EVERETT — History indicates that games between the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds are destined to be close.
Friday night was no exception. However, for the first time this season the pendulum swung the T-birds’ way.
Seattle made its third lead of the game stand up as the T-birds knocked off the Tips 3-2 at Xfinity Arena.
Scott Allan scored what proved to be the game winner on something of a fluke goal late in the second period. Then Seattle did a good job of making it difficult for Everett to come back in the third.
“It’s always a hard-nosed battle (between Everett and Seattle),” said Tips defenseman Noah Juulsen, who led Everett with a goal and an assist. “Every game is usually close.
“I think we didn’t really compete the whole 60 minutes the way we needed to compete.”
Donovan Neuls and Ethan Bear also scored for Seattle (10-11-2-2), which lost the first three meetings of the season against Everett — one was by a 1-0 score, one was in overtime and one was in a shootout. Taran Kozun earned the win in goal with 20 saves.
“It’s gratifying to win one of those close ones of late,” said Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk, whose team hadn’t just found itself on the wrong end of close games against Everett. The T-birds snapped a four-game losing streak, all of which were one-goal defeats. “We’ve been in one-goal games a lot. It’s a good learning experience. I think we were definitely a smarter team in the third period, so it’s nice to be able to close it out.”
Patrick Bajkov scored the other goal for Everett (16-5-2-1), which was unable to convert a 6-1 advantage in power plays into a victory. Austin Lotz finished with 26 saves in net for the Tips.
The I-5 rivalry between Everett and Seattle has been about as even as it gets. In each of the previous four seasons the 10-game season series was split 5-5. Last season six of the 10 meetings were decided by a single goal. While the pattern of close games was holding this season, the results had gone Everett’s way until Friday.
Twice Friday Seattle took the lead, and twice Everett answered on the power play. But the decisive moment came with 2 minutes, 48 seconds remaining in the second period. With the score tied 2-2, a joust for the puck along the right boards in the Everett zone caused the puck to shoot straight up into the air. No one on the ice was able to locate the puck except Allan, who was manning his defensive position at the right point. Allan immediately fired off a shot that caught all the Tips by surprise, including Lotz, and snuck in at the near post to put Seattle ahead.
“I was on the bench and I saw it go up, and everybody just kind of stopped,” Juulsen said. “It’s unlucky, but we need to find that puck when it’s in the air to get that puck or get that block.”
Seattle controlled the puck for much of the third period, with Lotz required to deny Neuls point blank on one occasion and dive behind himself to cover a loose puck on another. Yet the Tips still carved out some good chances, with Kozun making big saves in close on Bajkov and Graham Millar. Everett’s Ivan Nikolishin had a pair of chances in the final minute with Lotz pulled for an extra attacker, but Kozun was in position both times to make the save, and the T-birds were finally able to celebrate a victory against Everett.
Seattle grabbed the lead a mere 2:08 into the game. Neuls won the puck in the neutral zone, and just after skating across the blue line he fired a slap shot that beat Lotz into the top corner to give the T-birds a 1-0 lead.
Everett tied it on the power play at 13:53. Bajkov took a one-timer from the top of the left circle that Kozun got a pad on, but the puck still squeezed through, knotting it at 1-1.
The T-birds regained the lead 11:08 into the second period. Bear skated a circle around Gunnar Wegleitner at the right point, then fired a shot past traffic and past Lotz to make it 2-1.
The Tips again tied it on the power play, this time just 2:30 later. Juulsen pulled the puck into the middle slot, then slapped a shot that found that top corner to make it 2-2.
Slap shots
Everett gave a WHL debut to 15-year-old winger Bryce Kindopp. Kindopp, a native of Lloydminster, Alberta, who was a third-round pick in this year’s bantam draft, was an emergency call-up because of injuries. … The newest addition to Everett’s injury list is defenseman Tristen Pfeifer, who sat out with an unspecified upper-body injury. Pfeifer joined leading scorer Nikita Scherbak (leg), as well as fellow forwards Remi Laurencelle (ankle) and Dawson Leedahl (knee), on the sidelines. … Seattle played without star center Mathew Barzal, who is out with a knee injury. With a shortage up front, the T-birds used overage defenseman Evan Wardley as a forward.
Thunderbirds 3, Silvertips 2
Seattle 1 2 0 — 3
Everett 1 1 0 — 2
First Period—1, Seattle, Neuls 2, 2:08. 2, Everett, Bajkov 8 (Juulsen, Miller), 13:53 (pp). Penalties—Volcan, Seattle (slashing), 7:53; Hauf, Seattle (kneeing), 13:48.
Second Period—3, Seattle, Bear 4 (Theodore, Neuls), 11:08. 4, Everett, Juulsen 3 (Nikolishin, Stadnyk), 13:38 (pp). 5, Seattle, Allan 1, 17:12.
Third Period—no goals. Penalties—Neuls, Seattle (slashing), 5:40; Juulsen, Everett (tripping), 13:40.
Shots on goal—Seattle 6-9-14—29. Everett 8-8-6—22. Power-play opportunities—Seattle 0 of 1. Everett 2 of 6.
Goalies—Seattle, Kozun 9-8-2-2 (22 shots, 20 saves). Everett, Lotz 12-4-1-1 (29 shots, 26 saves).
A—6,573.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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