T-Birds cruise to 7-2 win over Kamloops

KENT – It was a night of firsts for the T-Birds Friday night as they blasted the Kamloops Blazers at the ShoWare Center.

Seattle buried the Blazers early, scoring on their first three shots and would cruise to an easy 7-2 win. The seven goals is a season high for the T-Birds and 13 players registered at least one point including three players who got on the score sheet for the first time.

Rookie Matthew Wedman scored the third goal for Seattle (4-1-1-0), his first in the WHL.

“Relieved,” Wedman said of scoring his first goal. “Its good to get the first one out of the way. Hopefully more to come.”

It’s been an impressive start to the season for the 16 year old, who was Seattle’s second round draft pick in 2014. He had a three-game assist streak earlier in the year and would have his first two-point night Friday as he added another assist.

He now has five points in his first five WHL contests.

“He’s done a really nice job, right from camp he’s come ready to play,” head coach Steve Konowalchuk. “You can see the kind of plays he can make with limited ice time. When he gets a chance he can play and get some big points for us.”

The game also saw Jamal Watson pick up his first point with the T-Birds when he assisted on Scott Eansor’s goal in the second period. Wyatt Bear also got on the ledger for the first time with an assist on a second period tally by Ryan Gropp.

It was perhaps the most complete performance the T-Birds have turned in on the young year.

“Overall, hey, that’s a heck of a win against a team that came off a big win,” Konowalchuk said. “Our guys were ready to go, first period is when we dictated the game. The Eansor line set the tone, first shift and we went from there.”

The Blazers have struggled to start the year and the loss drops them to 1-7-0-0. Getting a team like that down early can dampen their spirits and the T-Birds did just that.

“Especially coming off a win if they get a goal or two they think ‘hey, we are a good team’ and they start puffing their chest a little bit,” Konowalchuk said. “We jumped on them with a couple quick.”

Keegan Kolesar got the scoring going just over a minute into the game after forcing a turnover in the Kamloops zone. He took the puck, walked in and fired a wrist shot past Blazers’ starting goalie Connor Ingram. Ingram would end the night with five goals allowed on only 15 shots.

Nolan Volcan got Seattle on the board next after another Kamloops turnover went to Eansor. He flipped the puck to Volcan who beat Ingram with Seattle’s second shot of the night. Wedman then would get his first after Gustav Olhaver sent him alone.

“Olhaver made a nice pass to me, it was a bit bobbly and I wasn’t sure if I could get a shot off,” Wedman said. “Waited the goalie out and sent it in.”

The T-Birds kept pouring it on in the second period where they scored four more times on goals from Alexander True, Gropp, and Kolesar.

Gropp’s goal was his first since returning from injury two games ago. The New York Rangers prospect was happy to get his first score of the year.

“It was definitely big for the confidence to get things going here,” Gropp said. “Obviously the team’s playing really good so its fun around here.”

With a seven-goal lead heading into the third period the game was over and the Blazers scored two cosmetic goals. Kamloops out shot the T-Birds 10-5 in last twenty minutes and it didn’t sit well with the head coach.

“A good start, it was a good game but they still make it a little hard,” Konowalchuk said of his team. “You’d like to see guys keep going and going and play the same way. There’s a little at the end, there were a couple things we’d still like to improve on.”

The T-Birds will take that lesson with them as they get right back on the ice Saturday night when they host the Victoria Royals.

Notes

• Kolesar’s hot start continues as he scored twice to give him four goals on the year. Its the fourth time in his career that he’s scored twice after doing it on three occasions last year.

• Jared Hauf and Jerret Smith both ended the night plus-4 while Kamloops had three guys – Matt Revel, Matt Needham, Patrik Maier – who were saddled with a frustrating minus-3.

• Taz Burman picked up his second win of the year and made 22 saves to do so.

• The effect Barzal can have on a defense was on display during Kolesar’s second goal. He skated the puck around the net and got two Kamloops’ defenders to follow him while the remaining three on the ice got caught watching him. Two passes later and the puck was in the net as nobody found Kolesar alone in the slot.

• Seattle ended the night 1-for-3 on the power play.

Follow Andy Eide on Twitter @andyeide.

Related

Stacy Rost: 2 numbers that matter for Seahawks vs BroncosLB Drake Thomas among 3 Seahawks ruled out vs BroncosRoster Moves: Seahawks sign RB, move WR to practice squadStorm guard Flau’jae Johnson named to WNBA All-Rookie TeamPro Football Pick’em Presented by Silver Reef CasinoMorosi: M’s in favorable position for manager search