The Kamloops Blazers beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-1 Saturday night at the ShoWare Center.

The T-Birds and Blazers both played a hard fought game. Seattle pulled goalie Calvin Pickard down one late in the third period to try and get the tying goal. Seattle had several good chances but the Blazers scored a empty-net goal with 43 seconds left to seal the win.

The T-Birds head to Spokane to play the Chiefs on Monday at 7:05 p.m.

Seattle (18-31-1-1) got on the board with a goal from Colin Jacobs at 7:26 of the first. Shea Theodore passed the puck from the left boards to Jacobs who was waiting at the bottom of the left circle. Jacobs made a backwards pass to Burke Gallimore at the corner of the goal. Gallimore took a short shot towards the goal but Kamloops goalie Cam Lanigan stopped the shot with his pads. The puck came loose and Jacobs was able to slide the puck past Lanigan’s right leg to score his fifth goal of the season.

The Blazers tied it 1-1 at 13:22 with a goal from Brendan Ranford. Chase Schaber and Brandon Herrod were credited with the assists.

Seattle led Kamloops 14-13 in shots on goal after the first period.

Kamloops (37-12-1-3) took a 2-1 lead just before the end of the second period with a goal from Cole Ully at 19:40. Ranford and Matthew Needham had the assists.

The Blazers led the T-Birds 28-27 in shots after two periods of play.

Kamloops sealed the win with an empty-net goal from Tim Bozon at 19:17 of the third. Colin Smith had the only assist.

The Blazers finished with a 43-39 advantage in shots.

Calvin Pickard made 40 saves on 42 shots bringing his record to 18-26-1-1.

Lanigan made 38 saves on 39 shots for Kamloops and is credited with the win increasing his record to 10-4-0-0.

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, Jacobs 5 (Gallimore, Theodore), 7:26. 2, Kamloops, Ranford 29 (Schaber, Herrod), 13:22. Penalties – Machacek, Sea (major-fighting), :53. Hanes, Kam (major-fighting), :53. Troock, Sea (boarding), 16:28.

Second period – 3, Kamloops, Ully 7 (Randford, Needham), 19:40. Penalties – Gallimore, Sea (high-sticking), 7:20. Cross, Kam (hooking), 12:04. Madaisky, Kam (roughing), 14:22. Gallimore, Sea (roughing), 14:22.

Third period – 4, Kamloops, Bozon 27 (Smith), 19:17 (en). Penalties – Deagle, Sea (slashing), 7:35. Souto, Kam (goaltender interference), 14:06.

Shots on goal – Seattle 14-13-12 39. Kamloops 13-15-15 43 Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 42 shots-40 saves (18-25-1-1); Kamloops, Lanigan 39-38 (10-4-0-0). Power plays -Seattle 0-2; Kamloops 0-3. A – 4,048. Referee – Trevor Hansen, Adam Griffiths. Linesmen – Bevan Mills, Jason Cramer.