T-birds Streak Ends in Everett – Seattle Thunderbirds
Everett, WA. – The Seattle Thunderbirds bounced back from three goals behind, but stayed one goal short and lost 3-2 to Everett Silvertips on Saturday at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The defeat ended Seattle’s eight-game winning streak, dropping them from a tie for first place in the US division. The Thunderbirds plan to return to the Victory Column on Friday, November 19, when they travel to Spokane to take on the Spokane Chiefs.
The game was goalless after a period, thanks in part to Thunderbirds goalkeeper Thomas Milic, who blocked a dozen shots when Seattle was shot 12-3 in the first frame. Head coach Matt O’Dette said they needed a better start. “The second half of the game was better. It wasn’t a good start for us. ”He said to Everett, especially in their building, you have to be at your best with the puck. “We weren’t efficient enough, and in the end that meant that we didn’t have a lot of time to do our thing and generate opportunities.”
Everett (11-0-0-1) prevailed with three goals in the second period. The first goal came at 5:20 am from Ryan Hofer’s stick. The Silvertips doubled their lead at 12:06 when Austin hit Roest. Jackson Berezowski’s goal came a little over two minutes later and would be all Everett would need.
The Silvertips were able to get to the top of the Seattle net on all three goals, which, according to O’Dette, the T-Birds had to fight. “Line fights are important. Net frontline fights are important and you have to put the first shot on the net so we get a second and third chance and we were reluctant to miss shots for an extra pass. “
The T-birds (10-3-1-0) finally got on the board at 2:53 of the third period. Gabe Ludwig delivered a punishing blow along the boards deep in the Everett Zone and freed the puck. Henrik Rybinski coraled the loose puck and shot his fourth start of the season home without help. With seven minutes to go, the Thunderbirds made a one-goal game thanks to a power play goal from Jared Davidson, supported by Jordan Gustafson and Conner Roulette. Seattle pulled Milic just over a minute behind for the additional attacker, but couldn’t score a tie 35 seconds before the end despite a mad scramble for a loose puck in the Silvertips edge.
O’Dette paid his team full credit for their advance in the second half of the game but said they needed more of it from more players. “There were a lot of guys who played extremely hard. We’ve had guys working their heads off, but to win a game like this you need every single guy. We were missing five or six people in this department. “
The next home game for the Thunderbirds is Saturday, November 20th. They host the Kamloops Blazers in the accesso ShoWare Center. Play time is 6:05 p.m. Tickets are available online at seattlethunderbirds.com
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
With his third goal in the period, Rybinski extended his points streak to nine games. Over this range he has 13 points (4g, 9a). Reid Schaefer was held off the board and saw his series of points ended after four games.
Davidson’s power play goal snapped a 0v16 stretch with the man advantage for Seattle.
Thunderbirds center Matt Rempe returned to the line-up after being suspended for two games.
Complete game box: WHL Network