In a heavily penalized game, that saw 19 power play opportunities in total, the Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the Kelowna Rockets 5-3 and took a 3-2 series lead.
Seattle took the early lead in the game when Reid Gardiner coughed up the puck in the Rockets' zone and Scott Eansor picked it up, skated in and went upstairs on Michael Herringer. This was a short handed goal for the T-Birds.
Later in the period, Sami Moilanen capitalized on another Rockets turnover to give the T-Birds a 2-0 lead, but the Rockets responded a few minutes later when Calvin Thurkauf tipped in Gardiner's shot on the power play.
Halfway through the second period, Nick Merkley, who now holds the record for playoff points in the Kelowna Rockets franchise, walked in and sniped to tie the game 2-2.
.@merkdaddy4 makes it a 2-2 tie in the 2nd! #SEAvsKEL #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/NTacWU9AKD
— #WHLPlayoffs (@TheWHL) April 29, 2017
In the next eight minutes, a total of 18 penalty minutes were handed out between the two teams as tempers began to rise. These penalties led to the T-Birds scoring two power play goals just 1:20 apart to end the period and take a 4-2 lead.
Alexander True scored his second of the night and sealed the deal for the T-Birds at 6:57 of the final frame, again on the power play. The Rockets battled back, and Dillon Dube nabbed another power play goal late in the period, but it wasn't enough.
The Rockets outshot the T-Birds 40-24, and it's impressive that there were that many shots in a game where 50 minutes of minor penalties were handed out. Six of the eight goals scored were power play goals, which is not what you'd expect to see from two teams who have led the league in penalty kill percentage in the post season.
Game six will be back at Prospera Place on Sunday, April 30th at 5:05pm. Should a game seven be needed, it will be played in Kent, Washington on Tuesday, May 2nd.
Tickets are available for Rockets home games through selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.
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