Keltie Jeri-Leon had two goals and Jeremy Hanzel scored his first career WHL goal as the Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the Spokane Chiefs 4-3 in a shootout Friday night at accesso ShoWare Center.
The game was the season opener for both teams. The T-Birds face the Portland Winterhawks Saturday at accesso ShoWare Center at 5:05pm in a game that will be broadcast on JOEtv Channel 22/Cable 110 with Ian Furness on the play-by-play call.
Henrik Rybinski was the first shooter for the T-Birds in the shootout and he beat Spokane goalie Campbell Arnold on the glove side. Adam Beckman was Spokane’s first shooter and he hit the crossbar.
Payton Mount the T-Birds second shooter beat Arnold low on the glove side for the goal. Seattle goalie Thomas Milic stopped Erik Atchison to win the game for the T-Birds.
Spokane went in front 1-0 on a goal by Adam Beckman 24 seconds into the first period.
The Chiefs took a 2-0 lead at 12:24 of the second period on a goal from Raegan Wiles.
Seattle cut the Chiefs lead to one at 15:57 of the second on Hanzel’s first goal in the WHL. Hanzel skated up the right wing and fed the puck to Gabe Ludwig on the left wing to start a two-on-one break. Ludwig crossed the puck back to Hanzel and he snapped the puck past Arnold. Sam Popowich had the second assist.
The assist was Ludwig’s first point in the WHL.
Keltie Jeri-Leon tied the game 2-2 on the power play at 4:58 of the third period. Lucas Ciona centered the puck from behind the net to Jeri-Leon who quickly beat Arnold for his first goal of the season. Jordan Gustafson had the second assist for his first point in the WHL.
Jeri-Leon scored 1:05 after his first goal to put the T-Birds in front 3-2. Tyrel Bauer sent the puck up the right wing to Rybinski at the blue line. Rybinski gained the zone and then dropped the puck back for Jeri-Leon. Jeri-Leon beat Arnold on the glove side.
Spokane tied the game 3-3 at 15:58 of the third on a five-on-three power-play goal by Atchison.
Thomas Milic made 29 saves in the game. In overtime, he stopped Eli Zummack on a breakaway and made a post to post save to deny Adam Beckman on a wraparound attempt.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Spokane, Beckman 1 (Zummack), :24. Penalties – Larson, Spo (high-sticking), 5:10.
Second period – 2, Spokane, Wiles 1 (Beckman, Zummack), 12:24. 3, Seattle, Hanzel 1 (Ludwig, Popowich), 15:57. Penalties – Bateman, Sea (interference), :43. Sanders, Sea (elbowing), 5:44. Gross, Spo (cross checking), 8:56. Jeri-Leon, Sea (holding), 8:56.
Third period – 4, Seattle, Jeri-Leon 1 (Ciona, Gustafson), 4:58 (pp). 5, Seattle, Jeri-Leon 2 (Rybinski, Bauer), 6:03. 6, Spokane, Atchison 1 (Beckman, Russell), 15:58 (pp). Penalties – Atchison, Spo (boarding), 4:47. Bateman, Sea (double minor-roughing), 10-minute misconduct), 6:03. Lane, Spo (double minor-roughing), 10-minute misconduct), 6:03. Ciona, Sea (tripping), 15:41. Bauer, Sea (cross checking), 15:52. Sward, Spo (holding), 19:27.
Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.
Shootout – Seattle 2 (Rybinski G, Mount G). Spokane 0 (Beckman NG, Atchison NG).
Shots on goal – Seattle 11-12-11-3 37, Spokane 8-10-11-3 32. Goalies – Seattle, Milic 32 shots-29 saves (1-0-0-0); Spokane, Arnold 37-34 (0-0-0-1). Power plays – Seattle 1-3; Spokane 1-4. Referees – Ian Jendro, Justin Nicol. Linesmen – Mark Heier, Eric McGlaughlin.
