Thunderbirds down Chiefs, 4-1 | WHL
Published 11:07 am Monday, December 8, 2014
For the Reporter
Evan Wardley, Nolan Volcan and Keegan Kolesar each had a goal and an assist to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-1 Western Hockey League victory over the Spokane Chiefs at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.
Seattle goalie Taran Kozun made 24 saves to get the win and improve his record to 12-8-2-2. Kozun has allowed two goals or less in his last eight games and 13 of his last 14 games. Kozun has the best goals against average in the league with a 2.14 mark. His .921 save percentage ties him with Jackson Whistle of Kelowna and Eric Comrie of Tri-City for tops in the league.
The T-Birds are 4-2-0-1 against the Chiefs in seven games so far this season.
Ethan Bear extended his point streak to six games with the T-Birds third goal. Bear has four goals and two assists in the last six games. Ryan Gropp assisted on Bear’s goal and now has a four-game point streak with three goals and three assists in the last four games.
Seattle (13-13-2-2) took a 1-0 lead 1:30 into the first period. Wardley sent the puck into the left corner where Volcan got to it. Volcan threw the puck towards the front of the Spokane net. The puck deflected off a Chiefs’ defenseman and past goalie Tyson Verhelst for the goal. Donovan Neuls had the second assist.
The T-Birds line of Wardley, Volcan and Neuls struck again at 4:32 of the first. Neuls passed the puck to Volcan in the left corner. Volcan spotted Wardley all alone in the slot and hit him with a pass. Wardley beat Verhelst over the glove for his second goal of the season.
Spokane (14-12-3-0) got on the board at 12:58 of the first on a power-play goal from Riley Whittingham. Whittingham backhanded a rebound past Seattle goalie Taran Kozun. Tyson Helgesen and Calder Brooks had the assists.
Bear scored a four-on-three power-play goal at 1:59 of the second period to give the T-Birds a 3-1 lead. Gropp sent the puck low to Kolesar to the right of the Spokane net. Kolesar backhanded the puck through the low slot to Bear in the right circle. Verhelst went down on the pass thinking shot and Bear had the whole net to shoot and he got his seventh goal of the season.
Kolesar scored on a three-on-two T-Birds rush to make it a 4-1 Seattle lead. Shea Theodore skated up ice on the break with Kolesar on his right. Theodore dropped the puck to Kolesar as he came into the top of the slot. Kolesar took a shot as Theodore crashed the net. Kolesar’s shot deflected off a Spokane defenseman and under Verhelst for his 10th goal of the season.
Spokane outshot Seattle 11-9 in the second period and led 22-19 in shots after two periods.
Five minutes in to the third period Gropp was awarded a penalty shot when he was tripped up from behind on a breakaway. Gropp entered the Spokane zone on the right side on the penalty shot, cut across the slot and snapped a shot on goal. Verhelst made a very good glove save to deny Gropp the goal.
Seattle outshot Spokane 13-3 in the third period and 32-25 in the game.
Verhelst made 28 saves on 32 shots and his record is now 5-4-0-0.
Seattle travels to Kennewick on Friday to take on the Tri-City Americans at 7:05 p.m. The T-Birds host the Portland Winterhawks for the first time this season on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at ShoWare Center.
Single-game tickets for the 2014-15 season are available online at the T-Birds website (www.seattlethunderbirds.com) 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.
Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Volcan 3 (Wardley, Neuls), 1:30. 2, Seattle, Wardley 2 (Volcan, Neuls), 4:32. 3, Spokane, Whittingham 6 (Helgesen, Brooks), 12:58. Penalties – Wardley, Sea (charging), 8:41. Helgesen, Spo (hooking), 10:10. Neuls, Spo (delay of game), 12:51. Volcan, Sea (roughing), 20:00. Helewka, Spo (roughing), 20:00.
Second period – 4, Seattle, Bear 7 (Kolesar, Gropp), 1:59 (pp). 5, Seattle, Kolesar 10 (Theodore), 12:31. Penalties – Whittingham, Spo (checking from behind), 1:06. Wardley, Sea (slashing), 2:34. Hauf, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:20. Stewart, Spo (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:20. Spencer, Sea (major-fighting), 7:30. Laday, Spo (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 7:30. Helewka, Spo (high-sticking), 12:42. Elynuik, Spo (roughing), 17:33.
Third period – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.
Shots on goal – Seattle 11-11-13 32, Spokane 10-9-3 25. Goalies – Seattle, Kozun 25 shots-24 saves (12-8-2-2); Spokane, Verhelst 32-28 (5-4-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Spokane 1-3. A – 4,642. Referees – Nathan Wieler. Linesmen – Jeremi Del Campo, Jason Michelbook.
