The Seattle Thunderbirds celebrated another victory over the Kelowna Rockets for the Western Conference Championship, knocking out the second game in the same number of victories for this round. The final score against Kelowna was 3-2. It was another exciting evening that left fans on the edges of their seats as the Birds and Rockets had tied up the score until Scott Eansor whizzed in with less than four minutes left in the game and made a last-minute goal to seal it for the T-Birds.

Landon Bow saved 28 out of 30 shots, ending in his 10^th playoff victory and further securing his spot among the favorite goaltenders in the league. The T-Birds are now in the lead with a score of 2-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference Championship, and the next game will be back in Seattle at the ShoWare Center on Tuesday night.

During the first period of the game, Matthew Barzal started things off with a goal assisted by Ethan Bear and Keegan Kolesar. Eansor scored a goal less than two minutes later assisted by Donovan Neuls. Kelowna got on the board next during the exciting first period with a goal from Linaker, assisted by Wishnowski. The only goal during the second period was from Kelowna when Chartier scored, assisted by Soustal and Foote. No other goals were scored until Eansor’s big last minute, unassisted goal at the end of the third period.

The Kelowna president and GM, Bruce Hamilton, says that he’s got his eye on Barzal. “Barzal is one of the best players in the country. We have make sure he isn't beating us and keep him in check the best we can.” He also said, “We've relied on our depth all winter long, and we're going to need that again in this series.  Our fourth line will need to eat up some time, and help us spread things out. Our depth is key for us.”

This is the third time in four years that Seattle has met Kelowna in the playoff games and so far Seattle is faring quite well. Do you think the Birds will bring that trophy home this year? Will you be at the ShoWare Center for games 3 and 4 this week to cheer them on? Do you think that Hamilton is right to keep his eye on Barzal, or does he perhaps have a blind spot when it comes to much of the other talent on the team?

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia