T-Birds take down Chiefs, 4-1 | WHL

For the Reporter

Ryan Gropp scored twice and Sahvan Khaira got his first career goal to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-1 win over the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday night at the ShoWare Center.

This was the sixth meeting of the season between the teams. The T-Birds are 3-2-0-1 against the Chiefs.

Seattle goalie Taran Kozun made 20 saves to get his record to 10-8-2-2.

The T-Birds’ next game is at 7:35 p.m. Friday against the Tri-City Americans at the ShoWare Center.

Seattle (11-12-2-2) took a 1-0 lead just as a power play was ending. Alexander True passed the puck to Turner Ottenbreit at the left point. Ottenbreit took a slap shot with traffic in front of Spokane goalie Garret Hughson. Ottenbreit’s shot beat Hughson over the shoulder for his second goal of the season. Evan Wardley had the second assist.

The T-Birds took a 2-0 lead on a power-play goal from Ryan Gropp at 13:39 of the first. Ethan Bear sent the puck down the left boards to Justin Hickman. Hickman carried the puck below the goal line towards the net then centered to Gropp coming into the right circle. Gropp beat Hughson under the legs for his 11th goal of the season.

Spokane (14-8-3-0) cut the lead to one on a power-play goal with six seconds left in the first. Kailer Yamamoto took a shot from the left circle with Calder Brooks in front of Kozun. Brooks tipped the shot over Kozun’s glove for the goal. Jason Fram had the second assist.

Seattle outshot Spokane 9-5 in the first period.

Sahvan Khaira put the T-Birds in front 3-1 with a power-play goal at 10:23 of the second period. Florian Baltram had the puck along the right boards. Baltram centered the puck to Khaira in the mid-point. Khaira took a slap shot with Wardley screening Hughson. Khaira’s shot beat Hughson through the legs for his first goal as a T-Bird. Scott Eansor had the second assist on the goal.

Seattle led 23-13 in shots after two periods by outshooting Spokane 14-8 in the second period.

Gropp extended the lead to 4-1 with a power-play goal at 1:11 of the third period. Keegan Kolesar took a shot from the left circle that Hughson stopped. The puck was in the crease and Gropp banged it past the Spokane goalie for his second goal of the night. Hickman had the second assist for his second assist in the game.

Seattle outshot Spokane 29-21 in the game.

Hughson stopped 25 of 29 shots and his record is now 9-7-3-0.

Tickets

Single-game tickets for the 2014-15 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 currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Ottenbreit 2 (True, Wardley), 8:33. 2, Seattle, Gropp 11 (Hickman, Bear), 13:39 (pp). 3, Spokane, Brooks 11 (Ka. Yamamoto, Fram), 19:54. Penalties – Helewka, Spo (interference), 6:30. Oneschuk, Spo (hooking), 13:41. Hauf, Sea (interference), 16:24. Spencer, Sea (interference), 19:42.

Second period – 4, Seattle, Khaira 1 (Baltram, Eansor), 10:03 (pp). Penalties – Brooks, Spo (tripping), 8:20. Hauf, Sea (interference), 16:32. Kolesar, Sea (interference), 18:47.

Third period – 5, Seattle, Gropp 12 (Kolesar, Hickman), 1:11 (pp). Penalties – Sozanski, Spo (tripping), 1:06. Eansor, Sea (tripping), 2:11. Gropp, Sea (cross checking), 4:01. Kolesar, Sea (goaltender interference), 14:28.

Shots on goal – Seattle 9-14-6 29, Spokane 5-8-8 21. Goalies – Seattle, Kozun 21 shots-20 saves (10-8-2-2); Spokane, Hughson 29-26 (9-7-3-0). Power plays – Seattle 3-4; Spokane 1-6. A – 2,691. Referees – Dexter Rasmussen, Trevor Shively. Linesmen – Zach Brooks, Tim Digby.