"The biggest game of the season" Round II
Published 5:52 pm Thursday, March 10, 2016
It seems like we were at this same juncture a week ago: a Friday night game between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips with huge implications for the U.S. Division race.
Prior to last Friday’s game between the teams at Xfinity Arena, Silvertips center Remi Laurencelle called that game the Tips’ biggest of the season. Today he doubled down on that assessment in anticipation of tomorrow’s match-up in Kent.
“I think this is probably the biggest game now,” Laurencelle said, after the Tips wrapped up practice Thursday afternoon at Lynnwood Ice Center. “You say that once, you say it twice. It’s always going to be a big game, right? At this point we just have to work hard and stick to our game plan and hopefully things come out (well).”
Last Friday, of course, the T-Birds prevailed 2-1 in a shootout. However, Everett got one point for forcing overtime, which meant the Thunderbirds and Silvertips were in a virtual tie with 79 points.
A Tips regulation win on Friday would draw the team equal once again in points, though the T-Birds would maintain the tiebreaker by virtue of more victories (which was how Seattle moved into first place with last week’s win).
Just six games remain and if the Tips are going to maintain any hope of catching and surpassing the T-Birds, Friday is a must-win.
“We really need this game,” Everett defenseman Lucas Skrumeda said. “Those games always have a lot of emotion to them either home or away. The games are tight, but just have to keep working hard.”
The Tips are 6-1-1-1 against Seattle this year. Everett’s only regulation loss was a 2-0 verdict in Kent on Feb. 27 – a game that was 1-0 until the final minute when Mathew Barzal scored on an empty net.
Everett has a 5-1 victory and a pair of 4-1 wins over Seattle, but its other four wins have been by scores of 2-0, 2-1 and 4-3.
Seattle goaltender Landon Bow, a trade deadline acquisition from the Swift Current Broncos has stymied the Tips in his last two starts. He turned away 24 shots in the 2-0 win on Feb. 27 and allowed one goal on 40 shots before saving all seven penalty shots in the 2-1 win last Friday.
And then there is Seattle center Barzal. The New York Islanders prospect scored the OT game-winner in Seattle’s first victory over Everett on Jan. 9, both goals in the 2-0 win on Feb. 27 and assisted Ryan Gropp in last week’s win.
So I guess the formula is simple: Get to Bow and keep Barzal off the stat sheet and the Tips should win. Much easier said than done, particularly since the Thunderbirds have won eight straight and 12 of their last 13.
The Silvertips, meanwhile, are 4-3-2-1 in their last 10 and have won just twice in their last seven games. They are coming off a 3-2 win over the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday.
“We were kind of in a little slump there,” Laurencelle said. “Getting those points and keeping ourselves in the race is obviously nice, so again, seven games left, every point matters.”
In that game the Tips scored the game’s first three goals before allowing two third-period power play goals. That’s something they’d prefer to avoid this time around.
“We have to create our own momentum,” Skrumeda said. “We gotta come out with a lot of energy, no matter who is on the ice. We have to get on their defensemen and we gotta cross the goalie’s eyes and make it hard for him to see the puck.”
The game begins at 7:30 Friday night at ShoWareCenter.
Notes:
– Read on as colleague Tim Pigulski breaks down Seattle’s current hot streak by the numbers.
– Brycen Martin still isn’t practicing and will evidently be out for a while longer. He hasn’t played since leaving after hard check into the boards in Everett’s last visit to Seattle.
– The Silvertips practiced at LynnwoodIceCenter Thursday since Xfinty Arena (and apparently the community rink) has been overrun by the Everett Home and Garden Show.
