The Kamloops Blazers defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 7-4 Friday night at accesso ShoWare Center.
Matthew Rempe made his T-Birds debut in the game. He missed the first 15 games of the season due to a lower body injury.
Kamloops (10-6-0-0) had a 3-0 lead after one period on goals from Martin Lang at 6:32, Ryley Appelt at 6:50 and Connor Zary shorthanded at 15:53.
Luke Zazula scored at 1:55 of the second period to give the Blazers a 4-0 lead.
Seattle (5-7-2-1) got on the board at 6:57 of the second with a four-on-four goal. Michael Horon came out of the penalty box and took a pass from Conner Bruggen-Cate for a breakaway. Horon came down on Kamloops goalie Dylan Garand and tried to beat him five-hole. Garand made the save but Horon got the rebound to the right of the goalie and slammed it into the net for his first goal in the WHL.
The T-Birds headed into the second intermission down two goals courtesy of a Matthew Wedman goal with 43 seconds left in the second. Wedman got the puck from Horon along the right wall and skated around the top of the offensive zone to the low left circle. Wedman beat Garand with a quick snap shot high on the short side for his sixth goal of the season. Horon and Owen Williams had the assists.
Orrin Centazzo scored on the power play at 2:52 of the third period to give Kamloops a 5-2 lead.
Seattle answered right back on a goal from Conner Bruggen-Cate at 4:54 of the third. Bruggen-Cate took a pass in the left circle from Wedman and beat Garand with a quick wrist shot for his third goal of the season. Bauer had the second assist.
Two power-play goal by Kamloops, Zary at 8:45 and Brodi Stuart at 14:45, made it a 6-3 lead for the visitors.
The T-Birds did not quit though as Keltie Jeri-Leon scored an unassisted goal from the left circle to make it a 7-4 game.

 

SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Kamloops, Lang 5 (Hughes, Pillar), 6:32. 2, Kamloops, Appelt 1 (Sopotyk, Stuart), 6:50. 3, Kamloops, Zary 9 (Stuart, Strange), 15:53 (sh). Penalties – Strange, Kam (holding opponents stick), 7:12. Kukuca, Sea (interference), 10:51. Sopotyk, Kam (hooking), 15:26.
Second period – 4, Kamloops, Zazula 1 (Stuart, Appelt), 1:55. 5, Seattle, Horon 1 (Bruggen-Cate), 6:57. 6, Seattle, Wedman 6 (Horon, Williams), 19:13. Penalties – Bauer, Sea (major-fighting), 2:28. Onyebuchi, Kam (major-fighting), 2:28. Rempe, Sea (elbowing, roughing), 4:49. Appelt, Kam (roughing), 4:49. Hughes, Kam (tripping), 5:19. Kuefler, Kam (tripping), 12:49.
Third period – 7, Kamloops, Centazzo 9 (Franklin, Hughes), 2:52 (pp). 8, Seattle, Bruggen-Cate 3 (Wedman, Bauer), 4:58. 9, Kamloops, Zary 10 (Centazzo, Hughes), 8:45 (pp). 10, Kamloops, Stuart 2 (Lang, Schmiemann), 14:45 (pp). 11, Seattle, Jeri-Leon 5, 15:27. Penalties – Rybinski, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 1:45. Rempe, Sea (tripping), 8:05. Ashton, Sea (interference), 13:49. Schmiemann, Kam (cross checking), 19:20.
Shots on goal – Seattle 11-22-7 40, Kamloops 11-16-10 37. Goalies – Seattle, Ross 37 shots-30 saves (5-5-2-1); Kamloops, Garand 40-36 (10-5-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 0-3; Kamloops 3-6. Referees – Tyler Adair, Mike Campbell. Linesmen – Trevor Beaton, Spencer Lockert.