Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Calvin Pickard made 40 saves and Jim O’Brien scored two goals to lead the T-Birds to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants at ShoWare Center Sunday night.
Pickard made 14 saves in the first period, seven saves in the second period and 19 saves in the third period to get the win. His record improves to 19-13-1-3.
The T-Birds improve 30-29-1-3 and are now in sole possession of fifth place in the Western Conference playoff standings. They are two points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers and three points ahead of the Everett Silvertips.
The T-Birds have won three games in a row and nine of their last 12 games.
Seattle took a 1-0 lead at 3:42 of the first period on a goal by Jim O’Brien. David Richard sent the puck up the center of the ice to Chris Cloud who carried it across the Vancouver goal line. Cloud passed the puck to O’Brien on his right and O’Brien put a slap shot on goal from the right face off circle. Vancouver goalie Jamie Tucker made the save but the puck rebounded to the goalie’s left and lay on the goal line. O’Brien followed up his shot and puck a shot on goal from a sharp angle that banked off Tucker and into the back of the net.
Vancouver (49-7-1-3) tied the game 1-1 at 11:17 of the first on a power-play goal by James Henry. James Wright and Neil Manning had assists on the goal.
The Giants outshot the T-Birds 15-9 in the first period.
Evander Kane scored a power-play goal at 18:15 of the second period to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Craig Schira had the assists on the goal.
Seattle outshot Vancouver 14-8 in the second period. Both teams had 23 shots on goal after two periods.
Jeremy Boyer was awarded a penalty shot at 4:02 of third period when he was taken down on a breakaway. Boyer had just come out of the penalty box and got to loose puck in the neutral zone. Boyer beat Tucker low over the right leg on the penalty shot to tie the game.
The T-Birds went in front 3-2 at 11:58 of the third on a power-play goal by O’Brien. Greg Scott had the puck at the right point. Scott crossed the puck to Thomas Hickey at the left point. Hickey sent the puck to O’Brien in the left face off circle. O’Brien skated towards the Vancouver net and then put a quick wrist shot on goal that deflected off Giants defender and past Tucker.
Vancouver outshot Seattle 19-6 in the third period and 42-29 in the game.
Tucker made 26 saves on 29 shots and his record is now 15-1-0-1.
The T-Birds next game is Saturday, February 28, at 6:05 p.m. at ShoWare Center against the Portland Winter Hawks.This is the date of Hockey Challenge 2009 and their will be a Celebrity All-Star game after the T-Birds game. 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, O’Brien 22 (Richard, Cloud), 3:42. 2, Vancouver, Henry 12 (Wright, Manning), 11:17. Penalties – Pierro-Zabotel, Van (roughing), 6:56. LeBlanc, Sea (roughing), 10:16. Fisenko, Van (boarding), 12:28. Bench, Van (too many men-served by Nunn), 16:02. O’Brien, Sea (holding), 19:13.
Second period – 2, Vancouver, Kane 40 (Pierro-Zabotel, Schira) 18:15 (pp). Penalties – Kennedy, Van (slashing), 4:31. Pierro-Zabotel, Van (roughing), 7:34. Pierro-Zabotel, Van (elbowing), 11:59. Cloud, Sea (roughing), 16:13. Regner, Van (roughing), 16:13. Hickey, Sea (cross checking), 16:50.
Third period – 4, Seattle, Boyer 17, 4:02 (pen). 5, Seattle, O’Brien 23 (Hickey, Scott), 11:58 (pp). Penalties – Boyer, Sea (goaltender interference), 1:50. Chaffin, Sea (holding opponents stick), 9:07. Schira, Van (tripping), 11:34.
Shots on goal – Seattle 9-14-5 29. Vancouver 15-8-19 42. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 42 shots-40 saves (19-13-1-3); Vancouver, Tucker 29-26 (15-1-0-1). Power plays – Seattle 1-7; Vancouver 2-5. A – 3,767. Referee – Tyler Johnson, Carl Poole. Linesmen – Kevin Boris, Ron Dietterle.
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