THUNDERBIRDS

T-Birds gut out a big comeback win in Portland Sunday evening

Feb 20, 2017, 12:52 AM | Updated: 11:40 am

Mathew Barzal extended his scoring streak to 10 games during the T-Birds win Sunday. (T-Birds photo...

Mathew Barzal extended his scoring streak to 10 games during the T-Birds win Sunday. (T-Birds photo)

(T-Birds photo)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Seattle’s Sami Moilanen had Sunday night’s game with the Portland Winterhawks on his stick.

Facing a chorus of boos from the 9,233 Winterhawks fans at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, he picked the puck up at center ice and skated towards the Portland net. He deked goalie Cole Kehler, getting him to commit and drop to the ice. Moilanen moved to his left, waited, and calmly flipped the puck over the sprawled goaltender and into the net.

The shootout conversion gave the Thunderbirds a big 5-4 victory over the Winterhawks as they won their second straight.

It was Moilanen’s goal with 46 seconds left in the third period that allowed the game to go into overtime in the first place as the T-Birds picked up a gutsy, character type of win. They not only erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, but they did it on the third night of a three-in-three weekend and with a depleted bench.

“For a regular season win, since I’ve been coaching, this was probably the most fun,” Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “The guys played their ass off, right to the end. That’s all I can ask of them.”

Seattle (38-17-3-2) has been playing with a short bench for quite a while. That bench got shorter on Sunday when Keegan Kolesar was not able to go after taking warm-ups. The big winger was nicked in Saturday’s game and the injury lingered and kept him out on Sunday.

That caused some havoc for the Thunderbirds as everyone had to adjust, lines had to be scrambled and it meant longer minutes for everyone –  in their third game in as many nights.

“It’s a great win for the guys,” Konowalchuk said. “You add up the amount of games they’ve played with a short bench and last minute a guy like Keegan goes down. No excuses … I’m really proud of those guys.”

Portland (32-24-1-3) had taken a 3-2 heading into the third period and some of the Seattle players were starting to look fatigued. Somehow they managed to gain some energy in the third period, a period that would see them out-shoot the home team 21-11.

Despite that disparity, the Winterhawks were able to extend their lead when Keoni Texeira would snap a shot past backup goalie Matthew Berlin to make it 4-2. It was a goal that went against the run of the play and it could have deflated a tired team, but instead, the T-Birds kept pushing.

“I don’t think we ever stopped,” Donovan Neuls said. “We just kept pushing and kept positive on the bench. We knew we had a chance to win that so we just kept pushing the pace.”

Neuls would get the T-Birds closer.

He slipped the puck between the legs of a Portland defender and raced around him.  Picking the puck up, he was in on Kehler alone and fired his 13th goal of the season to cut the lead to 3-2.

“I saw him cheat a little bit so I thought I could put it through him, and I did,” Neuls said of the play. “Beat the goalie through the legs too, so it was good.”

The Thunderbirds then had just over nine minutes to try and get the game even but couldn’t get one past Kehler.

Berlin kept them in it by stopping Evan Weinger on a penalty shot with just more than five minutes left. The goalie, who made 25 saves on the night, then made several other key stops to keep the deficit at one goal.

With time running out, Berlin raced to the bench and Moilanen came on as the extra attacker. Kehler stopped a point shot by Jarret Tyszka but Moilanen was there to knock it in. That tied the game with just 46 seconds left and would send the game into overtime.

“You enjoy those more than the other ones,” Neuls said afterward. “Especially when you’re shorthanded like that. Everybody picked their game up tonight. It was a good team win.”

The Winterhawks were also playing their third game in as many nights but were doing so with a full roster. In the end, they weren’t able to take advantage of a worn out Seattle club that had been playing short for several weeks and was playing its fifth game in eight days.

The Thunderbirds jumped out to a lead in the first period when Kehler’s clearing attempt hit Seattle’s Tyler Adams in close and rebounded into the goal. It was Adams’ second goal in as many games, and third this season against Portland.

The Winterhawks would tie the game later in the period on a Weinger power-play conversion. Alexander True scored on a nice individual effort early in the second period to give the T-Birds the lead at 2-1, but Portland stormed back.

Caleb Jones tied it when he went coast-to-coast while killing a Seattle power play and slid the puck past Berlin for his seventh of the year. Sklyer McKenzie then gave Portland a 3-2 lead when he fired a wrist shot over Berlin’s shoulder off the rush.

