Glover makes the stops as T-Birds prevail, 3-1

Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Brandon Glover made 44 saves Friday night at the ShoWare Center to help lead the T-Birds to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans.

Glover stood tall in the third period, stopping 17 shots with the game tied 1-1 and then with the T-Birds up 2-1. Glover improved his record to 6-3-0-0.

Seattle (6-5-0-0) took a 1-0 lead 7:09 into the first period on Connor Sanvido’s third goal of the season. Justin Hickman moved the puck from the left corner to Shea Theodore at the left point. Theodore walked the blue line to center ice, cocked his stick for a slap shot, hesitated, and then put a slap shot on goal. The puck deflected off a Tri-City defender right to Sanvido to the left of the goal. Tri-City goalie Eric Comrie had gone down to the make the save and was out of position to stop Sanvido, who snapped the puck into net.

Tri-City (9-4-1-1) outshot Seattle 17-8 in the first period.

The Americans tied the game 1-1 at 18:50 of the second period when Tyson Dallman scored. Malte Stromwall and Beau McCue had the assists.

The T-Birds had 12 shots on goal in the second period to nine for the Americans. Tri-City led 26-20 in total shots after 40 minutes.

The T-Birds took a 2-1 lead at 4:12 of the third period. Seattle cleared the puck out of their zone to center ice. Seth Swenson tapped the puck to Brendan Rouse who carried the puck into the Tri-City on a two-on-one break. Rouse skated toward Comrie with Roberts Lipsbergs on his right. A Tri-City defender was able to tie up Rouse as he got near the net and force him to the left of the net, which drew Comrie to the left post. Rouse, with has back to the net, backhanded the puck to Lipsbergs at the right post who tapped the puck into an empty net.

Riley Sheen scored an empty-net goal at 19:28 of the third to seal the win for the T-Birds. Swenson had the only assist on the goal.

Tri-City outshot Seattle 45-27 in the game.

Tri-City goalie Eric Comrie made 25 saves on 27 shots and his record is now 9-4-1-1.

The T-Birds travel to Everett to face the Silvertips Saturday night at 7:05pm at Comcast Arena. They return home to take on the league leading Kamloops Blazers on Sunday at 5:05pm at ShoWare Center.

T-Birds single game tickets for the 2012-13 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 on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

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SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Sanvido 3 (Theodore, Hickman), 7:09. Penalties – Elliot, Sea (instigator, major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 19:51. Mychan, Tri (unsportsmanlike conduct, major-fighting), 19:51.

Second period – 2, Tri-City, Dallman 1 (Stromwall, McCue), 18:10. Penalties – Honey, Sea (checking from behind), :34. Bench, Sea (too many men-served by Lipsbergs), 11:19.

Third period – 3, Seattle, Lipsbergs 1 (Rouse, Swenson), 4:12. 4, Seattle, Sheen 3 (Swenson), 19:28 (en). Penalties – Smith, Sea (tripping), 5:34. Lipsbergs, Sea (goaltender interference), 13:14.

Shots on goal – Seattle 8-12-7 27. Tri-City 17-9-17 45. Goalies – Seattle, Glover 45 shots-44 saves (6-3-0-0); Tri-City, Comrie 27-25 (9-4-1-1). Power plays – Seattle 0-0; Tri-City 0-4. A – 4,043. Referee – Ryan Benbow, Jason Nissen. Linesmen – Bevan Mills, Zach Brooks.