T-birds Take Down ‘Tips – Seattle Thunderbirds

KENT, WA. – Reid Schaefer scored two goals and added two assists, and the Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the Everett Silvertips 5-1 at the accesso ShoWare Center on Saturday. The T-Birds also had a goal and an assist each from Jared Davidson, Henrik Rybinski and Sam Oremba as they clinched their second win over their leading rival in the US division. The T-Birds get some action back at home next Friday when they host the Spokane Chiefs. Game time is 7:05.

Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette was proud of his team, not only for the win but for the way they played three points out of four all weekend, especially with so many players battling Covid . “Obviously it was a week-long hurricane. Many different things happen. The guys performed and played extremely hard for each other. This is hockey T-Birds style.”

Like Friday’s overtime loss to Portland, Seattle dominated possession against Everett and beat the Silvertips 45-19 that night. It resulted in Seattle getting six power plays and converting two of them. O’Dette said that as you advance the game, you should create opportunities for power play. “If you carry the game and you play a lot in the O-Zone, you usually have more opportunities to take penalties. It’s nice to be on this side of the fence.”

The T-Birds limited Everett to just three shots on target in the first period and broke the scoreboard with a power play goal in the final minute of the opening period. Davidson registered his 14th of the season at 7:19 p.m., assisted by Rybinski and Kevin Korchinski.

Seattle (20-9-4-0) doubled their lead midway through the second period with a goal credited to Rybinski, with Schaefer and Ryan Gottfried earning the assists. The T-Birds extended their lead to 3-0 with an Oremba goal early in the third period, with Schaefer and Rybinski getting the assists.

Schaefer then met assists from Davidson and Oremba on the power play at 1:43 of the third. The silvertips spoiled the shutout for T-Birds goalie Scott Ratzlaff when Jackson scored Berezowski at 17:42, but Schaefer ended any hopes of a late comeback from Everett when he fired his second goal of the night into the empty net at 18:26 .

O’Dette says the weekend’s results and the way the Thunderbirds played against two of the Western Conference’s best teams shows they belong in the conversation with those teams. “For us, we know that we can play against the really good teams in the league. I think Everett just had an evening off. We expect a dogfight in every game but we are confident that we can play with the good teams. We’re one of those good teams. It’s nice to play like that when the good teams come to our building.”

T-BIRDS EXTRAS

In their two games this weekend, Seattle overtook their opponents by a 96-41 combine.

Schaefer and Chase Lacombe have both gone through Covid protocol and were in the lineup for Seattle. Both players missed Friday’s game against Portland. The T-Birds are still awaiting clearance for Thomas Milic, Lukas Svejkovsky and Coster Dunn.

Jordan Gustafson was off the lineup after suffering a first-half injury late Friday against the Winterhawks. It is listed as daily.

Full box score: WHL Network