattle plays the Chiefs again at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane.

Spokane (20-10-3-2) took a 1-0 lead at 19:12 mark of the first period on an unassisted goal from Tyler Johnson. Seattle (15-12-3-4) outshot Spokane 10-6 in the first period.

The T-Birds outshot the Chiefs 9-8 in the second period and led 19-14 in total shots after two periods.

The Chiefs extended their lead to 2-0 at 11:48 of the third period on a goal from Steve Kuhn. Tyler Vanscourt and Tanner Mort had the assists on the goal.

The Chiefs outshot the T-Birds 13-10 in the third period but the T-Birds finished with a 29-27 advantage in shots.

Seattle goalie Calvin Pickard stopped 25 of 27 shots. His record is now 15-10-2-4.

Spokane goalie James Reid stopped all 29 shots he faced to improve his record to 20-7-2-1.

The T-Birds play at the Portland Winterhawks on New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. at the Rose Garden. They are back home at the ShoWare Center on New Year’s Day to take on the Kamloops Blazers at 7:05 p.m.

Seattle single game tickets for the 2010-11 season are available www.seattlethunderbirds.com and at the ShoWare Center box office. The box office is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

T-Birds group tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Spokane, Johnson 24, 19:12. Penalties – Vanscourt, Spo (holding), 15:08.

Second period – No scoring. Penalties – Elliot, Sea (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 1:58. Krzyzaniak, Spo (major-fighting), 1:58. Lund, Sea (checking from behind), 7:02. Baldwin, Spo (tripping), 19:43.

Third period – 2, Spokane, Kuhn 9 (Vanscourt, Mort), 11:48. Penalties – Baldwin, Spo (tripping), 2:02. Dillon, Sea (boarding), 15:32.

Shots on goal – Seattle 10-9-10 29. Spokane 6-8-13 27. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 27 shots-25 saves (15-10-2-4); Spokane, Reid 29-29 (20-7-2-1). Power plays – Seattle 0-3; Spokane 0-2. A – 6,125. Referee – Adam Byblow, Jeff Ingram. Linesmen – Nathan Van Oosten, Ron Dietterle.