Although the T-Birds lost the Teddy Bear Toss game to the Portland Winterhawks, fans can still take pride in providing dozens of stuffed animals to children in crisis situations. Droves of T-Bird supporters came armed to the teeth on Saturday night with stuffed puppies, cats, and of course, bear to donate. They enjoyed a good game in which Seattle ran ahead until the middle of the game, losing the night with a 5-2 win to Portland.

At first, the night seemed to be well on the side of Seattle when a great power play was made among Scott Eansor, Jerret Smith and Mathew Barzal within the first 47 of the game. The first goal of the night, scored by Eansor, led to a crescendo of cheers—and teddy bears! Fans littered the ice with stuffed animals, which the Birds’ staff collected to donate after that first goal. The teams headed to the locker rooms for this brief break.

The Birds definitely came out fighting, outshooting the Hawks during the first period 15-10, and then came on strong again in the second period when Keegan Kolesar scored another goal—this time the assists were made by Ryan Gropp and Alexander True. With a 2-0 score at this point, the entire stadium rang with cheers and high hopes that a victory was near.

But Seattle just didn’t match the energy the Hawks brought to the ice that night. The Winterhawks had a stellar evening, particularly Alex Schoenborn, who showed off with a hat trick at the ShoWare Center. During the second period, the team pulled off a comeback, tying the game up, 2-2. Alex Schoenborn made the first goal with assists from Keoni Texeira and Jack Dougherty. Rodrigo Abols shot the second goal with an assist by Caleb Jones.

During the final period, the Birds were not able to pull off any more goals while Portland sprang ahead with another three. Schoenborn scored two of those, then Dominic Turgeon made the final shot of the evening, ending with an empty-net goal and a win for the Hawks.

Bow made a total of 31 saves for the night out, and now carries a record of 15-16-4-0.

On January 29, the Birds will be back at it when they play the Spokane Chiefs at the ShoWare Center. Tickets are on sale at the box office as well as online and the puck will drop at 7:05.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia