Game 1 at Kamloops... Live Updates

The Tbirds lose in OT tonight as Juuso Puustinen scores his second of the game at the 4 minute mark of the overtime period and fail to pick up the extra point. Gaining a point on the road is always a decent outcome but the team has to be frustrated having lead this game 2-0 through nearly two periods. Based purely on the shots on goal the Tbirds didn't deserve to win the game and it sure sounded to me like Kamloops had the majority of the best scoring chances in the 3rd and the OT period. The official three stars of the game were 1. Juuso Puustinen 2. Brock Nixon and 3. Justin Leclerc. I personally would have given Riku Helenius the 3rd star given he made 24 saves in 27 shots and Leclerc ended with 16 saves in 18 shots. Tbirds start the campaign 0-0-1 with the Home opener next Saturday vs. Everett. Please feel free to leave comments and conversation under the comments section.

Well the Tbirds earn at least a point tonight as the game heads to overtime. The Tbirds struggle with the Shootout was well documented last year and needless to say it would be very nice to pick up an additional point in the OT session. Helenius has come up huge on several occasions and it sounds as though the Blazer have had more of the scoring opportunities in the 2nd half of the game.

Kamloops goal... and the 2 goal lead is now gone. Sounded like a shot that Helenius would probably like to have back. It will be interesting to see how the Tbirds respond to losing their 2 goal lead.

Shots on goal through 2nd period: Helenius 16 saves on 17 shots. Leclerc has 10 saves on 12 shots.

2-1 at the 2nd intermission. I will have shot on goal shortly.

Kamloops goal... :57 seconds left in the 2nd and Helenius is beaten on a rebound by Brock Nixon (unassisted) and the lead is cut to 2-1. Helenius is having a pretty solid game in his debut and hopefully the Tbirds can have a good 3rd period and pick up a nice road win to start the season.

GOAL!!!! Thomas Hickey wires in a wrister through traffic and the Tbirds do exactly what they need to do on the road and capitalize on the power play. 2-0 Tbirds. If you were to draw up a formula for winning on the road, this would be the beginning of that formula. Get an early lead and win the special teams battle.

Another whistle against Kamloops gives the Tbirds a brief 5 on 3 for about 2o seconds. The Tbirds must capitalize on the road on the power play when given this many chances.

Tbirds now with a 5 on 3 early here in the 2nd period. As most loyal fans know the Tbirds have had their troubles on the Power Play for what seems like years. Often these 5 on 3's can turn out to be big moments where the team gets a boost from scoring or the other team gets a boost from killing it.

7 shots and 7 saves for Helenius and 6 shots for 5 saves for Leclerc. I'd love to see the Tbirds get a few more than 7 shots on goal in the 2nd period and I'm sure Sumner would agree.

1st intermission and the Tbirds maintain a 1-0 lead into the break. Kamloops winds up 0/3 on their power play chances AND give up a shorthanded goal. The Tbirds go 0/1 on their only power play chance but overall a very good start to the special teams units. Not sure yet on the shots on goal, they are not being posted on the scoresheet on www.whl.ca

GOAL!!! Isak Quakenbush gets the first goal of the season as he scores a short handed goal coming out of the penalty box... assist came from Bud Holloway who saw Quakenbush behind the D out of the box. IQ went backhand and beat Blazer netminder Leclerc. Nice to see Isak get off to a good start. I know a lot of fans were frustrated by IQ last year, but the kid was 16 and although the early penalty is not a great sign, the ability to finish certainly is a very good sign.

Line 2 appears to be Nielsen-Rai-Boyer and it sounded as if Acolatse and Olson are paired together (what a pairing of tough guys that is).

Line 3 appears to be Schappert-Scott-Richard

For those of you looking for live updates at the start of the game (not sure yet how many people are really checking this blog yet) I apologize for being a bit late.... Got home late tonight from a softball tournament.

Starting lineup for the Tbirds was...

Holloway-Herman-Eberle
Dillon-Hickey