Exhausted Thunderbirds drop 4-1 decision in Spokane

By Andrew Eide

A night after having to play a game with a short handed roster, the Thunderbirds headed across the state Wednesday and left their legs back in Kent.

Seattle had no energy from the start and lost the second game of a home-and-home series to the Spokane Chiefs 4-1 at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The Chiefs controlled the game from the start and out shot the T-Birds 43-19 on the night, getting a pair of goals from Liam Stewart as they sent Seattle to its second straight loss.

Seattle goalie Taran Kozun made 39 saves in a valiant effort that saw him under siege the entire night. Seattle’s lone goal came from Ryan Gropp who notched his team leading sixth of the season.

Seattle didn’t have it early in Wednesday’s game and were on their heels as the Chiefs picked up 11 shots in the first period and got on the board first as Keanu Yamamoto scored to give Spokane the early lead. It was a dominant period for Spokane and set the tone for the rest of the night.

The second period was more of the same as Spokane held an 18-4 shot advantage and took a two-goal lead when Adam Helewka beat the Seattle defense down the ice to beat Kozun for his first goal of the year. Seattle’s lone bright spot came 40 seconds later as Ryan Gropp streaked into the Spokane zone to score his third goal in as many nights to bring the T-Birds back to within one.

The Chiefs dashed any hope of a comeback though when Stewart knocked home a rebound with 57 seconds left in the period to build the two-goal lead back up. It was a demoralizing goal and Seattle could not generate anything in the third period and when Stewart scored again in the third, the game was no longer in doubt.

The T-Birds were playing 24 hours after having to play Spokane with only three defenseman for two full periods. The result of that were extra, heavy minutes for several players on the back end and Justin Hickman — who stepped in to play defense. It also affected the forwards as they had to spend extra time and effort in the defensive zone Tuesday night to assist the depleted defensive corps.

Part of the reason Seattle was down three defenseman was due to a terrible call by the officials on a Jared Hauf play. They ruled that his hit on Liam Stewart in the first period Tuesday was a worth a five-minute major and game misconduct. Wednesday afternoon the WHL announced that after reviewing the hit, they were going to reverse the penalty which was little solace to the tired T-Birds legs.

Credit has to go to Spokane in this one. They also played the night before and took advantage of a situation that worked in their favor to pick up a win.

The T-Birds now have a day to rest before playing two more back-to-back games this weekend — both at home — starting Friday night against the Prince George Cougars.

Notes

Ethan Bear was a scratch on Wednesday night. He suffered a pretty bad cut Tuesday after getting into a fight with Spokane’s Riley Whittingham. Seattle did get one defenseman back as Turner Ottenbreit was able to return Wednesday. He too had to leave Tuesday’s game early due to a hit to the head that left him woozy. There is no word yet on Bear’s status for Friday night’s game.

Mathew Barzal was held off the score sheet on Wednesday which ended his five-game scoring streak.

Ryan Gropp’s goal gives him scores in his last three games and he is currently on a six-game scoring streak.

Before the game, the Chiefs players took to the ice and captain Jason Fram read a prepared statements to the assembled crowd. The team was apologizing to the fans for an incident that occurred last Friday night when several of the Chiefs scratches were disruptive during the national anthems.

Follow Andrew Eide on Twitter @andyeide

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