T-birds grab playoff series lead

The Seattle Thunderbirds have pushed the Kelowna Rockets to the point of desperation.

Seattle won its third straight game, 6-2, in the best-of-seven series on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the WHL playoff first round series.

How frustrated were the Rockets?

Kelowna captain James McEwan tackled winning goaltender Riku Helenius after the final horn had sounded. McEwan, a former T-bird player, was assessed a double minor for roughing, a penalty that didn't matter at all since the game was over.

"It was just one of their guys trying to give his team a spark," Seattle captain Thomas Hickey said. "It was a classless move and I don't think they gained anything out of it. We have bigger and better things to worry about than one of their guys making a play like that."

Helenius, who was uninjured, tried to laugh it off.

"Their guys were chirping at me all series," Helenius said. "So it was a little surprising, but I don't care that much."

Helenius stopped 25 of 27 shots to pick up the win for Seattle after giving up a goal on the first shot of the game.

Brady Leavold scored his fourth goal of the series after perfect passes from Colin Long and Jamie Benn to put Kelowna ahead only 22 seconds after the start of the game.

After that, it was all Seattle.

Hickey had three assists and Bud Holloway had a pair of goals. The T-birds have won three straight after dropping the first two games of the series at home.

"We were a little set back by that first goal," Holloway said. "But once we tied it up, we had a bit of confidence and just kept going."

Jan Eberle got the T-birds even and Holloway followed with his second goal of the series. David Richard scored his fifth goal of the postseason to give Seattle a 3-1 lead after the first period.

The T-birds put the game away with a pair of goals in the second period. Prab Rai padded the lead to 4-1 and Holloway scored his second of the game with less than a second remaining in the period.

"Tonight I really liked the way we played," Seattle coach Rob Sumner said. "We've put them in a point of desperation and we need to match that. We're just going to focus on playing our game."

Kelowna coach Ryan Huska downplayed the unusual ending.

"He [McEwan] is a fiery guy and wants to win more than anybody," Huska said. "That's why he's our leader."