T-birds rally, beat Silvertips 3-2 in shootout

EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips-Seattle Thunderbirds rivalry was restored to its normal razor-thin margins Saturday night.

This time the Tips fell on the wrong side of the blade.

Seattle tied it in the final minute and won the shootout as the T-birds knocked off the Tips 3-2 at Xfinity Arena.

“The game was close, which it always is with those guys,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “Obviously we would have liked to have hung on at the end there, but they’re a good team, they got their chance and they buried it.

“There’s some disappointment, but not a ton of disappointment overall with the way the team played.”

For four-plus seasons there’s been next to nothing separating Everett and Seattle, both in the standings and on the ice as games are almost always decided by a single goal. The last time the teams met was an anomaly, as Everett blew out a Seattle team coming off an emotional victory over league-leading Kelowna 6-0 at home on Jan. 17.

But things were back to normal Saturday as the teams played their typical defensively-tight contest in which scoring chances were at a premium.

It seemed that Everett, which was nearly perfect on the defensive end for more than 57 minutes, was going to emerge the winner in regulation. But Seattle’s Mathew Barzal scored a six-on-five goal with just 24.8 seconds remaining to force the game into overtime. Then after a scoreless OT the T-birds won the shootout 2-0 to take the full two points.

“It sure did (feel like a typical Everett-Seattle game),” Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “It was an exciting game, tight the whole time.

“The guys stuck with it,” Konowalchuk added. “It was a tough game. They’re a good team over there, and our guys kept playing as well. I liked our compete level.”

Scott Eansor also scored for Seattle (29-20-3-4). Taran Kozun earned the win in goal, making 25 saves.

Patrick Bajkov and Remi Laurencelle scored for Everett (35-16-3-3), which dropped a shootout at home for the second time in four days, the other being a 4-3 loss to Tri-City on Wednesday. Carter Hart made 24 saves in net for the Tips, who still managed to increase their lead in first place in the WHL’s U.S. Division to eight points over idle Portland. Everett has played one more game.

Everett’s defense held Seattle at bay for nearly three full periods, limiting the T-birds to one deflected power-play goal. The Tips did a good job on collapsing on players in the slot and blocking shots from the point, and with time winding down the T-birds had been limited to fewer than 20 shots on goal.

But Seattle pulled Kozun for an extra attacker with 2:20 remaining, and that gave the T-birds the offensive impetus that had been missing the rest of the game. Hart had to make three tremendous saves with 1:09 remaining to maintain Everett’s lead.

However, Seattle finally found the tying goal with 24.8 seconds remaining. Ryan Gropp pulled the puck out of a scrum behind the Everett net and threaded a pass to Keegan Kolesar in the high slot. Kolesar’s shot deflected off Barzal and past Hart to tie it up and force the extra period.

“I don’t know if it went off Barzal or what happened there, but when you get traffic at net and pucks to the net you’re going to get some breaks,” Konowalchuk said. “Especially this time of year, that’s the way you’re going to get goals.”

Everett had the best scoring chance in overtime. Defenseman Noah Juulsen found an open lane to walk in on goal, but Kozun made the save to ensure the game went to a shootout.

Seattle scored the game’s first goal 9:08 into the game. Ethan Bear unleashed a big one-timer from the left point, and Eansor got a small deflection on the puck as it found the far corner to give the T-birds a 1-0 lead.

Everett had chances the remainder of the period, but Tristen Pfeifer put a shot off the post, Kohl Bauml missed wide on an open rebound chance, and Jake Mykitiuk shot wide when in free on goal as the T-birds carried their one-goal lead into the second.

Then in the second period it was Everett that converted on the power play. Ivan Nikolishin started a nice passing move, feeding the puck down low to Stadnyk, who backhanded a pass to the far post for Bajkov to sweep in, knotting it at 1-1 at 8 minutes, 42 seconds.

Everett continued to be stingy defensively through the first 17 minutes of the third period, but the T-birds pulled Kozun for an extra attacker with 2:20 remaining and were a constant threat the rest of the way, eventually getting the tying goal. It was the second time in a week the Tips allowed six-on-five goal, as they allowed the tying goal to Portland with 31.3 seconds remaining last Sunday in a game they eventually won 4-3 in overtime.

Thunderbirds 3, Silvertips 2 (SO)

Seattle 1 0 1 0 —3

Everett 0 1 1 0 —2

Thunderbirds won shootout 2-0

First Period—1, Seattle, Eansor 9 (Bear, Smith), 9:08 (pp). Penalties—Leedahl, Everett (tripping), 7:19; Spencer, Seattle (hooking), 12:25; Scherbak, Everett (hold stick), 14:47.

Second Period—2, Everett, Bajkov 21 (Stadnyk, Nikolishin), 8:42 (pp). Penalties—Eansor, Seattle (tripping), 8:17.

Third Period—3, Everett, Laurencelle 18 (Leedahl, Bauml), 2:21 (pp). 4, Seattle, Barzal 11 (Kolesar, Gropp), 19:35. Penalties—Lipsbergs, Seattle (high sticking-high sticking), 1:19; Wharrie, Everett (charging), 4:38.

Overtime—no goals. Penalties—none.

Shootout—Seattle 2 (Barzal G, Theodore NG, Neuls G); Everett 0 (Laurencelle NG, Bauml NG).

Shots on goal—Seattle 8-4-13-1—26. Everett 9-8-8-2—27. Power-play opportunities—Seattle 1 of 3. Everett 2 of 4.

Goalies—Seattle, Kozun 26-14-3-3 (27 shots, 25 saves). Everett, Hart 12-4-2-1 (26 shots, 24 saves).

A—7,234.

Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.