T-Birds come back to take out Rockets 2-1

KENT – The Thunderbirds saved their best hockey Tuesday night for the last 10 minutes of their game with the league-leading Kelowna Rockets.

After fighting over every inch of ice for 50 minutes, the T-Birds struck twice in the last 10 to erase a one-goal deficit and beat the Rockets 2-1 in front of 5,001 rowdy ShoWare Center fans. Seattle’s Mathew Barzal got the game even and then set up a Jerret Smith game-winner to hand the Rockets only their ninth loss of the year.

“We knew tonight was a big bounce-back,” Barzal said. “It shows the kind of team we are, a character team. We fight back and we never give up. It was big for us tonight.”

Seattle has now won five of its last six contests and improved to 2-1 against the WHL’s best team, Kelowna. A night after a disappointing effort in Vancouver, the T-Birds played one of their best games of the season.

“That’s a good hockey team,” head coach Steve Konowalchuk said about the Rockets. “They don’t lose too many games and they came out hard. I thought our guys kept playing.”

Taran Kozun, fresh off being named Vaughn CHL Goalie of the Week, made 32 saves and kept the league’s second-ranked offense to only one goal. Kozun was big early for Seattle and late as the T-Birds held off a Kelowna charge at the end.

“It’s always fun playing against top teams,” Kozun said. “You know they’re going to play a full 60 minutes so our guys really buckled down in the third period there and we got a huge win.”

Kozun was calm in net all night and stared down some of the league’s top offensive players. His rebound control was excellent as nearly every shot hit him and stuck to him like glue. He picked up his 25th win of the season and has won four straight starts. In those four starts he has only allowed four goals and has one shutout.

Along with Kozun’s play, the game was won with a tremendous defensive and penalty-kill effort. Konowalchuk reunited Scott Eansor with Donovan Neuls and Nolan Volcan and tasked them with shutting down one of the top scoring lines in the WHL. Those three hassled the Rockets’ top players all night long with a strong forecheck that created turnovers and made it hard for Kelowna to get going up ice.

“I can’t say enough about Eansor and the way he plays the game,” Konowalchuk said. “He’s a really good two-way player and that line has had chemistry in the past. They picked up right where they left off. They seem to go out there and just play give-and-go hockey. They’re tenacious guys and play really good hockey. Eansor probably played his best game of the year.”

The Kelowna line of Rourke Chartier, Nick Merkley and Tyrell Goubourne have combined this year for 77 goals but Tuesday night they were held to just one. The Rockets also feature the league’s second best power-play unit and Tuesday night the T-Birds gave them six chances and shut them down each time.

“They were blocking lots of shots,” Kozun said of the penalty-kill unit in front of him. “They weren’t letting many quality chances through. They were just bearing down, getting clears and not letting them set up. Just a great job by all of them.”

The T-Birds were out-shot in the first period 7-2 and went short-handed three times but Kozun made every save needed. The Rockets would manage to get on the board first, in the second period, after Goulbourne walked in and got a shot that Kozun stopped only to have the rebound land on Merkley’s stick. Merkley snapped a back-hand over Kozun’s shoulder for his 17th goal of the year.

Seattle entered the third period down a goal and with a difficult task of having to come back against a tough Rockets defense.

“I still thought we had a little more to give,” Konowalchuk said. “Just dig in a little bit more. I thought the Eansor line was going really good all night. I thought they were out-working their opponent and not showing any respect. I still thought we had a few guys with a little bit more to give.”

The T-Birds’ best period was the third as they started to generate better offensive possessions and started to put some quality chances on Kelowna goalie Michael Herringer. Just after the 10-minute mark, Ryan Gropp and Barzal teamed up to get the game even.

Gropp intercepted a Rockets breakout pass and quickly turned back towards the Kelowna net. As the defenders closed in on him he calmly flipped a back-hand pass to Barzal, who had snuck in close on the net. The pass was perfect and Barzal tipped it in for his 10th goal of the season.

“He made a good play,” Barzal said of Gropp’s pass. “We had a similar play earlier in the game and I lost the puck. Same pass, same kind of play, but he turned it over and I got a nice tip on it.”

The T-Birds grabbed the momentum from that goal and the crowd came alive. With just over 5 minutes to go, Lane Pederson fought for the puck along the boards in the Seattle zone. He won the battle and as he tried to move up ice was hooked by Kelowna’s Cole Linaker. That gave Seattle the power play and a chance to take a late lead.

It was one of the best power-play chances Seattle has had all year. The T-Birds possessed the puck in the Kelowna zone the entire time and got some good looks. It looked like perhaps Herringer was going to hold them at bay when Barzal broke his stick on an attempted slap shot. He raced to the bench for a new one while his teammates worked to keep the puck in the zone.

Once Barzal got his stick and got the puck he was able to send it to Smith on the point. With a nice screen in front by Cory Millette, Smith fired the puck from the point and found the upper corner of the net. The T-Birds’ bench and the crowd erupted.

With the crowd buzzing and the Rockets’ net empty, Kozun shut the door the rest of the way.

“I loved hearing the crowd,” Kozun said. “It pumps you up more and makes you want to win that much more. They keep you excited and make you want to win.”

The T-Birds picked up two big points with the win. They pulled to within four points of second-place Portland and still have a game in hand. Going into a big three-games-in-three-nights weekend, the T-Birds should be playing with the confidence of knowing they can beat anyone.

“Everything helps,” Konowalchuk said. “Any time you win in general you start to feel more and more good about yourself. But when you beat a top team it just helps you believe and also raises the bar of expectations. When all of our guys are playing on the same page we believe we have a chance to win any night.”

Notes

• The Rockets came in winning eight out of their last nine games. The only loss in that stretch was a shootout loss in Edmonton. The T-Birds are now responsible for Kelowna’s last two regulation losses.

• Barzal has points in his last six games for a total of three goals and eight assists as he continues to get stronger and stronger. He played more minutes on the penalty kill Tuesday night, which is a sign that his knee continues to get back to top shape.

• Tuesday night was the first time the T-Birds won a game after allowing the first goal since they beat the Brandon Wheat Kings back on Nov. 14.

• Seattle’s penalty-kill unit has been playing lights-out of late. It shut down the Rockets’ potent power play and has not allowed a power-play goal against in five straight games.

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