Western Hockey League | Ex-Thunderbird goalie returns to beat Seattle

KENT — You don't often see the visiting goaltender getting a congratulatory hug from a member of the losing home team, but that was the strange scene at ShoWare Center on Friday night.

Jacob DeSerres, traded from Seattle only eight days earlier, came back to Kent as a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings and made 28 saves to help beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-1 in a Western Hockey League game.

DeSerres allowed only a power-play goal to Sena Acolatse, who gave his former teammate a big hug after DeSerres had been named the game's No. 1 star.

"This game really meant a lot to me," DeSerres said after he accepted a few pats on the back from several T-birds fans. "Other than the championship I won in midget, this is the second-best win I've ever had."

DeSerres, who lost his starting job to Calvin Pickard last season, was thankful the T-birds traded him to Brandon, the host of this year's Memorial Cup.

"I want to thank everyone with the Seattle Thunderbirds for everything," DeSerres said. "I couldn't have asked for more from them throughout my three years here. I know they had my best interests in mind in making this trade and I appreciate it so much. I just needed a change. It was all mental and I felt good out there, back to myself again."

DeSerres had gone 0-3 with the T-birds (3-8-0-1) this season and is now 1-0 after his only start in Brandon.

DeSerres said it wasn't particularly hard to try to beat his old team.

"It wasn't tough for me at all," DeSerres said. "I'm so happy. I really wanted to win this game."

DeSerres, who won 41 games for Seattle, and Acolatse have been teammates since they broke in as rookies together. Acolatse scored the only Seattle goal on a hard one from the top of the circle with Seattle on a power play.

"If I had to give up a goal to anyone, it would have been him," DeSerres said.

Said Acolatse: "It was a strange experience, and I was lucky enough to get one by him. I had a couple of other shots I wish I could go back and take again, ones that I have to get on net. We took a couple of careless penalties, and they capitalized on the power play."

Brandon scored two power-play goals in the first period by Matt Calvert and Mark Schneider. Aaron Lewadniuk scored early in the second period before Acolatse scored at 4:57 of the second period.

Calvert had the only goal in the third period, into an empty net with one minute left to seal the win for Brandon (7-6-0-1).

"We took some preventable penalties, and you could see their skill on their power-play goals," Seattle coach Rob Sumner said. "It was definitely the biggest factor in the game tonight."

Silvertips fall

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Brendan Gallagher scored two goals as the Vancouver Giants beat the Everett Silvertips 4-2 in a WHL game.

Markus McCrea and Dale Hunt scored for Everett in the third period.