T-Birds fall to Saskatoon Blades 4-2

There were signs early Saturday night that it wasn’t going to be the Thunderbirds’ evening.

Early in the first period, defenseman Jerret Smith fired a slap shot that beat Saskatoon goalie Trever Martin’s right side. The puck rang off the right post, however, and rebounded across the crease to ring off the left post before being swept away by Saskatoon defenders.

It was that kind of night for the T-Birds as they lost 4-2 to the Blades at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon. Ryan Graham potted two goals for the Blades in the win and Martin – making only his fourth WHL start – stopped 34 Seattle shots. The T-Birds got goals from Ryan Gropp and Justin Hickman in the loss but once again could not capitalize on their chances.

A night after scoring six goals in Prince Albert, the T-Birds struggled to beat Martin, despite generating numerous scoring chances and shots. Seattle heavily outshot the Blades 36-22 – including a dominating 12-4 advantage in the first period. Smith’s shot that hit the posts would have given the T-Birds an early lead and very likely could have opened the flood gates as Seattle had done the night before.

After a scoreless first period the Blades scored twice in the second. Josh Uhrich got them going when he deflected a shot from Landon Welykholowa past T-Bird goalie Danny Mumaugh. Just over a minute later Graham snapped a quick shot off a face-off past Mumaugh and the T-Birds found themselves in a two-goal hole despite being the better team.

This is a script that the T-Birds have seen on many occasions this season.

The T-Birds power play struggled again on Saturday night but did find the net on one occasion to cut the lead to one goal. Ryan Gropp fired a nice wrist shot from the circle and it felt like maybe the T-Birds would mount a comeback.

Seattle out shot Saskatoon 12-5 in the third period, matching its first period dominance. The problem is that two of the five Blades’ shots ended up in the back of the Seattle net, though. It started with Graham scoring his second of the night early on in the period. Justin Hickman got the T-Birds back to within one halfway through with a nice back-handed shot through traffic, but the T-Birds comeback hopes were dashed when their former mate, Sam McKechnie, scored on a wraparound with under five minutes left.

This is a game that Seattle should have won. It was playing a team that has one of the poorest defenses in the league and a rookie goalie with a save percentage under 90 and a goals against average of over four. The T-Birds did everything right but score. As often they do in these types of games, they had some bad luck as well. Along with Smith’s shot off the post, the T-Birds hit two other posts, robbing both Keegan Kolesar and Hickman of goals.

The T-Birds will now lick their wounds and continue their road trip Wednesday night when they play the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Notes

• The T-Birds must be desperate to have Shea Theodore return to the lineup. Theodore will give their struggling power play a much needed jolt. Seattle did score one time on the power play Saturday night but ended up failing on four other occasions. That included a four-minute double minor chance in the second period.

• Speaking of Theodore, he appears ready to go. He finished up his five-game rehab stint in the American Hockey League with the Norfolk Admirals by potting two goals in a loss to the Syracuse Crunch. Friday night he scored a game-winning goal in overtime for the Admirals. In his five games with Norfolk he ended up with three goals and two assists. Theodore will now travel to Saskatoon where he will join Team WHL for the Subway Series that kicks off Monday against Team Russia. After those two games he is expected to join the T-Birds again.

• Saturday night was the second game the T-Birds played without Mathew Barzal, who has a lower-body injury.

• Defenseman Evan Wardley was given a five-minute major checking from behind penalty late in the first period. The penalty came with a game misconduct, which earned Warldey an ejection. These type of plays usually end with a review from the league to determine if a suspension is warranted. Considering Warldey’s history with suspensions it will be interesting to see if the league sits him down for Saturday’s hit.

Follow Andrew Eide on Twitter @andyeide.

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