Kamloops Blazers falls 4-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds

Feb 28, 2016 | 9:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Blazers battled hard in a back and forth game, but the Seattle Thunderbirds scored late to capture a 4-3 win in Kamloops on Sunday night.

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Mathew Barzal scored the game-winner with 2:02 to play in the third period, after the Blazers had battled back from a 3-2 deficit to tie it in the last 10 minutes.

Kamloops outshot Seattle in every period, and led 35-27 in shots overall on the night. With the loss, the Blazers fail to gain ground in the standings on the Prince George Cougars, who sit three points ahead in the B.C. Division.

“We wasted a game today in catching [Prince George], and this was our game in hand”, Hay said. “We had an opportunity to get a point and we let it slip away. We were just disappointed in not finding a way to get a point when we had the point.”

The Blazers pressured often with scoring chances and scored all three of their goals on the powerplay, going 3-7 on the man-advantage on the night. Gage Quinney scored the game’s first goal with a top-shelf one-timer, while Ryan Rehill scored in the second and Dawson Davidson found the back of the net in the third.

Despite both teams playing their third games in three nights, there was a near playoff-like atmosphere with strong intensity throughout, with the two teams combining for 40 penalty minutes. Rehill (one goal, one assist) and Matt Revel (two assists) each had multi-point games, while Jermaine Loewen had a fight and racked up seven penalty minutes, as well as a number of big hits throughout the night.

The Blazers four-game win streak at home comes to an end with the loss. Kamloops is in action next on Wednesday when they host the Spokane Chiefs. Puck drop is at 7:00pm at the Sandman Centre.