Glover solid as T-Birds take season opener at Portland

The Seattle Thunderbirds bent but didn’t break Friday night at the Rose Garden as the Portland Winterhawks put 30 shots on goal in the first period.

Seattle goalie Brandon Glover was up to the task and stopped all 30 shots to give his team a chance to win. That chance came in the second period when the T-Birds scored four consecutive goals on their way to a 5-2 win over the Winterhawks at the Rose Garden.

This was the season-opening game for both teams. Seattle and Portland meet Saturday night at ShoWare Center at 7:05 in the second game of a home-and-home series.

Glover made 11 saves in the second period and 14 saves in the third period to finish with 55 saves on 57 shots.

Seattle (1-0-0-0) took a 1-0 lead at 5:13 of the second period. Just after a T-Birds power play ended Tyler Alos carried the puck out of the right corner and into the right circle. Alos snapped a shot on goal with a screen in front of Portland goalie Brendan Burke. Alos’ shot beat Burke over the glove for the T-Birds first goal of the season.

Luke Lockhart extended the lead to 2-0 with an unassisted power-play goal at 9:46 of the second. Lockhart was in the right circle when a loose puck squirted right to him after a misplay by a Portland defender. Lockhart whipped the puck past Burke for his first goal of the year.

Riley Sheen made it a 3-0 lead at 15:25 of the second with his first goal of the year. Shea Theodore had the puck at the left point and sent it low to Alexander Delnov. Delnov got the puck to Sheen behind the net and he carried it to the right circle. Sheen hesitated, then skated towards Burke and ripped a wrist shot over Burke’s glove for the goal.

A great individual effort by Sheen got the T-Birds fourth goal of the second period. Sheen dumped the puck behind the Portland net. He outmuscled a Portland defenseman to get the puck along the wall. Sheen skated out at the right post to try and score on a wraparound. Burke stopped the attempt, but Sheen got the rebound and banged it past Burke.

Seattle outshot Portland 20-11 in the second period.

Delnov put the T-Birds up 5-0 26 seconds into the third period. Branden Troock carried the puck into the Portland zone on the right side. He went wide around the defender and got a shot on goal that hit the right post. The puck rebounded into the slot to Delnov who was staring at a empty net. Delnov slammed it into the net for his first WHL goal. Jerret Smith had the second assist for his first WHL point.

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored at 1:52 of the third to get the Winterhawks on the board. Troy Rutkowski and Nic Petan had the assists.

Nic Petan scored Portland’s second goal at 17:13 of the third. Rutkowski had the only assist.

Portland outshot Seattle 57-27 in the game.

Burke stopped 22 of 27 shots.

T-Birds single game tickets for the season are available online at tickets.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.

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 – No scoring. Penalties – Hickman, Sea (interference), 4:06. Wardley, Sea (roughing), 8:58. Elliot, Sea (major-fighting), 16:51. Mahon, Por (major-fighting), 16:51.

Second period – 1, Seattle, Alos 1 (Sanvido, Rouse), 5:13. 2, Seattle, Lockhart 1, 9:46 (pp). 3, Seattle, Sheen 1 (Delnov, Theodore), 15:25 (pp). 4, Seattle, Sheen 2, 19:12. Penalties – Rutkowski, Por (tripping), 2:06. Honey, Sea (slashing), 6:16. De Leo, Por (goaltender interference), 7:53. Wardley, Sea (roughing), 10:23. Schoenborn, Por (roughing), 10:23. Iverson, Por (hooking), 14:22.

Third period – 5, Seattle, Delnov 1 (Troock, Smith), :26. 6, Portland, Bjorkstrand 1 (Rutkowski, Petan), 1:52. 7, Portland, Petan 1 (Rutkowski), 17:13. Penalties – Smith, Sea (holding opponents stick), 2:51. Peters, Por (goaltender interference), 4:30. Wardley, Sea (tripping), 7:33.

Shots on goal – Seattle 2-20-5 27, Portland 30-11-16 57. Goalies – Seattle, Glover 57 shots-55 saves (1-0-0-0); Portland, Burke 27-22 (0-1-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 2-4; Portland 0-5. A – 8,174. Referees – Matt Kirk, Jason Nissen. Linesmen – Ron Dietterle, Jarrod Bowman.