Seattle Thunderbirds Make Easy Work of the Regina Pats in 5-2 Victory

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-Kent, November 25, 2009 - Jeremy Schappert scored two power-play goals and Prab Rai added a goal and two assists to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-2 victory over the Regina Pats on Wednesday night at the ShoWare Center in Kent.


Regina (14-12-3-0) scored the first goal of the game with two players in the penalty box on a breakaway by Garrett Mitchell at 13:16 of the first period. The goal was Mitchell's eighth of the season.


Seattle (10-14-1-3) evened the score 1-1 at 16:48 of the first. Defenseman Scott Ramsay fired a shot from the left circle that bounced off Regina goalie Damien Kelto's right blocker and straight to Rai at the right post. Kelto could not scramble back into position before Rai buried the puck in the back of the net to make for his team leading 14th goal of the year
The T-Birds outshot the Pats 8-7 in the first period.


Charles Wells gave the T-Birds a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal at 2:39 of the second period. Wells deflected a cross-ice pass in the T-Bird's defensive zone and used his speed to beat a Regina defender to the puck at center ice. Wells skated in on net and fired a shot that beat Kelto over the glove for his sixth goal of the season.
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The T-Birds tallied their third goal of the night at 7:54 of the period. Defenseman Stefan Warg fed an outlet pass to Sena Acolatse in the neutral zone to create an odd-man rush. Acolatse carried the puck down the left boards and found Jonathan Parker cutting toward the net. Parker made one move and backhanded the puck through Kelto's five-hole to give Seattle a 3-1 lead. The goal was Parker's 13th of the season.


Seattle capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play and scored their third goal of the period at 13:16 to gain a 4-1 edge. Acolatse slide a pass from the left point to Schappert who wound up and fired a slap shot from the high slot that beat Kelto for his sixth goal of the season. Rai earned the second assist on the goal.


Schappert extended his team-high point streak to nine games with the goal. Schappert has six goals and seven assist in the last nine games.


The T-Birds outshot the Pats 17-13 in the second period and held a 25-20 advantage through two periods of play.


Schappert scored his second goal of the night and seventh of the season at 10:38 of the third period to give the T-Birds a 5-1 lead. Warg controlled the puck at the point and dumped it down low to Rai who was positioned in the right circle. Rai held the puck along the boards momentarily before sending a pass to Schappert who was open at the top of the slot for a one timer that beat Kelto.


The Pats scored the final goal of the game shorthanded at 19:48 with Matt Strueby's 18th goal of the season to make it 5-2. Hampus Gustafsson earned the lone assist.


The T-Birds outshot the Pats 13-8 in the final period and 38-28 in the game.


T-Birds' goalie Kyle Jahraus saved 26 of the 28 shots he faced. His record improves to 2-1-0-0. Jahraus got the start in place of Calvin Pickard who is playing for Team WHL at the Subway Super Series in Victoria, B.C.


Kelto stopped 33 of the 38 shots he faced. His record fell to 9-9-2-0.


The T-Birds will return to action on Friday, November 27, when they host the Portland Winterhawks at the ShoWare Center at 7:35 p.m. The two teams will be back in action the following night in Portland at the Rose Garden at 7 p.m.


For photos of this game go to Kent Valley Sports.


To see a photo slide show from the Kent Reporter photographer Charles Cortes go to his flickr page .


T-Birds single game tickets for the 2009-10 season are available online at the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office. The ShoWare Center Box Office is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m. and Sunday game days at noon.


T-Birds Group tickets are currently on sale. Group tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.


SCORING SUMMARY


First period - 1, Regina, Mitchell 8 (unassisted), 13:16 (sh). 2, Seattle, Rai 14 (Ramsay), 16:48. Penalties - Bench, Sea (too many men of the ice), 5:14. Muth, Sea (tripping), 10:57. Carlson, Reg (slashing), 11:22. Pym, Reg (tripping), 13:06. Parker, Sea (hooking), 18:26.


Second period - 3, Seattle, Wells 6 (unassisted), 2:39 (sh). 4, Seattle, Parker 13 (Acolatse, Warg), 7:54. 5, Seattle, Schappert 6 (Acolatse, Rai), 13:16 (pp). Penalties - Lund, Sea (tripping), 1:40. Dillon, Sea (major-fighting), 6:37. Mitchell, Reg (major-fighting), 6:37. Sparrow, Reg (tripping), 11:37. Mitchell, Reg (high-sticking), 12:39. Lockhart, Sea (roughing), 16:25. Parker, Reg (roughing), 16:25.


Third period - 6, Seattle, Schappert 7 (Rai, Warg), 10:38 (pp). 7, Strueby 18 (Gustafsson), 19:48 (sh). Penalties - Warg, Sea (holding), 6:14. Davidson, Reg (hooking), 10:00. Sparrow, Reg (high- sticking), 15:40. Davidson, Reg (hooking), 18:54. Strueby, Reg (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:48. Ramsay, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:48. Jacobs, Sea (slashing), 19:48.




Shots on goal - Seattle 8-17-13 38. Regina 7- 13-8 28. Goalies - Seattle, Jahraus 28 shots- 26 saves (2-1-0-0); Regina, Kelto 38-33 (9-8-2-0). Power plays - Seattle 2-7; Regina 0-6. A - 3,018. Referee - Ryan Benbow, Sean Raphael. Linesmen - David Tise, Tony Leonetti.

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