Big third period lifts Thunderbirds past Chiefs

It took them 18 games to do it but the Seattle Thunderbirds finally moved their record above the .500 mark Tuesday night.

Seattle scored three goals in the third period to break a tie and skate away with a 5-2 win over the Spokane Chiefs at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Rylan Toth made 31 saves and kept the T-Birds in it during a dicey second period when the Chiefs tied the game at two.

“The way we were playing in the second, we were playing like we thought it was going to be an easy game,” head coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “The second wasn’t good enough, we had a couple of guys that were soft on pucks.”

Seattle entered the second period with a 2-1 lead but Spokane’s Hudson Elynuik would tie it up 13 seconds in after a T-Birds turnover at the blue line. From there the T-Birds struggled managing the puck, turning it over and giving Spokane more and more chances.

Toth kept the Chiefs from doing any further damage and the T-Birds ended up being out shot 11-3 in the period and were lucky the game remained tied up.

“There was no doubt going into that third period that if we get playing the right way we’ll be good shape,” Konowalchuk said. “It’s a 2-2 game on the road its just a matter of buckling down.”

Seattle buckled down and got back to playing their style of hockey. Ryan Gropp would put Seattle ahead just before the four-minute mark of the third. He got the puck in the circle, took a couple of strides and ripped a wrist shot that beat Chiefs’ goalie Dawson Weatherill.

It was Gropp’s third goal of the year and extended his point streak to nine straight games. He was on a line with Mathew Barzal and Keegan Kolesar, who was making his season debut. Kolesar had missed the first two months of the season with a hernia suffered while in camp with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets.

Seattle’s top line, which last year combined for 91 goals, got the big goal but the coach thought there was still some rust in the newly reunited trio.

“They got the goal but that was not a good game for them,” Konowalchuk said. “We expect them to create chances and they did but they also gave up chances at their own end. That’s not the kind of line they were when we went to the finals last year.

“They’ve got to get back to playing that way. They’re good and they’re going to score but there’s some things they can do better.”

With a 3-2 lead the T-Birds would strike again after Alexander True picked up a loose puck and wheeled through the slot to score his sixth on a wrist shot.

Things got interesting late when Kolesar was assessed two minor penalties with just over three minutes left to play. That allowed Spokane to end the game on the power play and they turned it into a six-on-four advantage by pulling the goaltender Weatherill.

The T-Birds penalty kill continued their fine play of late and didn’t give the Chiefs much to shoot at. Scott Eansor and Nolan Volcan would put the game away when they stole the puck and were off on a two-on-one. Eansor fed Volcan who buried it in the empty net to give Seattle the win.

“I thought we applied some pressure and squeezed some guys in the corner,” Konowalchuk said. “We won some battles and were able to get the empty net.”

Early on it looked like the T-Birds wouldn’t need any late game dramatics to win.

They took the lead in the first period on Brandon Schuldhaus’ first goal from the point after a faceoff win. Seattle would build on that lead ten minutes later when Eansor would beat Weatherill on the short side just after a T-Birds power play had ended.

With a 2-0 lead the T-Birds seemed to relax a bit and get sloppy with the puck. The turnovers started to mount and Spokane’s Kailer Yamamoto cut the lead before the end of the period when he put back a rebound for his league-leading 16^th goal of the season.

That would give the Chiefs some momentum heading into the second period where they would tie and put the T-Birds on their heels for the full 20 minutes.

“They thought they were going to be able to play an easy game and (the Chiefs) were able to take it to us pretty good there in the second,” Konowalchuk said of his guys. “They ended up playing the way they needed to in the third thank goodness and we were able to get a good lead. We’ve got to learn from that.”

The T-Birds will head home now to prepare for a Friday home game against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the ShoWare Center.

Notes

• The win not only got Seattle over the .500 mark but it jumped them out of the U.S. Division cellar. They leapfrogged over Portland and into a tie with Spokane for third place. Seattle has games in hand with both clubs.

• Seattle continues to score goals on the road and have scored five times in each of their last three road games.

• Eansor has been hot of late as well with five goals and eight points in his last four games. He has 18 points in 18 games to lead the T-Birds.

• Toth was awarded an assist on the Volcan goal. It’s the goalie’s first point this season and first since 2014. He picked up four assists during the 2014-15 season so he has a way to go to match his career high.

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