Seattle Thunderbirds Dominate the Prince George Cougars 5-1 in WHL Action

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – Prince George, BC, March 4, 2008 - Bud Holloway had two goals and an assist and Greg Scott had a goal and an assist to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars at CN Centre on Tuesday.
The T-Birds improved their record to 37-21-5-2 and are in fourth place in the Western Conference playoff standings. They are two points ahead of the fifth place Everett Silvertips with one game in hand and three points ahead of the sixth place Kelowna Rockets with one game in hand.

This was the first of two games in Prince George between the two teams. They meet again Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

Seattle took a 1-0 lead at 10:56 of the first period. Holloway centered the puck up the slot from behind the Prince George net. Brenden Dillon was pinching in from the blue line, took the pass and put a backhand shot on goal that Cougars goalie Real Cyr stopped with his left leg. The puck rebounded to Scott at the right of the goal and he beat a sprawling Cyr high for his 34th goal of the year.

Seattle outshot Prince George 9-7 in the first period.

Prince George (18-44-1-3) tied the game 1-1 at 5:46 of the second period on a goal by Alex Poulter. Dana Tyrell and Marcus Watson had the assists.

David Richard put the T-Bird up 2-1 at 14:58 of the second.

Richard came off the boards at the left wall and skated in the high slot. He beat Cyr with a quick wrist shot over the goalie's left shoulder. Sena Acolatse and Jim O'Brien had the assists on Richard's 20th goal of the year.
Holloway put the T-Birds up 3-1 with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 16:07 of the second. Holloway got to a loose puck in the neutral on the left side and skated down ice. Cyr quickly came out of his net when Holloway came into the Cougars zone. Cyr was skating backwards when Holloway put a shot on goal. Cyr made the save but his momentum going backward carried him into the goal with the puck. After a brief conversation the referees awarded Holloway the goal because Cyr brought the puck into his own net. It was Holloway's 34th goal of the year.

The Cougars outshot the T-Birds 15-10 in the second period and led 22-19 in total shots after two periods.
Prab Rai and Jim O'Brien hooked up in the third period to put the T-Birds up 4-1. Rai took control of loose puck just inside the Seattle blue line and skated up ice on a two-on-two with Richard on his right. Rai skated into the left circle and then passed the puck back to O'Brien trailing the play. O'Brien beat Cyr over the blocker with a quick wrist shot at 5:09.

ADVERTISEMENT Holloway scored at 9:40 of the third to put the T-Birds up 5-1. Holloway had the puck in the high slot. He passed the puck to Scott to the right of the goal and quickly skated to the left post. Scott sent the puck back to Holloway and he beat Cyr high for his 35th goal of the year.

Jacob DeSerres started in net for the T-Birds but was replaced by Riku Helenius with 3:50 left in the game. DeSerres made 25 saves on 26 shots and improved his record to 19-10-0-1. Helenius stopped the one shot he saw.

Seattle outshot Prince George 11-5 in the third period and 30-27 in the game.

Cyr made 25 saves on 30 shots and his record fell to 11-27-1-2.

SCORING SUMMARY
First period - 1, Seattle, Scott 34 (Dillon, Holloway), 10:56. Penalties - Gardner, PG (cross checking), :53. Jackson, Sea (hooking), 2:22. Nielsen, Sea (holding), 8:14. Quakenbush, Sea (hooking), 13:26.
Second period - 2, Prince George, Poulter 15 (Tyrell, Watson), 5:46. 3, Seattle, Richard 20 (Acolatse, O'Brien), 14:58. 4, Seattle, Holloway 34, 16:07 (sh). Penalties - Bidlevski, PG (hooking), 11:07. Richard, Sea (elbowing), 15:36. Magnusson, PG (roughing), 19:16. Silvester, Sea (slashing), 19:16. McKenzie, Sea (roughing), 19:16.
Third period - 5, Seattle, O'Brien 19 (Rai), 5:09. 6, Seattle, Holloway 35 (Scott), 9:40. Penalties - Stanfield, PG (tripping), 2:54. Thiessen, PG (cross checking), 5:48. Hickey, Sea (slashing), 16:43.
Shots on goal - Seattle 9-10-11 30. Prince George 7-15-5 27. Goalies - Seattle, DeSerres 26 shots-25 saves (19-10-0-1), Helenius 1- 1; Prince George, Cyr 30-25 (11-27-1-2). Power plays - Seattle 0-4; Prince George 0-6. A - 2,594. Referee - Kris Liber, Derek Zalaski. Linesmen - Kevin Boris, Adam Hyatt.

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