The WHL’s team of destiny is … the Seattle Thunderbirds?

The Seattle Thunderbirds played their first home playoff game in four years last night, and came in holding a stunning 2-0 lead in a first-round series with the heavily favored Kelowna Rockets.

When Kelowna took an early 2-0 lead in Tuesday's Game 3, it appeared that order would be restored and the Rockets would dampen the enthusiasm of the season-high 6,021 on hand at the Showare Center in Kent, Wash. Surely the Rockets would win Game 3 and begin to take control of the series, right?

Right?

Not so fast. As the game wore on, it was the T-Birds that looked like the fresher -- and even more desperate -- team. Seattle showed flashes of the kind of hockey it has played in this series during a 16-13-1 start to the season. But most observers were skeptical of the T-Birds' ability to stick around in this series because they won just eight of their last 42 games. At times, it looked like coach Steve Konowalchuk had lost his team.

Nobody's saying that now.

When Evan Wardley's seeing-eye wrister from the blue line beat Kelowna goalie Jordon Cooke 4:55 into overtime Tuesday, the Thunderbirds took a 3-0 series lead over the 52-win Rockets. And now, it appears that Konowalchuk's bold statement from August might just come true. The T-Birds aren't just happy to be here, they want to leave a mark.

At their best, the Thunderbirds play mean and outwork their opponents. With nearly half the team standing at least 6-foot-2, Seattle almost always has a size advantage over its opponents. But when they don't take a simple, direct approach to the game, teams with more skill and speed can skate circles around them.

The T-Birds also showed a tendency over the season to get frustrated and channel their energy into silly penalties and after-the-whistle chippiness that eroded their focus.

When it all goes wrong, as it often did in the second half of the regular season, the T-Birds can be an exasperating bunch to watch. But suddenly they seem to have found a groove -- and the ability to play the game with fire without taking it too far.

This was on display late in the second period Tuesday when the T-Birds absolutely dominated play, winning every battle along the boards while delivering one punishing hit after another. Eventually, Seattle was rewarded with a game-tying goal on a blast by defenceman Jesse Forsberg, who has been one of the key culprits this season in teetering off the cliff of on-ice sanity.

While Wardley (who had two career goals coming into Tuesday night) won't get any style points for his game-winner, the play was set up by the crafty puck handling of highly touted draft-eligible defenceman Shea Theodore, who eluded a defender while staying barely onside and shoveled the puck to Wardley. Theodore might be Seattle's most skilled player, and his long reach and smooth skating give him a similar look to Portland's Seth Jones.

Latvian sensation Roberts Lipsbergs got Seattle on the board in the first period, showing quick hands to bang his own rebound past Cooke from a tight spot.

While Seattle is flying sky-high, the Rockets must regroup knowing that any of the first three games could've gone their way. Overtime can be a bit of a crapshoot, and losing three straight that way is painful. They won 52 games for a reason this year, and with nothing to lose they'll have to come out swinging in Game 4 tonight. But can they match the intensity of the T-Birds and the raucous crowd at the Sho?