Thunderbirds die another slow death

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Seattle Thunderbirds have lost 15 straight WHL games.
Whoops! Make that 16, eight of them by one goal.
Just when it looked like the tailspin might end, Kamloops centre C.J. Stretch went end-to-end and beat goaltender Calvin Pickard to give the Blazers a 5-4 overtime victory before 4,081 fans at Interior Savings Centre on Friday night.
The Thunderbirds, who play out of Kent, Wash., haven't won since beating the visiting Prince George Cougars 4-1 on Jan. 9. In their last eight games, including this one, the Thunderbirds (14-34-7-4) have taken five leads - three games were tied - into the second period.
It was 1-1 last night and the Thunderbirds, with a 9-6 edge in shots, seemed in pretty good shape. But the Blazers took them apart in the second period, outshooting them 20-10 and scoring three times.
When Kamloops centre Dalibor Bortnak struck with 3.6 seconds left in the period for a 4-2 lead, it looked like this one was over.
However, Stretch took a tripping penalty at 1:40 of the third period and Thunderbirds right-winger Prab Rai, their second-best player behind Pickard, scored his second goal to halve the deficit.
Late in the third period, referee Devin Klein called Kamloops defenceman Austin Madaisky for interference and Colin Jacobs forged a 4-4 tie.
It remained, then, for Stretch to win it with his 26th goal of the season. He corralled the puck and plodded through the neutral zone in Stretchian fashion, evading a stickcheck from Seattle centre Lindsay Nielsen and giving defenceman Tanner Muth the old howdy-do, before shoveling the puck past Pickard.
It was Stretch's second OT goal and his eighth game-winner of the season.
“We took an early penalty . . . that wasn't the way to start the third period,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said. “Any time you play a weaker team and they stay close, they're alive and they feel confident.”
Charron also felt his side made too many mental errors.
“Their thinking caps aren't on,” he said. “I know it's not physical fatigue; if anything, it's related to mental fatigue.”
As evidence, he offered up the case of winger Jordan DePape, who returned after sitting for a week with a rib injury. DePape was the Blazers' best forward and had a goal and two assists.
“My legs were a little tied up; I had to wake them up,” DePape said.
He would have had more, too, but for the nifty work of Pickard who, it turns out, is a buddy of DePape's, both of them being Winnipeggers.
Pickard finished with 28 saves, none more dazzling than the glove save off a DePape shot at 2:48 of the second period. DePape was only three or four feet outside the paint when he accepted a pass and snapped a shot that ended up in his pal's catching mitt.
“I haven't had the bounces lately . . . but, yeah, he did make a nice save on me,” said DePape, who has 14 goals. “I thought it was (in).”
“He keeps their team in there,” Charron added. “He's got a (.913) save percentage and he's getting how many shots a night? He's the franchise . . . a (Roberto) Luongo-type.”
The Blazers also got goals from Colin Smith, who had gone 17 games without scoring, and Brendan Ranford, who was terrific - again - and finished plus-4.
Mitch Elliot, a 6-foot-5 forward from Prince George, also scored for Seattle, getting his first goal in his 44th game.
Kamloops goaltender Kurtis Mucha stopped 23 shots, as he tied the CHL record for career appearances by a goaltender. This was Mucha's 239th game.
The Blazers (28-29-2-4) remain seventh in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Chilliwack Bruins, who beat the Broncos 3-0 in Swift Current.
Kamloops native Lucas Gore stopped 31 shots to earn the shutout.
Kamloops did close to within one point of the sixth-place Kelowna Rockets, who lost 4-1 to the visiting Calgary Hitmen.
The Blazers will start Mucha again tonight, this time against the Hitmen (42-17-1-1), who are one of the WHL's elite teams
JUST NOTES: Referees Brett Iverson and Klein gave the Blazers six of 10 minors and one of two majors. . . . Elliot scored a decision over Kamloops D Brandon Underwood in the game's only scrap. Underwood left for repairs, while Wright served his time with an icebag on his right hand.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com