KENT — A game and a half spent in the stands wearing a suit was enough for Carson Stadnyk.
The Everett Silvertips’ overage forward scored twice in the opening period, and Graham Millar added single goals in the second and third stanzas as the Silvertips defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-1 before 5,316 fans Saturday at ShoWare Center.
“It was good to be back and it’s always nice to score a couple goals in the game,” said Stadnyk, who left Wednesday’s victory over Portland in the second period with an upper body injury and sat out Friday’s win against Kamloops. “For us to come out of these games with wins is huge, especially right now.”
The U.S. Division-leading Silvertips (32-16-2-2, 68 points) moved nine points ahead of the second-place T-Birds (28-21-3-2, 59 points). The Tips also improved to 5-0-1-0 against their nearest rival.
“We really key on their top line with (Mathew) Barzal and do a lot of video and preparation for that,” Millar said, referring to Seattle’s star center. “I think it’s a lot of preparation and gearing up for those Seattle games.”
The Tips took a 3-0 lead into the third period, but Seattle’s Brandon Schuldhaus fired a shot from the point that snuck through traffic and past Everett goaltender Carter Hart to put the T-Birds on the board at 17:45 in the third.
Everett then killed a tripping penalty at 6:18 and a too many men infraction at 13:03 before Millar’s second goal at 15:26 essentially put the game away.
“They were out there for a good two minutes on that last one and they did a great job,” Millar said of the Tips’ penalty killing unit. “It’s been really key for us winning games — the penalty kill and the power play.”
The game also featured the return of Everett center Remi Laurencelle, who completed his three-game suspension following his hit on Seattle’s Jerret Smith during Everett’s victory last Saturday.
Laurencelle earned an assist when Stadnyk crashed the net and buried Laurencelle’s rebound for a 2-0 lead at 14:43.
“They looked like they were very determined after losing to us last week, and losing last night, that they were very determined to have a good start,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “But those two goals by Stadnyk were huge. We got untracked a little bit as the game went on, but those two goals were important.”
Tensions ran high from the start. Everett’s Dawson Leedahl and Seattle’s Calvin Leth dropped gloves just 15 seconds into the game and received five minutes each for fighting.
Three minutes later Everett’s Spencer Gerth and Seattle’s Luke Osterman dropped gloves and circled one another, but the officials separated the two before they could exchange blows.
Stadnyk struck first when curled behind the net before dumping a backhander past Landon Bow for a 1-0 lead at 10:16 in the opening period.
“It found my stick and the goalie skated too far out,” Stadnyk said. “I was thinking of passing and I just kept hanging on to it and it was wide open so I had to take it.”
Stadnyk’s second goal made it 2-0, and Everett added another goal in the second when Millar potted a rebound from the slot on the power play at 7:38.
Yet for the second straight night Constantine wasn’t pleased with the way the Tips started the third period. Unlike Friday’s game, however, the Tips did not let a three-goal lead shrink to one.
“I thought we got really sloppy to start the third — really sloppy,” Constantine said. “Both nights we had the lead and I thought we lost a bit of our edge. It’s dangerous to get comfortable in hockey. Hockey is not a comfortable game — you have to be on edge, and we got a touch comfortable each game.”
Hart finished with 23 saves for his league-best 31st victory. Bow took the loss with nine saves in 32:11 before being pulled for backup Logan Flodell.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
Silvertips 4, Thunderbirds 1
Everett 2 1 1 — 4
Seattle 0 0 1 — 1
1st Period—1, Everett, Stadnyk 12 (MacDonald), 10:16. 2, Everett, Stadnyk 13 (Laurencelle, MacDonald), 14:43. Penalties—Leedahl Evt (major-fighting), 0:15; Leth Sea (major-fighting), 0:15; Gerth Evt (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 2:52; Osterman Sea (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 2:52; Allbee Sea (tripping), 19:05.
2nd Period—3, Everett, Millar 13 (Fonteyne, Juulsen), 7:38 (PP). Penalties—Pelechaty Sea (interference), 6:01; Neuls Sea (hooking), 7:38; Skrumeda Evt (tripping), 9:52; Uhrich Sea (high sticking), 15:04; Eansor Sea (inter. on goaltender), 17:09.
3rd Period—4, Seattle, Schuldhaus 2 2:45. 5, Everett, Millar 14 (Fonteyne, Davis), 15:26. Penalties—Pfeifer Evt (tripping), 6:18; Hauf Sea (holding), 8:27; served by Winkler Evt (too many men), 13:03; Osterman Sea (10-minute misconduct), 17:37; Uhrich Sea (interference), 17:55.
Shots on Goal—Everett 5-7-6-18. Seattle 8-10-6-24.
Power Play Opportunities—Everett 1/7; Seattle 0/3.
Goalies—Everett, Hart 31-15-1-2 (24 shots-23 saves). Seattle, Bow 16-20-4-0 (12 shots-9 saves); Flodell 14-11-3-0 (6 shots-5 saves).
A—5,316
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