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nelson951
03-25-2006, 02:20 AM
T-Birds Open Playoffs with a Bang

Chris Durand registers a hat-trick in 8-5 win over Portland in Game 1
Seattle, March 24, 2006 - Chris Durand’s hat-trick propelled the Thunderbirds to 8-5 victory over the Portland Winter Hawks in Game 1 of the opening round of the U.S. Division playoffs.

The best-of-seven series continues on Saturday, March 25 when the T-Birds and Winter Hawks square off for Game 2 of the opening round. The puck drops in KeyArena at 7:05 p.m.

The Winter Hawks (0-1) capitalized on an early T- Bird penalty at 6:25 of the first period with a power- play goal from captain Brandon Dubinsky. Brian Woolger and Kyle Bailey had the assists.
The Thunderbirds (1-0) quickly tied the game at 8:03 of the first with a power play of their own by Durand. Tyler Johnson took control of the puck in the right face-off circle and hit a wide open Bretton Stamler creeping in across the blue line. Stamler unleashed a one-timer that was redirected off the stick of Durand past Portland goalie Kurtis Mucha (0-1) for his first of the playoffs.

Durand tallied his second power-play goal of the night at 12:02 of the first. The T-Birds spread out and stretched the Portland defense as they whipped the puck around the boards from right to left. Thomas Hickey fired a slapshot from the point that was knocked down during a scrum in front of the net. Johnson attempted to muscle the puck past Mucha, but was denied. The loose puck trickled towards the left post where it was met by Durand. Durand tapped it in the vacated net for his second goal of the night and a 2-1 lead.

The Winter Hawks made it 2-2 at 17:24 of the first on a goal from Bailey. Jon Bubnick and Michael Sauer had the assists.

Portland outshot Seattle 12-11 in the opening period.

The T-Birds made it 3-2 at 1:54 of the second period on a power-play goal from captain Aaron Gagnon. Scott Jackson fed the puck to Gagnon stationed low in the point. Gagnon flung a wrister through traffic that sailed past a shielded Mucha high on the glove side for his first of the playoffs. Rob Klinkhammer had the second assist.

Sauer tied the game for the Winter Hawks at 6:30 of the second on an unassisted goal power-play goal.

Jannik Hansen gave the Winter Hawks a 4-3 lead at 7:26 of the second. Dubinsky had the lone assist.

Portland registered one more at 9:00 of the second on the second goal of the night from Sauer. Dubinsky and Bailey had the assists.

The T-Birds cut into the Portland lead at 13:44 of the second on a goal from Scott Jackson. Durand took the face-off from the right dot and deflected the puck to Stamler located in the right circle. Stamler hit Jackson near the point. Jackson skated towards the far boards and side-stepped one defender to get a clear shot at the net. His wrister went high near the left post past Mucha, who was once again shielded by the crowd in front of the crease. Jackson’s goal made it 5-4 Winter Hawks and was his first of the playoffs.

Seattle outshot Portland 12-11 in the second. Each team had 23 shots through two periods.

The T-Birds tied the game five apiece at 1:18 of the third period on the first goal of the playoffs from Kyle Pess. Gagnon served up the puck to Ladislav Scurko on the left side. Scurko attacked the net and backhanded a shot off Mucha that fell to the right of the crease to Pess for the put back.

Bud Holloway gave the T-Birds the lead at 4:49 of the third with his first goal of the playoffs. Persistence paid off as Holloway recovered his own put back attempt and found the back of the net. The last time the T-Birds scored six goals in the playoffs was against the Portland Winter Hawks in Game 2 of the 2001-02 playoffs. The T-Birds won that game 6- 2 in Portland.

Holloway added one more at 15:40 of the third to give the T-Birds a 7-5 lead. Holloway skated down the far boards alone with one man to beat. Holloway fired an off-balance slapshot that beat Mucha glove side for his second of the playoffs and second on the night.

Hats reigned down from the stands as Durand tallied his third goal of the evening to close the door on the Winter Hawks at 18:51 of the third. Durand launched a slapshot from the left face-off circle that sailed past Mucha and buried itself in the back of the net for the 8-5 score. Stamler and Johnson both registered a helper on Durand’s power-play goal. This was the first hat-trick for the T-Birds this season.

Seattle outshot Portland 15-14 in the third and 38- 37 on the night.

Bryan Bridges finished the night stopping 32 of 37shots as his playoff record goes to 1-0. Mucha stopped 30 of 38 in the loss.

Round one playoff tickets are available online at www.seattlethunderbirds.com or by phone at 206- 448-PUCK or 206-628-0888.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Portland, Dubinsky 1 (Woolger, Bailey), 6:25 (pp). 2, Seattle, Durand 1 (Stamler, Johnson), 8:03 (pp). 3, Seattle, Durand 2 (Johnson, Hickey), 12:02 (pp). 4, Portland, Bailey 1 (Bubnick, Sauer), 17:24. Penalties – Barthel, Sea (tripping), 5:19. Frazee, Por (slashing), 6:41. Thunderchild, Por (ob-holding), 10:37. Balan, Por (double minor, high-sticking), 19:35. Balan, Por (10- min. misconduct), 19:35.

Second period – 5, Seattle, Gagnon 1 (Jackson, Klinkhammer), 1:54 (pp). 6, Portland, Sauer 1 6:30 (pp). 7, Portland, Hansen 1 (Dubinsky), 7:26. 8, Portland, Sauer 2 (Dubinsky, Bailey), 9:00 (pp). 9, Seattle, Jackson 1 (Stamler, Durand), 13:44. Penalties – Sauer, Por (double minor, high- sticking), :44. Gagnon, Sea (slashing), 5:32. Gordichuk, Por (slashing), 7:24. Stamler, Sea (slashing), 7:24. Olson, Sea (slashing), 8:41. Bailey, Por (holding), 13:37. Scott, Sea (roughing), 13:37. Gordichuk, Por (interference), 14:28. Olson, Sea (charging), 17:27.

Third period – 10, Seattle, Pess 1 (Gagnon, Scurko), 1:18. 11, Seattle, Holloway 1 (Jackson, Pess), 4:49. 12, Seattle, Holloway 2 15:40. 13, Seattle, Durand 3 (Stamler, Johnson), 18:51 (pp). Penalties – Bubnick, Por (unsportsmanlike- diving), 1:49. Jackson, Sea (ob-hooking), 1:49. Funk, Por (holding), 2:21. Hickey, Sea (hooking), 5:18. Hansen, Por (boarding), 11:54. Bailey, Por (10-min. misconduct), 15:40. Woolger, Por (goaltender interference), 17:16. Woolger, Por (10-min. misconduct), 17:16. Olson, Sea (roughing), 19:16.

Shots on goal – Seattle 11-12-15 38. Portland 12-11-14 37. Goalies – Seattle, Bridges 37 shots-32 saves (1-0); Portland, Mucha 38- 30 (0-1). Power plays – Seattle 4-8; Portland 3-7. A – 2,605. Referee – Andy Thiessen. Linesmen – Chris Dehaan, Justin Hull



Poor crowd although the UW basketball choke seemed to affect the Tips #s as well.
Hope for bigger numbers saturday

rinkrat
03-26-2006, 02:46 AM
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060325.wseattle-shooting25/BNStory/International/home