The Seattle Thunderbirds and Calgary Hitmen combined for an astonishing seven goals in the first 12:10 of their game Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.
The teams combined for only two more goals the rest of the game, with the T-Birds scoring the one that mattered to secure a 5-4 victory over the Hitmen.
Seattle has won their last two games. They defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-2 on Wednesday night.
The T-Birds finish out their six-game road trip on Saturday night in Cranbrook, British Columbia, when they take on the Kootenay Ice at the Cranbrook Rec Plex at 6pm. They are 2-3-0-0 on the trip so far.
Seattle (7-10-0-0) opened the scoring at 1:10 of the first period on a quick two-man passing play. Goalie Calvin Pickard moved the puck up the left side of the ice to Burke Gallimore. Gallimore carried the puck into Calgary zone on the left side. Gallimore centered the puck to Lockhart trailing the play. Lockhart sent the puck right back to Gallimore in the right circle. Gallimore then sent the puck back to Lockhart and he snapped a shot on goal. Lockhart’s shot beat Calgary goalie Chris Driedger over the blocker for his third goal of the year.
Calgary (8-9-1-1) tied the game 1-1 at 2:18 of the first on a goal from Danny Gayle. He put back a rebound from a Keaton Lubin shot. Alex Gogolev had the second assist.
The T-Birds went back in front 2-1 at 3:58 of the first on Connor Sanvido’s third goal of the year. Sean Aschim worked the puck out of the left corner up the boards to Sanvido. Sanvido carried the puck into the left circle and snapped a hard wrist shot past Driedger.
The Hitmen tied the game a second time at 7:03 of the first on a power-play goal from Alex Roach. Gogolev and Gayle assisted on the goal that was scored with traffic in front of Pickard.
Calgary took their first and only lead at 7:19 of the first on an unusual goal. Brady Brassart scored a goal off a faceoff. The linesmen dropped the puck and Brassart shot it towards the Seattle net and the puck snuck by Pickard.
The T-Birds came right back and tied the game 3-3 at 10:05 of the first. Brendan Rouse moved the puck to Braeden Laroque at the left point. Laroque put a slap shot on goal that rebounded to Justin Hickman in the left circle. Hickman moved into the slot and took a wrist shot with traffic in front of Driedger. Hickman’s shot beat the Calgary goalie low for his third goal of the year.
Marcel Noebels gave the T-Birds a 4-3 lead going into the first intermission when he scored a power-play goal at 12:10 of the first. Gallimore and Dave Sutter had the assists on the goal that was scored in a four-on-three situation.
Seattle outshot Calgary 15-12 in the first period.
Calgary replaced Driedger (6-5-1-1) with Brandon Glover after the first period. Driedger made 11 saves on 15 shots and was credited with the loss.
Gogolev tied the game 4-4 at 9:36 of the second period with his fifth goal of the year. Gayle had the only assist on the Hitmen’s third tying goal of the game.
A good fore-check by Noebels led to a go-ahead goal for the T-Birds with 12 seconds left in the second period. Pressure from Noebels made a Hitmen puck carrier make a soft back pass to a teammate that was farther away than anticipated. Noebels turned quickly and raced to the loose puck and got a stick on the puck but it deflected into the high slot to Hickman. Hickman came in alone on Glover and ripped the puck over the goalie’s glove for his second goal of the night.
The Hitmen outshot the T-Birds 7-6 in the second period but the T-Birds led 21-19 in total shots after two periods.
Calgary pulled Glover with 1:40 left in the game to try and get the tying goal. The T-Birds defense did not give up any good scoring chances to the Hitmen with the goalie out.
Calgary outshot Seattle 8-6 in the third period and both teams finished with 27 shots in the game.
Pickard stopped 23 of 27 shots to get the win and improve his record to 7-9-0-0.
Glover made 11 saves on 12 shots in two periods of action.
T-Birds single game tickets for the 2011-12 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 season tickets are currently on sale. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Gallimore 8 (Lockhart, Pickard), 1:10. 2, Calgary, Gayle 4 (Lubin, Gogolev), 2:18. 3, Seattle, Sanvido 3 (Aschim), 3:58. 4, Calgary, Roach 1(Gogolev, Gayle), 7:03 (pp). 5, Calgary, Brassart 5, 7:19. 6, Seattle, Hickman 3 (Laroque, Rouse), 10:05. 7, Seattle, Noebels 8 (Gallimore, Sutter), 12:10 (pp). Penalties – Noebels, Sea (hooking), 6:35. Hauf, Sea (roughing), 10:43. Bubnick, Cal (roughing, 10:43. Gayle, Cal (hooking), 11:12. Roach, Cal (cross checking), 13:17. Kosterman, Cal (tripping), 14:30. Elliot, Sea (tripping), 16:53. Chase, Cal (goaltender interference), 18:20.
Second period – 8, Calgary, Gogolev 5 (Gayle), 9:36. 9, Seattle, Hickman 4 (Noebels), 19:48. Penalties – Troock, Sea (tripping), 2:41.Cheek, Cal (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:33. Sutter, Sea (boarding), 10:59. Aschim, Sea (roughing), 14:00. Doty, Sea (roughing), 14:00. Clayton, Cal (roughing), 14:00.
Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Elliot, Sea (major-fighting), 3:06. Kosterman, Cal (major-fighting), 3:06. Cal (hooking), 6:30. Cal (high-sticking), 10:20.
Shots on goal – Seattle 15-6-6 27. Calgary 12-7-8 27. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 27 shots-23 saves (7-9-0-0); Calgary, Driedger 15-11 (6-5-1-1), Glover 12-11. Power plays -Seattle 1-7; Calgary 1-5. A – 8,823. Referee – Mike Cairns, Sean Raphael. Linesmen -Justin Slimm, Scott Sharun.
