Thunderbirds win in OT to complete first-round sweep of Prince George

There’s a saying in playoff hockey that the fourth win in a series is the toughest one to pick up. Wednesday’s Game 4 in Prince George proved to be just that for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Seattle came back to tie the game late in the third period and Nolan Volcan won it in overtime for the T-Birds as they earned a 4-3 win to complete the four-game sweep of the Cougars. They will now advance on to the second round of the playoffs to face the Everett Silvertips.

“When you have a team down and out there, you don’t want to give the other team any kind of life by extending the series,” head coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “We get a mental break now and can rest. There’s always some bumps and bruises that you get along the way.”

The T-Birds will have over a week off before they begin their second-round series with Everett.

Seattle was short-handed on Wednesday as Keegan Kolesar was serving a suspension for a hit he threw during Tuesday’s Game 3. With Ryan Gropp still injured, that meant the T-Birds were without their top two goal scorers.

As it has over the last two months of the season, Seattle would have other players step up. Volcan scored two goals on the night, including the series-winner, as the T-Birds again showed the depth they have developed.

“If you’re out there, you are counted on,” Konowalchuk said. “They have to play for one another, and when you get your number called, we expect you to go out and perform.”

Perform they did.

Seattle was trailing the Cougars 3-2 midway through the third period and Prince George had finally slowed down Seattle’s attack. The T-Birds went on to the power play, where they had struggled in the series, coming into the game only 1 for 14. They had already missed on their first two chances Tuesday when Ethan Bear got them on the board.

The play was set up by Mathew Barzal, who had three assists in the game, when he saucered a pass across the ice to a pinching Bear. The defenseman picked the puck up in the circle and beat goalie Ty Edmonds with a wrist shot. The goal tied the game and gave the T-Birds a late boost.

“I don’t know if we tie the game up if we don’t score there,” Konowalchuk said. “But you could see we relaxed a bit after that and were able to get the winner.”

They had to go into overtime for the second time in the series, but they didn’t waste much time to end it. A Jerret Smith point shot through traffic ended up on Volcan’s stick. The winger, moved to his left, got Edmonds down and potted his second of the night.

Konowalchuk said that the team was excited and even though the players have bigger goals than just a first-round victory, they’re going to enjoy this one.

“You win a series, you win a series and no series is easy,” Konowalchuk said. “If this were baseball they’d be having champagne, but we don’t do that in hockey after one series.”

The T-Birds will now play the Silvertips in the second round as Everett completed its own first-round sweep Wednesday night in Portland.

The T-Birds got going early on Wednesday as Barzal and Eansor teamed up to score the game’s first goal on their first shot. Barzal’s shot rebounded to Eansor, who had the whole net to shoot at. Volcan made it 2-0 shortly after as he scored on a breakaway.

At that point it seemed that maybe the Cougars were ready to pack it in, but a late-period goal by Jansen Harkins gave them some life that they carried into the second period.

Chase Witala scored his second of the series to tie it and then Jared Bethune put Prince George ahead with a power-play goal late in the period.

“We came out strong early and then got a little flat in the second period when they went ahead,” Konowalchuk said. “We knew they weren’t going to quit.”

It’s the second time in the past three seasons that Seattle has advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Unlike two years ago, when the T-Birds were swept by the Kelowna Rockets, Seattle will have home-ice advantage as it takes on its I-5 rivals.

Game 1 will be at the ShoWare Center in Kent on Friday, April 8 and Game 2 will be Sunday.

Notes

• Kolesar’s suspension length has yet to be determined by the league, so the T-Birds will wait to see if the big winger will be available for Game 1.

• Prince George was without 40-goal scorer Jesse Gabrielle on Wednesday as he was suspended one game for his one-man fight in Game 3.

• Landon Bow was perhaps at his best Wednesday. The big goaltender made 21 saves, including several crucial ones down the stretch. He was able to take it easy in overtime as the puck never left the Prince George zone.

• The T-Birds out-shot Prince George 39-24, which gave them the lead in shots in all four games.

• Eansor continues to step it up in the playoffs. He scored three times in the first round and has 11 career goals in 19 playoff starts.

Follow Andy Eide on Twitter @andyeide.