That set the stage for the third-period drama and the overtime to follow.

Both goalies made a couple of terrific saves in the extra frame to keep their clubs alive and get it into the shootout.

Berlin stopped two of the three Portland shooters and Seattle got two highlight-reel scores to win it.

Frist, Mathew Barzal beat Kehler with a pretty one-handed shot after a series of dekes. True was stopped by Kehler, which set up Moilanen for the win.

Seattle’s big guns were held somewhat in check on Sunday. They didn’t light up the scoreboard but played a tremendous amount of minutes. The Thunderbirds got goals from other players, which was a big help considering the state of the roster.

“Those guys do all the little things for us,” Konowalchuk said of his depth players. “Those other guys get a lot of the points and the big offensive moments, but the work everybody else does by wearing out the other teams’ D, putting pucks behind the net and playing physical. Adams stands up for people and scores a big goal. The work they do makes things easier for Barzal’s line … it doesn’t show up on the box score.”

The necessary results were in the box score Sunday night and Seattle skated away with a pretty significant regular-season win. They closed the gap with Everett to one point in the U.S. Division, although Everett has two games in hand.

Seattle finally gets a bit of a breather, and hopefully some players back from injury. They have a week off from games before starting yet another three-in-three weekend starting Friday in Tri-Cities.

They’ll do so, coming off a game and a weekend that showed how strong the character on this team is.

“Those guys have a lot of character,” Konowalchuk said. “Short bench for all those games, and you know, they don’t make excuses. Everybody in there expects to get the job done when their name is called. It’s just character. Right now, with our team, those guys in the locker room are showing a lot of character.”

Notes

• Ryan Gropp was kept off the scoresheet Sunday, snapping his 16-game scoring streak. Barzal added an assist on Neuls’ goal to extend his scoring streak to 10 games. Ethan Bear also added an assist and now has a nine-game streak going.

• Berlin got the start, giving Rylan Toth a night off after playing the two previous nights. It was his ninth start with the T-Birds and he has earned a point in all but one of those games.

• Barzal and Moilanen’s shootout conversions were both pretty spectacular plays. But it turns out, not everyone saw them. “I don’t think I really know what happened on the second one because I wasn’t really watching,” Konowalchuk said with a chuckle.

• Konowalchuk didn’t divulge too much information about Kolesar’s injury other than to say he thought it was a “day-to-day kind of thing.”

Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds GM Bil La Forge has some moves to make this offseason. (Brian Liesse/T-Birds photo)...

Andy Eide

Thunderbirds GM Bil La Forge dishes on the upcoming offseason

Thunderbirds general manager Bil La Forge will make some moves this summer to improve his club. Will they be big ones?

3 years ago

Seattle’s Keltie Jeri-Leon celebrates his final WHL goal Sunday against Spokane. (Brian Liess...

Andy Eide

Thunderbirds end strange and hard season on a high note with dominating win over Spokane

The Seattle Thunderbirds dealt with a lot of adversity this season but end on a high note.

3 years ago

Keltie Jeri-Leon plays his final WHL game for the Thunderbirds Sunday night. (Brian Liesse)...

Andy Eide

Keltie Jeri-Leon set to play his final WHL game as Thunderbirds face Spokane Sunday

After five seasons, Seattle's lone over-aged player, Keltie Jeri-Leon will play his final junior game Sunday night.

3 years ago

Seattle rookie Scott Ratzlaff won his first WHL game in his first start. (Judy Simpson/TC Americans...

Andy Eide

Scott Ratzlaff earns first WHL win as Thunderbirds beat Tri-City

Behind a rookie goalie, the Thunderbirds kicked off the season's final weekend with a 5-2 win in Kennewick against the Tri-City Americans.

3 years ago

The Seattle Thunderbirds celebrate after snapping a six-game losing streak Sunday night. (Brian Lie...

Andy Eide

Thunderbirds enjoy winning again after snapping six-game losing streak

The Seattle Thunderbirds have been scuffling but battled against a good Portland Winterhawks club to snap a six-game losing streak.

3 years ago

Thunderbirds forward Reid Schaefer fights for position Sunday in Portland. (Megan Connelly/Winterha...

Andy Eide

Dealing with adversity, young Thunderbirds drop pair of games in Portland

Injuries and penalties have thrown a ton of adversity at the young Thunderbirds which showed up in a pair of losses at Portland this weekend.

3 years ago

T-Birds gut out a big comeback win in Portland Sunday evening