Portland ends Thunderbirds win streak in the shootout

PORTLAND, Ore. – They say hockey, like all sports, is a game of inches and Saturday night in Portland, the Thunderbirds were on the short end of those inches.

Despite firing 51 shots at the Winterhawks net, the T-Birds couldn’t get the puck to bounce their way as they dropped a 4-3 decision in a shootout. Just like in Friday’s win over Kamloops, Saturday’s shootout took a while as both Rylan Toth and Cole Kelher were stellar and took it to the seventh shooter.

In the end, Alex Overhardt, was the only player to convert as the found a way to get the puck past Toth to give Portland the win.

“Overall I thought we could have come away with a win there,” Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “Not much puck luck at times there, I thought we had some pretty good chances. I thought we had pucks bouncing around the crease, we just couldn’t get that extra goal.”

The T-Birds held a lead at the end of both the first and second periods but just couldn’t get that next goal to put the game away. Instead, Portland was able to score to tie the game, send it to overtime and eventually win it.

With the loss, the T-Birds had their seven-game win streak snapped while the Winterhawks extended their win streak to seven.

Kehler made 51 saves for Portland and was under duress for most of the night. Seattle just missed on some golden opportunities in the second period when Keegan Kolesar had a couple of point-blank shots hit the cross bar or would just sail wide of the net. In the third period, Kehler made a spectacular glove save to rob Mathew Barzal from what would have been the go-ahead marker.

“I thought our guys played pretty hard,” Konowalchuk said. “I thought our guys competed. Overall, we pumped a lot of shots on goal and had our chances to win the game, it just didn’t happen.”

After falling behind in the first period on a goal by Portland’s Joachim Blichfeld, the T-Birds responded with two goals of their own. Sami Moilanen scored when he crashed the net and potted a rebound for his 16^th goal of the season.

It was a strong game for the Finn as he was perhaps Seattle’s best player on the night.

“Sami played a tenacious, hard game,” Konowalchuk said. “Good for him.”

The T-Birds would take the lead with just 16 seconds left in the first period when Barzal found Austin Stand pinching in from the point. The defenseman knocked it past Kehler for his fifth of the year.

But as they did all night, the Winterhawks would get the game even at the start of a period.

A Seattle turnover 58 seconds into the second period, turned into a two-on-one for Portland and Colton Veloso finished it off to get the game even at two.

Seattle missed on two second-period power plays but came close. They would take the lead again on a great individual effort by Ryan Gropp. The forward stripped a Portland defenseman on the forecheck and quickly snapped a shot past Kehler. It was Gropp’s 15^th of the season and gave the T-Birds a lead heading into the third period.

Coming into the contest, the T-Birds had yet to lose a game that they led after 40 minutes but Saturday would be different as Overhardt would score three minutes into the third. It was the third Portland goal that came early in a period.

Seattle had chances to go ahead in the third but couldn’t get the bounce to go their way and the game headed into overtime.

“We got a point,” Konowalchuk said. “It’s disappointing, the shootout is exciting when we win a big one the other night and you’re down today, losing it. They’re a good hockey team in a good building here, they came out and did some good things.”

With Sunday off, the T-Birds will now get a couple days to prepare for another busy week of hockey. They will get on the ferry and head to Vancouver Island Tuesday for two games against the Victoria Royals.

“They want to win every game,” Konowalchuk said of his club. “Even though you lose a shootout, it’s still not winning but for sure they’ll be able to move on and focus on the next game. It doesn’t get any easier.”

Notes

• The T-Birds were already playing short-handed on Saturday and then lost Nolan Volcan in the second period. He tried to come back and play in the third but had to leave the bench after a shift. Konowalchuk was not sure what his status was after the game.

• One positive for Seattle was its penalty kill. Facing one of the top power plays in the league, they killed off all four Portland chances, including a big four-on-three chance at the end of the overtime period.

• The loss moves the T-Birds to five points behind first place Everett but by earnimg a point they gained ground on third place Tri City. Seattle now leads the Americans by two points.

• With Volcan out, Seattle’s lines had to be scrambled some. Tyler Adams moved up and played some shifts on Seattle’s second line and had a good game. He blocked a shot that stung him a bit but he played through it, despite a noticeable limp in his stride.

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