Terefenko's career night lifts Thunderbirds over Warriors
Jan 31, 2025
(HALIFAX, NS) January 31, 2025 -- The Halifax Thunderbirds got back into the win column on Friday night, using a six-goal run to vault themselves to a victory over the Vancouver Warriors at Scotiabank Centre.
Ryan Terefenko was the leading force for the Thunderbirds on the night, scoring his first career hat trick while tying a career-high with a five-point night. He also eight loose balls and a caused turnover.
Clarke Petterson chipped in with a pair of goals and an assist, Mike Robinson and Cody Jamieson each added a goal and an assist apiece, and Randy Staats finished the game with three assists.
Warren Hill earned his first victory of the year with another strong performance between the pipes, turning away 29 Vancouver shots.
The teams swapped goal runs back and forth the entire night. Marcus Klarich opened the scoring for the visitors just 1:23 into regulation, but he was quickly answered by a trio of goals from Halifax.
Jamieson scored on a patented twister shot from the outside to get the Thunderbirds started. Terefenko followed up with a sneaky bouncer around a defender that beat Aden Walsh to double the lead. Robinson capped off the Thunderbirds' first-quarter scoring by hammering an outside shot home off the far-side post from way outside.
Vancouver got on a three-goal run of their own to end the frame, with Adam Charalambides, Keegan Bal, and Kevin Crowley all getting goals to give the Warriors a 4-3 lead through 15 minutes.
They kept their run going into the second, with Ryan Martel getting his first of the game 29 seconds into the quarter. However, Halifax kept hitting back-to-counter on the scoreboard. Petterson took a pass from Terefenko in transition and dove across the crease for the slick finish to get his first.
Dawson Theede made a statement in his return from an injury that held him out the last game. He came over the top in the offensive zone and let a low riser, which picked the top right corner to tie things back up at five. Terefenko capped the half off with his second off the ensuing draw, finishing off some pretty passing from Jake Withers and Graeme Hossack.
Halifax took that 6-5 advantage into the break.
The Thunderbirds almost immediately headed to the power play out of the half, and Theede wasted no time in widening the lead, firing a bouncer that beat Walsh 40 seconds into the third. Under a minute later, Terefenko would complete his first career hat trick, finding twine with a running shot in transition.
At the 11:45 mark, it was Withers' turn to get in on the transition scoring. He pulled up with numbers and scored with an underhanded short-side shot to make it 9-5 Halifax under five minutes into the second half.
From that point, it was on the team to bear down and hold onto the lead against a skilled Warriors squad.
They got a pair back before the end of the third, with Klarich and Crowley scoring to make it a three-goal lead with 15 minutes to play.
Jonathan Peshko cut the game to one early in the final frame, but he was answered by Petterson, who was able to get a runner to fall with 8:30 remaining. For the majority of the quarter, Hill and the Thunderbirds' defence were able to string together solid possessions, limiting quality looks for Vancouver. But with 1:38 left, Martel got another to make it a one-goal game.
With the net empty, Vancouver pushed for the equalizer. But Hill came up with three of his biggest saves of the night, staring down the Warriors' top scorer in Keegan Bal twice to seal the 10-9 victory for his team.
Now sitting at 3-4 on the season, Halifax heads into a crucial stretch of their season, starting off with a home and home pair of weekends against the Philadelphia Wings. The first half goes on Feb 8 at Wells Fargo Center. Opening face-off is set for 3:00 p.m. AT.