Updated game story and Graham Millar video interview
Published 12:23 am Sunday, January 31, 2016
The Game (Story)
EVERETT – Graham Millar picked himself up off the ice looking for a call.
It didn’t come.
What did, however, was a seam in the Seattle Thunderbirds defense. Millar leaked in behind, collected the deflected puck and flicked a backhander past Seattle goaltender Landon Bow for the game-winning goal at 18:10 in the third period as the Everett Silvertips defeated the Thunderbirds 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 8,352 fans Saturday at Xfinity Arena.
“I was just kind of getting back up and going back to the net, and the puck just found my stick,” said Millar, who had been checked hard into the boards immediately prior to scoring the game-winning goal. “I just threw it on net and it went in.”
Millar’s game-winner capped an emotional and physical third period that saw the U.S. Division-leading Tips (29-15-2-2, 62 points) beat second-place Seattle (26-18-3-0, 55 points) for the fourth time in five tries this season.
“It had a lot of different elements to the game,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “It was a close game, it was an intense game, it was a battle. I’m glad for the fans that showed up that there was something you could enjoy as far as an athletic event.”
Goaltender Carter Hart recorded 34 saves on 35 chances as he continued his mastery over the Thunderbirds.
He was particularly stellar during a five-minute Seattle power play midway through the third period.
“I don’t know if it’s more so our D corps,” Hart said. “Before the game we always stress that they’re a hard-hitting team and that we need to amp up our style and amp up our game. We did that tonight and it showed.”
The intensity that had percolated beneath the surface for two-and-a-half periods boiled over in the third.
It began when Everett assistant captain Remi Laurencelle checked Jerret Smith hard into the boards. Smith’s teammates Mathew Barzal and Jared Hauf took exception and fists briefly flew before the referees broke up the fracas. Laurencelle was assessed a two-minute roughing penalty, a five-minute checking from behind penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct penalty that ended his evening.
The Silvertips killed the ensuing five-minute penalty, but less than a minute later Everett’s Dawson Leedahl checked Turner Ottenbreit hard into the boards, and fought Seattle’s Ethan Bear. Leedahl got five minutes for fighting while Bear met the same fate as Laurencelle.
“You look at any great sports rivalry (and) the emotions are higher,” Constantine said. “(The T-Birds) may call Portland their biggest rival, but for us this is our nearest rival and so it’s a rivalry game (and) the emotions get higher.”
Everett didn’t score on its power play, but Millar’s 12th goal of the season was enough to snap its three-game losing streak – the Tips’ longest of the season.
“The fans were screaming and yelling and it felt really good,” Millar said. “I just got the puck out front and found a way.”
Everett’s Brandon Ralph opened the scoring when he slapped a pass from Devon Skoleski past Bow from the slot to give the Tips a 1-0 lead 2:50 into the game.
Ryan Gropp tied it 1-1 for the T-Birds with his wrister from the slot thanks to an assist from Smith on the power play at 15:00.
“I thought our start was real good,” Constantine said. “I thought we got in trouble when we took our first penalty and that took some of the momentum of the way we started out of the game.”
Hart stopped all dozen shots he faced in the second period including a short-handed two-on-one situation at the end of a Tips power play as the teams remained tied through 40 minutes.
Bow finished with 21 saves in a losing effort for Seattle. The T-Birds boast the top penalty-killing unit in the league and held Everett scoreless on all six of its chances.
The Silvertips complete their three-game weekend today at 4 against the Spokane Chiefs at Xfinity Arena.
Everett Silvertips F Graham Millar talks about game-winning goal from Everett Herald on Vimeo.
The Game
It’s easy to try to make too much out of single game outcomes. After all the WHL season is 72 games long. That said this was a big win for the Silvertips after falling 2-1 at Tri-City Friday for a season-high three-game losing streak.
The fact that this team’s longest losing streak is three games is a testament to its resiliency. Then again streaks and statistics are things sportswriters like because it helps us put things in perspective.
One of the keys for this team is its ability to focus on the now rather than the past or future.
“When we were winning games we reminded ourselves that momentum is not carried from game to game,” Constantine said. “When you’re winning and you’re playing your next game you’ve gotta remember nothing about the last game means you’re gonna play great tonight. It’s the same when you’re losing. Losing momentum doesn’t carry with you game to game unless you want it to.”
The Thunderbirds were picked by most to win the U.S. Division and have the offensive talent to do so. Yet the Tips have a 4-0-1 record against Seattle this season and Hart has allowed six total goals in those five games.
“We have a lot of excitement before we play them,” Millar said. “They’re all four-point games and we stress that a lot before we match up with them. There’s a lot of intensity in the rink and I think that helps us.”
The flu bug seems to be going around the team as Mario Petit wasn’t even in the building after he was a late scratch Friday night. It also sounds like Millar was a tad under the weather.
Devon Skoleski and Spencer Gerth each received stitches during the game before returning. Constantine also said Brandon Ralph took a puck to the hand and the team is waiting on X-rays to determine the severity of the injury.
The Turning Point
The Silvertips killed a five-minute penalty and rode that momentum to the game-winning goal at 18:10.
Three Stars
1. Everett G Carter Hart: The 17-year-old wunderkind did it again as he stopped 34 of 35 shots to earn his league-best 28th win.
2. Seattle G Landon Bow: Bow had 21 saves in a losing effort
3. Everett F Graham Millar: Millar scored the game-winner on a backhand with 1:50 remaining.
Bonus
Jim Riley was in the house writing for the Seattle Times.
