If there were any doubts the Seattle Thunderbirds are odds-on favourites to win the Western Hockey League championship and maybe even the Memorial Cup, they cast those aside Tuesday night at CN Centre with dazzling display of skill that added up to an 8-1 win over the Prince George Cougars.
It gave Seattle a 3-0 stranglehold over the Cats in their best-of-seven WHL Western Conference semifinal series with a chance to complete the sweep in Game 4 Wednesday.
Brad Lambert had a six-point night with a goal and five assists, continuing his kryptonite punishment of the Cougars. The Winnipeg Jets top prospect came into the game already with eight points in the series and now has 13 against the Cats.
Having lost the first two games in Seattle, the Cougars could not have had a worse start, playing in front of a home crowd of 4,756. The T-birds swarmed the Cats pretty much from the opening puck-drop and needed less than two minutes to touch off the fireworks, a rebound effort from Reid Schaeffer set up by the original slot-shot from Lambert.
The Cougars finally gave their fans a reason to cheer 12 minutes into the middle frame and it was their most likely source, centre Chase Wheatcroft – who did the damage on a give-and-go with Koehn Ziemmer that Wheatcroft finished with a high chip shot from close range.
Seattle will have a chance to complete the sweep in Game 4 Wednesday at CN Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.
