True pulls hat trick as Thunderbirds weather Hurricanes | WHL

Seattle travels to Portland for TV game tonight

November 19, 2016 9:15 am
Thunderbirds center Alexander True celebrates a goal in a 4-3 WHL victory Friday night at the ShoWare Center. COURTESY PHOTO, Brian Liesse, Thunderbirds

Alexander True had a hat trick to power the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-3 Western Hockey League win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night at the ShoWare Center.

True’s hat trick was the second by a T-Bird this season. Scott Eansor had the T-Birds first hat trick on Nov. 5 in Moose Jaw.

Seattle (10-8-0-1) took a 1-0 lead 1:35 into the first period on True’s seventh goal of the season. Elijah Brown centered the puck from behind the net to True in the slot. True beat Lethbridge goalie Stuart Skinner with a wrist shot low on the glove side.

Lethbridge (7-11-1-2) tied the game 1-1 at 11:02 of the first on a goal from Ryan Bowen.

Seattle answered right back 21 seconds after Lethbridge’s goal when Scott Eansor beat Skinner with a wrist shot from the left circle. Sami Moilanen chased the puck down the left wing behind the goal line. Moilanen centered the puck to Eansor to set up Eansor’s leading ninth goal of the season.

Seattle outshot Lethbridge 14-4 in the first period.

True made it a 3-1 T-Birds lead with a power-play goal at 8:57 of the second period. Jarret Tyszka passed the puck to Turner Ottenbreit at the right point. Ottenbreit took a slap shot with True in front of Skinner. True banged the rebound passed Skinner for his eighth goal of the season.

The Hurricanes cut the T-Birds lead back to one goal at 9:44 of the second on a goal from Tyler Wong.

The Hurricanes tied the game 3-3 at 1:46 of the third period on a power-play goal from Jordy Bellerive.

True put the T-Birds in front for good at 3:13 of the third when he scored his hat trick goal. Elijah Brown sent the puck from the right corner to Brandon Schuldhaus at the left point. Schuldhaus passed the puck to True in the high slot. True took a wrist shot that deflected off a Lethbridge defenseman and into the top left corner of the net.

Seattle out shot Lethbridge 13-10 in the third period and 39-21 in the game.

Seattle goalie Rylan Toth made 18 saves on 21 shots.

Skinner ended the night with 35 saves on 39 shots.

Rivalry Saturday

The T-Birds travel to Portland to take on the Winterhawks at 7 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on This TV locally on Channel 13.2 and on Comcast Cable Channel 357.

Notes

Prior to the game against the Hurricanes, the T-Birds reassigned left wing Dillon Hamaliuk to the Leduc Oil Kings of the Alberta Midget Hockey League. Hamaliuk played in 17 games with the T-Birds this season and had one goal.

Single-game tickets may be purchased online or at the ShoWare Center box office. Season tickets can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, True 7 (Brown), 1:35. 2, Lethbridge, Bowen 6 (Kroeker, Estephan), 11:02. 3, Seattle, Eansor 9 (Moilanen), 11:23. Penalties – True, Sea (interference), 4:12. Wong, Let (high-sticking), 5:03.

Second period – 4, Seattle, True 8 (Ottenbreit, Tyszka), 8:57 (pp). 5, Lethbridge, Wong 10 (Reagan), 9:44. Penalties – Reagan, Let (checking from behind), 7:25. Wong, Let (elbowing), 10:59.

Third period – 6, Lethbridge, Bellerive 5 (Reagan), 1:46 (pp). 4, Seattle, True 9 (Schuldhaus, Brown), 3:13. Penalties – Eansor, Sea (tripping), 1:01. Bellerive, Let (slashing), 3:39. Kroeker, Let (hooking), 4:59. Tyszka, Sea (interference), 14:56.

Shots on goal – Seattle 14-12-13 39, Lethbridge 4-7-10 21. Goalies – Seattle, Toth 21 shots-18 saves (8-8-0-0); Lethbridge, Skinner 39-25 (7-10-0-1). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Lethbridge 1-5. A – 4,491. Referees – Kyle Scrivens, Nick Swaine. Linesmen – Nick Bilko, Michael McGowan.