Scott Eansor’s hat trick leads T-Birds to 5-1 win in Moose Jaw

Saturday night in Moose Jaw, Scott Eansor made three strong arguments as to why he is one of the best all-around players in the WHL.

The Thunderbirds’ captain scored three times for his second career hat trick to lead Seattle to a 5-1 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors at Mosaic Place. The T-Birds end their six-game road trip with a 4-2 record and will have a happy bus ride home after one of their more complete wins of the season.

Eansor paced the offense while goalie Matt Berlin made 29 saves in his first appearance with Seattle to pick up the win. The T-Birds were without Ethan Bear and relied on a green goalie but the team played hard all night.

“Our guys really came together because Bear was out,” head coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “They really wanted to play for Berlin as well. He’s been practicing hard and supporting the team, it was nice to see the effort.”

Scoring three goals is impressive but it was how Eansor scored them that showed off his all-around game and versatility.

He got going in the first period while killing off a penalty. Nolan Volcan stole the puck and led a two-on-one rush with Eansor the other way. Volcan got the puck to the speedy Eansor in close to beat Warriors’ goalie Brody Willms to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Eansor scored again early in the second period. This time on the power play as he picked up a cross-ice pass from Ryan Gropp and buried it to make it 2-0. With the T-Birds steering home a 4-1 lead Eansor would add one more late on a wrist shot from the slot.

Three goals. One short-handed, one on the power play and one on even strength highlighted Eansor’s two-way game. Konowalchuk uses his captain in every situation and he seemingly is on the ice all night but saved his best game for the last on the trip. Eansor’s hat trick gives him six goals on the season and he potted five on the road trip.

He had a big night for the T-Birds but the win was a team effort from top to bottom. Playing their fourth game in five nights the T-Birds showed no signs of fatigue and pushed the pace of play. Their younger players continued to contribute as rookie defenseman Reece Harsch added his first WHL goal to go with an assist on the evening.

Berlin came off the bench to make a start and give Rylan Toth a night off. He had not played in a game since Sept. 24^th when he was a member of the Spokane Chiefs. Saturday night he got better as the night wore on and perhaps was at his best in the second period when the Warriors tried to gain some momentum on the power play.

Seattle built a 4-0 lead in the third period after Zach Andrusiak scored his first as a T-Bird and second on the season. Berlin would lose his shutout bid shortly after that when Brayden Watts converted a Seattle turnover into his third marker of the season.

Eansor would answer that with the hat trick goal and give Seattle wins in three of its last four games.

It’s a long bus ride home from Moose Jaw to Kent but after the win, it will be a happy trip for the T-Birds.

Notes

• Seattle was without Ethan Bear Saturday night as he served a one-game suspension for his spearing major Friday night in Brandon.

• Gropp extended his point-streak to six straight games with an assist on the Eansor power-play goal.

• Seattle killed off seven Moose Jaw power plays and their once struggling penalty-kill unit has climbed out of the league’s basement. The T-Birds have killed off 27 of their last 29 penalties and are now ranked 15^th in the league with a 77 percent rate.

• Despite the busy schedule for the T-Birds over the last week they still have played fewer games than their rivals in the U.S. Division. They have moved to within a point of Portland and Spokane in the standings and have games in hand with both

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