Thunderbirds sweep the weekend with 5-1 rout of Tri City

KENT – Winning three games this weekend, the Seattle Thunderbirds have become that object in the mirror that’s closer than it appears.

Seattle completed the weekend sweep Sunday with a 5-1 win against the Tri City Americans at the ShoWare Center.

The win pulled them to within one point of the Americans for second place and seven points of first place Everett. It was Seattle’s fifth straight and 11^th win in their last 12 games.

It was another strong game for the T-Birds top line of Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar and Mathew Barzal. The trio combined to score four goals and 10 points.

“Right from the start they set the tone,” Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk said of his top line. “I thought all three were going at the level that they need to be. They’re all jumping on pucks, they’ve all got speed and skill. When they’re playing like that they’re a pretty tough line to stop.”

The T-Birds set the tone early, scoring on their first shot on their first shift.

Ryan Gropp found the puck in the slot and beat Beck Warm for his 12^th goal of the season. Four minutes later it would be Keegan Kolesar who poked a loose puck into the Tri City net to make it 2-0.

“Good start again,” Konowalchuk said. “That’s so important to get a start. Especially against a team that’s hopping off the bus and had to travel a bit. Three-in-three for both teams but if you can get a good start it’s an uphill climb for them.”

Konowalchuk gives the players in the locker room credit for getting mentally prepared to start strong.

“It’s not my speech,” he said with a chuckle. “I’d probably put them to sleep. It the guys. They’re ready to play and I think they take pride in who’s starting. Preparation starts long before the puck drops.”

With a veteran group of players who have played big hockey games, it makes sense that Seattle would have no problem getting ready to play, despite being tired.

“We pride ourselves on having pretty good starts,” Gropp said. “I think we all know our roles and what we need to do to stick to our system. Each and every guy is ready to go and do their jobs.”

Seattle wouldn’t let up in the second and would score twice more.

Barzal flung a shot from the blue line that deflected off traffic in front to make it 3-0 and then Alexander True scored on the power play to make it 4-0.  An Americans’ power play goal from Tyler Sandhu would cut the lead to 4-1 before the second intermission.

“Our confidence is pretty good right now,” Gropp said. “We know we can play against anybody in the league and hem teams into their own zone. When we’re working hard and being hard on pucks we’re going to be pretty successful.”

Gropp would add the exclamation point to the victory when he scored his second of the night against an empty Tri City net. The two goals give him 13 on the season and he is on a scoring streak of five straight games that has seen him rack up nine points.

Seattle has been looking up in the standings at both Tri City and Everett for some time but now are reeling both clubs in. The mantra has been to just focus on one game at a time, which is reminiscent of last season when a second half surge allowed the T-Birds to run down Everett and win the U.S. Division.

“I think that’s one thing that people notice of our team, we pick it up in the second half,” Kolesar said. “We want to raise another banner here. We think it’s possible, we’re going to need help from other teams and we’re just trying to take care of our business.”

Seattle will get one day off to rest before hosting the Kamloops Blazers Tuesday night at the ShoWare Center.

Notes

• Kolesar’s goal was a strange one. Initially it looked like the puck was covered up, underneath Tri City goalie Beck Warm. It was still loose however and when Warm turned to look he ended up pushing it towards the goal. “I was waiting, honestly I didn’t know why the ref didn’t blow the whistle,” Kolesar said. “I’ll take it. I just lifted the guy’s stick and the goalie actually kicked it in.”

• Zach Andrusiak played in  Sunday’s game but could not finish as he was feeling sick.

• Seattle was still playing short-handed but so were the Americans. Two of their top players, Michael Rasmussen and Juuso Valimaki were in Quebec to participate in the Top Prospects game on Monday night.

• Lost in all the goal scoring Sunday was another strong outing by goaltender Rylan Toth. The 20-year-old made 19 saves and nearly scored a goal himself. With the Tri City net empty for an extra skater, Toth gathered puck in front of his crease and flung it down the ice. His shot went wide by a few feet, just missing what would have been a spectacular ending to the game.

Related

Thunderbirds GM Bil La Forge dishes on the upcoming offseasonThunderbirds end strange and hard season on a high note with dominating win over SpokaneKeltie Jeri-Leon set to play his final WHL game as Thunderbirds face Spokane SundayScott Ratzlaff earns first WHL win as Thunderbirds beat Tri-CityThunderbirds enjoy winning again after snapping six-game losing streakDealing with adversity, young Thunderbirds drop pair of games in Portland