Roddy Ross holds off Blazers in Thunderbirds’ 4-1 win

KENT, WASHINGTON

It was during the second period of play where sophomore goaltender Roddy Ross made possibly an early candidate for save of the year. Kamloops Blazers rookie defenseman Mats Lindgren got the puck near the left hash mark and had what looked to be a wide-open cage to deposit the puck, if not for the acrobatic save made by Ross. Outstretched, Ross made a glove save that will certainly be on the highlight reel by the end of the weekend. That was just one save in a brilliant performance by the 18-year-old goaltender, as he turned aside 50 shots en route to a Thunderbirds 4-1 win over the Blazers on their opening night.

Roddy Ross (photo – Brian Liesse)

“It was good, you know. I’m not the kind of a guy where I need to see a bunch of shots to get warmed up. For me, it’s just about stopping the first one. Once I made that first glove save in the first, I was ready to go on and just continued on throughout the game,” Ross said of his stellar performance.

On opening night for the Seattle Thunderbirds (1-0-0-0), there was an anxiousness as the T-birds were icing a very different roster than the last time they played a game at the Accesso ShoWare Center. A youthful roster was set to take on the Kamloops Blazers (0-2-0-0).

The first period began with some opening night jitters from the home team, as Seattle and Kamloops looked to be playing to a stalemate through the opening half of the first frame. Jared Davidson brought the Seattle faithful to their feet with his first goal of the season. The T-birds weren’t done yet, however. “Two-spotter” Andrej Kukuca made it 2-0 Seattle shortly after Davidson’s opening marker. It was all Seattle at this point.

“I think our fans gave us a big boost, as always, you know. I think with them playing at home last night they were a little slow out of the gates, and I think we were playing the right way,” head coach Matt O’Dette said of the Thunderbirds’ quick start.

Newly acquired forward Alex Morozoff extended the Thunderbirds lead to 3-0 with just over two minutes to go in the first. It was Morozoff’s first regular season goal as a member of the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Alex Morozoff (photo – Brian Liesse)

“That felt good. I mean, it was a good team effort there. Andrej (Kukuca) (had a) good shot and I followed it to the net. I felt that I fanned on the shot, but I guess it went in, and that’s all that matters. The fans are crazy; they’re very passionate. I had a couple of family members in attendance tonight, too. My dad made the 17-hour drive to be here. It was a special night for me,” Morozoff said of his first goal and the regular season home opener in Seattle.

The second period started with a Seattle penalty that allowed Kamloops to swing the momentum in their favor. Penalty trouble ended up being a theme of the night from the second period on for the T-birds. Goaltender Roddy Ross was the difference. Ross managed to stave off the Kamloops onslaught during the period, turning aside all 21 shots that he faced. Seattle ended the period with their 3-0 lead intact.

“The first was really the difference in the game before Roddy kind of took over. Penalties kind of killed our momentum, but that’s part of learning how to hold a lead. You know, penalties obviously gave them a boost and they got some momentum going and put us back on our heels,” O’Dette said of the penalties and Seattle’s second period.

Andrej Kukuca (photo – Brian Liesse)

The final frame of the game was more Kamloops offense. The Blazers scored a power-play goal just ten seconds into the period on a nice backdoor play to Zane Franklin. Penalty trouble for Seattle kept the Blazers on the attack for much of the period, but Roddy Ross was equal to the test, keeping the Thunderbird’s now two-goal lead afloat. Payton Mount restored the T-birds’ three-goal lead with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, and that is how the game ended. Seattle won 4-1.

“It felt good to get a win, and now we can teach. I like the week of practice. It’ll be a lot of video work and practice of the finer details, but we got the win, and we’re back to work on Monday,” O’Dette said of the win and the upcoming week.

Lightning Strikes:

  • Michael Horon and Simon Kubicek each had two assists
  • Andrej Kukuca scored once and added an assist
  • Dylan Garand stopped 30-of-34 shots for Kamloops
  • Attendance was 4,659 for the home opener