KENT — With one Seattle Thunderbird and two Everett Silvertips playing for Team Canada in the World Junior Championship Thursday in Montreal, you can bet all the Tips and T-Birds players were glued to their televisions.
Perhaps the teams were inspired by Thursday’s shootout victory that resulted in Team USA knocking off Team Canada for the title. Whether it was inspiration or exasperation, it took a shootout to decide Friday’s game between Seattle and Everett before the Thunderbirds prevailed 4-3 in front of 4,418 fans at ShoWare Center.
“It’s not often you get down the way we did, (Seattle) having the lead going into the game and getting points out of a game,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “We’ll take the point. There are things we have to fix, but we’ll take the point.”
Keegan Kolesar was the only player to score in the shootout and even that was not without controversy. The referees initially made no ruling and went to the replay monitor before awarding the goal.
Everett shooters Orrin Centazzo, Eetu Tuulola and Devon Skoleski each came up empty to give Seattle the victory.
Despite the loss the U.S. Division-leading Tips (25-5-6-1, 57 points) earned a point in the standings to once again take over first place all alone in the Western Conference as Prince George lost 2-1 to Victoria. Seattle improved to 20-14-3-1 and has 44 points.
The Silvertips boast the WHL’s seventh-best power play, and it was on full display Friday. Everett scored its three goals on the man advantage to erase what was once a 3-0 Seattle lead and held on to force overtime and the shootout.
All the more shocking was the fact Seattle boasts the league’s third-best penalty kill. But with top penalty killer Scott Eansor scratched, the Tips finished 3-for-4 on the man advantage.
“In our last two games if it wasn’t for our power play we haven’t done a lot,” Constantine said. “The special teams might be 20 percent of the game, but 80 percent of the game is your five-on-five play. We’ve given up too much lately. It’s come early so there are some things we gotta fix.”
Seattle took a 3-1 lead into the third, but then Everett’s special teams took over.
Riley Sutter’s power-play tap-in from the left post cut the deficit to 3-2 at 2:03. Sutter now has six points in the three games against Seattle.
The Tips immediately went back on the power play and Matt Fonteyne converted a one-timer at the right post to tie the contest 3-3 at 3:15 in the third.
Prior to that Seattle controlled the game as it built a 3-0 lead just a minute into the second period.
Luke Ormsby, a native of Monroe, put the Thunderbirds on the board at 12:31 when he followed up a rebound after Anthony Bishop’s drive to the net for a 1-0 lead. It was the rookie Ormsby’s third goal of the year and his first goal at ShoWare Center as he earned third star honors.
“It was pretty special,” Ormsby said. “(My) first star at home, my first goal at home, it was definitely a special game for sure.”
Ormsby grew up learning to skate at what was then Comcast Arena and became close friends with fellow Snohomish County native Wyatte Wylie, now a Silvertips defensemen.
The two mixed it up midway through the opening period and each were given two minutes for roughing.
“It was funny for us to get the penalties against each other today,” Ormsby said with a grin. “It was cool.”
Following the brief dust-up, Seattle’s Zack Andrusiak made it 2-0 at 18:03 when he banged home a loose puck from the left side of the crease for his fifth goal of the season.
Donovan Neuls made it 3-0 just 1:03 in to the second with a wrister from the high slot on a delayed penalty. The goal negated the need for Seattle to go on the game’s first power play.
The Tips got back into the game on the power play when Dominic Zwerger potted a rebound past Seattle netminder Rylan Toth to cut the deficit to 3-1 at 10:11 in the second.
Friday’s game also featured the Everett debut of overage defenseman Aaron Irving, whom the Tips acquired from Edmonton on Wednesday.
Irving skated on the second pair with Jake Christiansen and also saw time on the second power-play unit and in three-on-three action in overtime.
“(It was his) first game with a new team and new systems and new coaches,” Constantine said. “I wouldn’t pass judgment, and that being said he was fine. I think he’s a pretty good player.”
Zwerger, Sutter and Neuls all finished with a goal and an assist. Kevin Davis had two assists for Everett and now has a league-best dozen-game point streak.
Toth finished with 38 saves on 41 Everett shots. Everett goalie Mario Petit saved 26 of the 29 shots he faced.
The Tips return to action at 6 p.m. Saturday when they take on the Portland Winterhawks at Memorial Coliseum.
Thunderbirds 4, Silvertips 3 (SO)
Everett 0 1 2 0 — 3
Seattle 2 1 0 0 — 4
1st Period—1, Seattle, Ormsby 3 (Bishop), 12:31. 2, Seattle, Andrusiak 5 (Neuls, Ottenbreit), 18:03. Penalties—No Penalties.
2nd Period—3, Seattle, Neuls 9 (Gropp, Wedman), 1:03. 4, Everett, Zwerger 18 (Sutter, Davis), 10:11 (PP). Penalties—Harsch Sea (holding), 9:23; Wedman Sea (hooking), 10:50; Dewar Evt (interference), 13:08; Wylie Evt (roughing), 13:08; Ormsby Sea (roughing), 13:08.
3rd Period—5, Everett, Sutter 12 (Bajkov, Dewar), 2:03 (PP). 6, Everett, Fonteyne 11 (Zwerger, Davis), 3:15 (PP). Penalties—Ottenbreit Sea (interference), 0:18; True Sea (slashing), 2:03; Tuulola Evt (holding), 3:43.
OT Period—No Scoring. Penalties—No Penalties.
Shootout—Everett 0 (Centazzo NG, Tuulola NG, Skoleski NG), Seattle 1 (Kolesar G, True NG, Andrusiak NG).
Shots on Goal—Everett 11-13-13-4-0-41. Seattle 13-8-6-2-1-30.
Power Play Opportunities—Everett 3 / 4; Seattle 0 / 2.
Goalies—Everett, Petit 8-2-2-1 (29 shots-26 saves). Seattle, Toth 16-14-1-0 (41 shots-38 saves).
A—4,418
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