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Seattle score three unanswered in the third to pull away from Rockets

T-Birds pull one out late

For the second night in a row, the Seattle Thunderbirds were the better team when it mattered most - in the third period.

As they did in the series opener Friday, Seattle used a strong third period to outlast the Kelowna Rockets 4-1 Saturday to grab a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final series.

Saturday, the teams were tied 1-1 just shy of the midway point of the third when T-Birds captain Lucas Ciona banged home what would prove to be the game winner.

Ciona, on a partial breakaway, was stopped initially by Rockets netminder Jari Kykkanen. The puck squeezed through his pads and onto the goal line.

Caden Price tried to clear it but Ciona, who had circled the net, banged at the puck at the same time and jammed it home.

Nolan Allan six minutes later and Jared Davidson into an empty net sealed the game.

Dylan Guenther opened the scoring for Seattle in the first before Dylan Wightman seven minutes into the second got the final whack at a loose puck during a wild scramble to tie it.

Kykkanen stopped 44 of 47 shots directed his way, but made several key saves early to keep the Rockets in it.

The series now shifts to Prospera Place for games three and four Tuesday and Wednesday.



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