THUNDERBIRDS

Thunderbirds open season with 5-3 win over rival Portland

Sep 22, 2018, 10:25 PM | Updated: Sep 23, 2018, 1:34 am

Zack Andrusiak picked up three points during Seattle's 5-3 opening night win against Portland (Bria...

Zack Andrusiak picked up three points during Seattle's 5-3 opening night win against Portland (Brian Liesse/ T-Birds)

(Brian Liesse/ T-Birds)

KENT – Coming into Saturday night’s home and season opener, Seattle Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette had been looking for a complete game from his club.

They had good stretches in the preseason but had yet to play a full 60-minute contest. They came pretty close to doing so against the Portland Winterhawks Saturday in front of 6,069 fans at the accesso ShoWare Center.

“I thought we played well,” O’Dette said. “We would have liked to finish the game a little better and not make it so tight, but I liked the way the guys battled.”

Seattle erupted for three goals in the first six minutes of the second period to build a three-goal lead and would hold on after a Portland charge in the third to earn a 5-3 win against their bitter I-5 rivals. The Thunderbirds got balanced scoring from veterans like Zack Andrusiak who had a goal and two assists as well as younger players like Dillon Hamaliuk who helped on two goals and scored an empty-netter at the end.

Hamaliuk’s two assists came on spectacular plays and helped set the tone for the game.

“That’s his bread and butter there,” O’Dette said of Hamaliuk. “That’s how he needs to play and that’s what he brings to the table. Being able to use his speed and strength to get around defensemen. He made two unbelievable plays to set up those goals, its definitely a good first game for ‘Hammer.”

With the score tied at one Hamaliuk set up the go-ahead goal just 50 seconds into the second. He weaved his way deftly through a couple of Portland defenders before sliding the puck to Andrusiak at the goal mouth. Last season’s leading goal-scorer, Andrusiak, notched his first of the season with an easy tap in past Portland goalie Shane Farkas.

“He picked off that pass and I was yelling, just hoping he’d see me,” Andrusiak said about the play. “He made a great pass.”

After Seattle added a goal off the stick of Owen Williams, Hamaliuk would show his strength to set up Seattle’s third score. He fought off a defender with one arm deep in the zone and got the puck over to Matthew Wedman for another tap in.

That goal made it 4-1 at the at 6:03 and the Thunderbirds were in control.

“I saw the D-Man, he was a little behind me, so I decided to drive,” Hamaliuk said. “I saw Weds going back and tried my best to get it over to him.”

Goalie Liam Hughes made 30 stops in the victory and was at his best stopping two Seth Jarvis attempts in the second period. The first came on a penalty shot and a couple minutes later Hughes would stone Jarvis again on a short-handed breakaway attempt.

“He was huge,” O’Dette said of his goalie. “You need goaltenders to make key saves at the right moments and that was a key stretch of the game where we needed some saves. He was pretty calm and cool on those breakaways.”

The Thunderbirds ended the evening one-for-six on the power play but looked dangerous. The first unit, which had been good in the preseason, carried over its play and opened the scoring at 11:11 of the first when Nolan Volcan followed up his own blocked shot for his first of the season.

“The guys really turned up their compete level and trying to be first to pucks and trying to keep possession,” O’Dette said of his power play. “We were doing that tonight and maintained possession in their zone.”

The Winterhawks would use a power play of their own to get the game square just over four minutes later. Joachim Blichfeld would score with a slap shot from the point during a five-on-three advantage.

That set up the second period explosion from Seattle

“We didn’t change anything,” O’Dette said about the second period. “I think we were pretty tenacious in the O-Zone. One of the things we talk about all the time is back tracking and creating turnovers and I think that was the case on a couple of those goals.”

At the end of the second period the rivalry heated up and a melee broke out that resulted in 42 minutes of penalties and two game misconducts. Seattle had to start the third period short a couple of defensemen and that allowed Portland to sneak back in the game.

Winterhawks’ 16-year-old rookie Jarvis scored twice to start the third period – his first two WHL goals — to cut the Seattle lead to 4-3. The Thunderbirds would hang on however and Hamaliuk ended the suspense by finding the empty net at the end of the game.

Seattle gets a week off now before heading North to Vancouver for a match up with the Giants next Friday.

Notes

• Import defenseman Simon Kubicek picked up an assist on Volcan’s goal in the first period for his first WHL point.

• Portland had won its previous two season openers by a combined score of 14-7. That streak ended Saturday night.

• Seattle’s penalty kill was strong on Saturday. They allowed the five-on-three goal but killed off three other attempts and only allowed four shots while short-handed.

• The Thunderbirds dominated the Winterhawks in the face off dot Saturday. They won 41 of the game’s 64 draws with Wedman leading the way by winning 20-of-23 faceoffs.

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