Pair of third period scores lead T-Birds past Winterhawks 3-2
Jan 1, 2017, 10:29 AM | Updated: 12:26 pm
PORTLAND, Ore. – Seattle Thunderbirds forward Luke Ormsby is starting to enjoy playing the Portland Winterhawks at the Moda Center.
His third period goal Saturday night gave Seattle a 3-2 lead that it would hold onto for a big New Year’s Eve win. It was his second goal of the season, both coming on Moda Center ice.
“The Moda treats me well I guess,” Ormsby said with a chuckle.
The score came midway through the third period on a play where the T-Birds were scrambling in front of the Portland goal. Ormsby picked the puck out of the traffic and found the net.
Ormsby, who hails from Monroe, also helped set up Seattle’s second goal of the night, a game-tying goal, earlier in the third period as the T-Birds twice came back to pick up the win. A night after struggling to finish chances, the T-Birds found a way to get on the board with some so-called greasy goals.
“You’ve just got to get pucks to the net and get greasy,” Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “Whether you’re struggling to finish or not those are the kinds of goals you have to get a lot of the times. Those greasy, paint goals.”
After falling behind in the first period, Seattle got on their game in the second period and ended up out shooting the homestanding Winterhawks 27-9 over the final 40 minutes of the game. Despite that, it was starting to look like another game where Seattle controlled the play but couldn’t get the puck in the net.
Seattle fell behind in the first period on a Ryan Hughes breakaways score but it would fight back in the second. The T-Birds get things square in the second on a short-handed goal by Scott Eansor but then a bad break would give the Winterhawks the lead right back.
Going against the flow of play, Portland’s Cody Glass flung a puck at the Seattle net from a sharp angle. It hit the shoulder of goalie Rylan Toth and somehow found a small seam into the net.
After the hard work the T-Birds had put in, that goal could have sunk them.
“We knew it was a fluky goal and we just had to keep pushing forward,” Ormsby said. “Everyone towed the rope and that’s what you need in a win like that. Everyone pulled their weight.”
The bad luck goal was the only blemish on Toth’s Saturday night. The goalie was stellar in net for Seattle, especially in the first period where he kept the T-Birds in the game with some big saves. He ended the night making 20 saves to pick up his 15th win of the year.
“He was huge,” Konowalchuk said. “He’s got a confidence about him right now. He’s feeling good about himself and feeling like a big part of the team.”
The T-Birds continued to apply pressure in the third period. They flung 17 shots on Portland goalie Cole Kehler and the momentum seemed like it was still with Seattle.
Ormsby would help get them even when he got the puck below the Portland net. He found defenseman Jarret Tyszka pinching in from the point and got him the puck. Tyszka fired it into a crowd in front of the net and Seattle started banging away at the loose puck. Zack Andrusiak was finally able to sneak it under Kehler to tie the game at two.
That would set up the go-ahead marker by Ormsby as the T-Birds broke through with some goals that are not going to end up on the season end highlight reel.
“Anything can go in,” Ormsby said. “It doesn’t have to be a pretty goal. Grimy goals put a plus-one on the board and that’s all that matters.”
The T-Birds continued their solid play on the penalty kill as they held off five Portland chances on the power play. The Winterhawks came into the game with the fourth best power-play unit in the league and had success against Seattle early in the season.
Newcomer Austin Strand got a lot of minutes on the penalty kill as Konowalchuk didn’t hesitate to use his new defenseman in key situations. Strand had just arrived from Red Deer but didn’t have skates to use. He borrowed a pair from the injured Wyatt Bear, tested them out in the pregame warm up, and was ready to go.
“Different skates, that’s tough to do,” Konowalchuk said. “He wanted to play so he went out there and he helped us. He’s a veteran guy and knows how to defend. He skates and closes on people fairly quick and hits. Gives us a physical presence back there.”
Seattle now has a week off to acclimate Strand to his new team and get ready for a match up with the division leading Everett Silvertips on Friday at the ShoWare Center.
They have played well after the holiday break and will look to build off of Saturday night’s win as the second half of the season gets under way.
“It was every guy today,” Konowalchuk said. “Every guy helped for the win. It was another game that was fun to watch our guys help out.”
Notes
• Seattle’s Tyler Adams was given a game misconduct in the first period after he got into a fight with Portland’s Brett Clayton, who was also given the gate. It was determined by the officials that the fight was a ‘staged fight’ occurring after a face off.
• Konowalchuk had to shuffle his forward lines on the fly. He moved Matthew Wedman to center a line with Ryan Gropp and Keegan Kolesar. While they didn’t register on the score sheet, they were perhaps the T-Birds best line of the night. They possessed the puck and created a ton of chances.
• Ormsby’s two-point night was the first of his WHL career. His linemate, Andrusiak also had a goal and an assist for his first two-point game in the league.
• For the second time in Portland the two rivals both wore their full colored sweaters. Unique to sports, the contrasting uniforms looked sharp in person and hopefully the two clubs will continue what could be a new tradition.
