Shorthanded T-birds Edged by ‘Tips – Seattle Thunderbirds
Everett, WA. – Henrik Rybinski scored once and added an assist, but the Seattle Thunderbirds came up just short, dropping a, 4-2, decision to the Everett Silvertips Sunday at Angel of the Winds Arena. The undermanned T-birds finished a stretch of four games in seven days with a 2-1-0-1 mark, playing each game with just 16 skaters. They now hope to get players missing from the lineup back before they return to action next Friday. They host the Prince George Cougars at the accesso ShoWare Center at 7:05 pm
It was the fifth time this season the T-birds fell short of a road win in Everett. “It’s frustrating we haven’t been able to break through in this building,” said T-birds head coach Matt O’Dette, who said the effort was there. “Every guy played extremely hard, left it all on the ice. We play like that most nights we’ll be on the right side of things.”
Everett struck for two goals in the first period, both from Jacob Wright. His first came on the power play at 13:39 and then three minutes later he scored an even strength goal off a rebound.
Seattle (23-11-4-1) cut into the Silvertips lead with a Rybinski power play goal at 14:51 of the second period. The goal was his 15th of the season, assisted by Jared Davidson and Lucas Ciona.
The T-birds came on strong in the third period, outshooting Everett 17-8. They had a chance to tie the game skating 5-on-4 midway through the third period but came up empty. Moments later Everett scored what turned out to be the game winner, off the stick of Aidan Sutter.
“We needed a little bit more out of that power play,” said O’Dette. “Their PK did a good job, but we need to be better in that situation. I thought we had a couple of chances to shoot that we passed up and they obviously scored right after that.”
The Thunderbirds showed no quit and pulled back within a goal at 3-2 thanks to Reid Schaefer’s 16th of the season at 12:18. Rybinski and Kevin Korchinski earn the assists.
O’Dette liked his team’s resilience in coming back to make it a one goal game. “The response after that, the push at the end. Proud of the effort.”
Seattle pulled goalie Thomas Milic late for the extra skater looking for the tying goal, but Jackson Berezowski iced it for Everett when he scored into the empty net with seven seconds remaining.
While he wanted more points on the weekend O’Dette said his team showed plenty of heart in a difficult situation. “The week and the weekend was long again. Guys had juice left in the tank and they emptied the tanks. There’s not many times when this team doesn’t show up. It’s a resilient group, lots of character. I don’t know if a group can play any harder.”
O’Dette says their time is coming if they stick to that effort. “Get some guys healthy and it’ll turn around.”
Seattle has another busy weekend ahead of them. Not only do they play Friday versus Prince George, but they welcome the Vancouver Giants to town Saturday. They then take to the road next Sunday when they travel to Langley, BC to face the Giants at the Langley Events Centre.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
The game came to a halt just twelve seconds in when Seattle’s Ciona collided with Everett’s Johnny Lambos behind the Silvertips net. Lambos left the ice on a stretcher. He did not return to the game but appeared after the game with his teammates.
Rybinski has a four-game, goal scoring streak going and has five goals over that span. Davidson has points in four straight games, tallying five goals and four assists. Korchinski has at least one assist in his last four games.
Despite all the issues they faced (Covid, postponements, travel and weather) the Thunderbirds still finished the month of January with a winning record, compiling a 4-2-1-1 mark. Seattle now opens February with five straight games against BC Division opponents.
Full box score: WHL Network