Mathew Barzal, Scott Eansor have been front and center for the Thunderbirds

It was late in a scoreless second period of Seattle’s Game 1 with the Kelowna Rockets. The Thunderbirds were on the power play and Mathew Barzal had a seam. He took a shot. It was a pro-quality shot that found the small seam the defense had given him for a pretty goal. Then 33 seconds later, Scott Eansor blew into the Kelowna zone, put on the brakes, spun, fell to the ice and flung a shot from his knees. The puck hit traffic in front and deflected into the net. Just like that, Seattle had a two-goal lead.

The next night, Barzal and Eansor scored similar goals only 36 seconds apart and the T-Birds were on their way to sweeping Kelowna to earn the right to play for the first WHL Championship in franchise history.

Seattle has been getting contributions from its entire roster during this playoff run, but its top two centers, Barzal and Eansor, have been the driving force.

The two are very different players, as evident by the goals they scored in Kelowna.

Barzal has elite-level skill. It’s the skill that allowed him to rack up 88 points during the season and got him drafted by the New York Islanders in the first round of last June’s NHL Draft. It’s no surprise he’s leading the T-Birds in playoff scoring now.

“He thinks the game at a faster speed than everyone else,” Eansor said of his teammate. “He works so hard technically in practice that it helps in games. He’s focusing on the little details in practice and making sure they’re perfect and sharp, that way he can bring it into games.”

Eansor may not have the natural ability that Barzal has but there may not be a harder worker in the WHL. His seven goals in the playoffs lead the T-Birds as once again he is playing his best hockey at the biggest moments. He’s a gritty, speedy player with a motor that never stops and causes havoc for Seattle’s opponents.

“He’s like a little water bug out there,” Barzal said of Eansor. “He works so hard and is so fast and it frustrates guys and he strips a lot of pucks. You see him making some more skill plays these days, which is good. He’s a mixture of that work ethic and skill, and it’s working well.”

The two lead Seattle’s top two lines and gives it a solid 1-2 punch that, so far, has not been matched.

Against Everett in the second round, the Silvertips did a decent job of slowing Barzal and his line down. They managed to hold him without a point in three of the series’ five games. The problem for Everett is that it had no answer for Eansor and his linemates, Nolan Volcan and Donovan Neuls.

They owned the puck and kept Everett’s top line from being a factor in the series.

Having two lines firing is why Seattle is now four wins away from a championship.

“You need that in the playoffs to win,” Barzal said. “You can’t rely on one or two guys. To win a championship, guys like Neuls and Volcan, (Keegan Kolesar) and (Ryan Gropp) have scored some big goals for us. Eansor, especially that last series against Kelowna really stepped it up. It’s been a collective effort.”

One thing both players do have in common is a fierce competitive spirit. That competition helps drive Barzal and Eansor, who have been known to have some battles in practice.

It also helps Seattle to have Barzal work against one of the league’s best shut-down centers in practice and for Eansor to play against one of the top scorers in the league.

“It’s nice to have that competitive atmosphere,” Barzal said. “I think that’s what makes us a good team. We’re all so competitive, especially me and Scotty. Whether it’s off the ice … or battling in practice, everything is competitive.”

With two competitive players going head-to-head every day in practice, things can get pretty intense.

“It’s a friendly competition and sometimes it gets pretty heated,” Eansor said. “But it’s great. It’s great fun.”

Barzal agrees with Eansor and said going against him is tough.

“We have good battles in practice especially, but I roast him all the time,” Barzal said with a laugh. “I put him through the works, let him know it, too.”

In many ways, Barzal and Eansor are the T-Birds’ odd couple. Barzal routinely turns in slick highlight-reel plays while Eansor scores goals that seem to come from sheer willpower. Barzal played for Team Canada at the World Juniors while Eansor played for the United States, Canada’s biggest rivals.

They go at it hard in practice and aren’t afraid to talk a little trash to each other, but off the ice they are good friends.

“It’s a fun friendship we have in the locker room,” Eansor said.

Despite their differing styles, both are effective, and the T-Birds will need both players at their best as they prepare to take on a talented and deep Brandon Wheat Kings squad.

Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series begins Friday in Brandon with a 6 p.m. faceoff.

Follow Andy Eide on Twitter @andyeide.

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