Thunderbirds open long road trip with 5-2 win at Kootenay

The Thunderbirds didn’t forget to pack their momentum as they began a eight-game road swing Saturday afternoon.

Seattle (9-2-1-0) exploded for three goals in the second period and went on the beat the Kootenay Ice 5-2 at the Western Financial Place in Cranbrook. Seattle was paced by two Ryan Gropp goals and 22 Saves from goalie Logan Flodell.

The game broke down into a special teams affair as the two teams combined for 14 power-play chances on the day. Seattle went 2-for-8 with the man advantage while the Ice went 2-for-6. Kootenay (3-12-2-0) took advantage of early T-Birds penalties to get on the board first. Seattle took two penalties in the game’s first four minutes and Kootenay’s Bryan Allbee cashed in on the second power play with a big point shot.

“It took away a lot of flow,” head coach Steve Konowalchuk said of the penalties. “Early it gave them a chance to get the start and get the lead and against teams like that its always dangerous to give them a power play goal or two and get some confidence going.”

After that goal it took the T-Birds a few shifts to get their feet back under them. Due to injuries to Jamal Watson and Scott Eansor, Seattle deployed newly minted lines and it took a shift or two for everything to click. The afternoon start may have also played a role in the early action.

“Penalties and the early morning,” Konowalchuk said. “We weren’t quite as sharp as we needed to be on the first couple of shifts, but we got our legs going.”

Seattle got their legs under them and finished the first period strong, out shooting the Ice 12-6, and would tie the game mid-way through the period. On a power play of their own, Gropp would score his first of the night when he banged a rebound past Ice goalie Wyatt Hoflin.

Seattle came out smoking in the second period and put their foot down 13 seconds into the middle period when Nolan Volcan deflected a Mathew Barzal shot past Hoflin for his fourth goal of the season. Against a team that has been struggling to find wins, getting the go-ahead goal like that was a big momentum swing for the T-Birds.

“It’s big,” Konowalchuk said. “Not only does it get them thinking they’ve got to wait until next game a little bit, those teams get hanging around like they did the night before against Brandon it gets really interesting. They’ve had some confidence, we talked about it, they’ve been playing some solid hockey.”

The T-Birds also had to overcome the challenge of playing their last game against a top team in front of a big loud crowd to taking on a three-win club in an empty arena. They managed to keep their intensity strong however and continued to play hard.

“There is always a little bit (of a worry),” Konowalchuk said of a potential let down. “You want to make sure the guys are prepared. I thought overall a little bit on the first couple of shifts, I thought that had more to do with the early game than it was overlooking them.”

Just over a minute after Volcan scored, Barzal would deflect another shot past Hoflin and before the 1,788 fans could settle in, Seattle had a two-goal lead.

Gropp would put an exclamation point on the period when he fired a wrist shot that found the top corner of the Kootenay goal and as the horn sounded after 40 minutes the T-Birds were in control 4-1.

After a couple of games where Gropp was held off the score sheet, he’s now scored three times in his past two games, while adding a couple of assists.

“For him, it’s holding himself to a high standard to try and push the play and push the pace all the time,” Konowalchuk said of Gropp. “That was a big game for him today, he’s lugging the puck, carrying the puck and trying to make a difference with the puck, that’s important.”

The T-Birds would put the game away in the third period while on a two-man power-play advantage. Keegan Kolesar picked up a rebound, skated in front of the net and potted his 10th of the year. Kootenay would add a late power-play goal from Luke Philp but it was too little, too late.

Seattle will get right back at it in Calgary on Sunday afternoon with a match up against the struggling Hitmen. Face off is at 3 o’clock.

Notes

• With a goal and an assist Kolesar’s scorching hot start to the season continues. He has 18 points in the club’s first 12 games and is on pace to score 45 goals on the year.

• Gropp’s goal in the first period was the first time that the T-Birds have found the back of the net during the first period of a road game this year.

• Logan Flodell turned in yet another strong performance in net on Saturday, as did the Seattle defense, and the club has given up two goals or less in nine straight games.

• Konowalchuk didn’t have an official update on Watson and Eansor’s injuries but hinted that they were “day to day type things”. There will be an official update early next week when the teams have to submit injury reports to the league.

Follow Andy Eide on Twitter @andyeide.

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