Silvertips collapse late in 3-2 loss to Thunderbirds

Published 10:30 pm Saturday, January 28, 2017

KENT — The Everett Silvertips boast the top penalty kill in the Western Hockey League while the Seattle Thunderbirds are 18th on the power play.

Yet those two special teams units that flipped Saturday as the Thunderbirds tallied two power-play goals in the final eight minutes to knock off the Silvertips 3-2 before 5,075 fans at ShoWare Center.

Both came courtesy of point shots by T-birds defenseman Ethan Bear, an Edmonton Oilers prospect, and were the first power-play goals Everett had allowed in a span of 13 games dating back to a Dec. 27 loss at Vancouver.

“They’re very good and we know they get in a lot of shot lanes and block a lot of shots,” Bear said of the Tips. “We knew we had to move the puck quick and being ready to shoot. I think we did that tonight.”

The U.S. Division-leading Silvertips (30-8-7-2, 69 points) have lost three of their last four games against the Thunderbirds (28-15-3-1, 58 points). Everett has also dropped three straight contests overall.

“Obviously they’re a hard-working team with a lot of skilled guys up front,” Everett winger Patrick Bajkov said. “We need to bring our ‘Warrior’ (mentality) a little bit more and dig in, obviously, in the key points in the game. Blowing our lead is disappointing, but we have another one (Sunday) so hopefully we can bounce back.”

The Tips led 2-1 after two periods, but a penalty on Bryce Kindopp gave the Thunderbirds a man advantage at 12:05 in the third. Bear took advantage when his slapslot from the point hit Carter Hart’s right arm and in to tie the game 2-2 49 seconds later.

“I think we got a lot of momentum and a lot more energy on the bench,” Bear said. “I thought that was huge for us. We try to keep it positive when we’re down and not too high when we’re up.”

Then with just over two minutes to play, Aaron Irving took a hooking penalty and Bear once again took advantage as his shot from the slot beat Hart to give the Thunderbirds the only lead they needed at 18:51.

“We have a hard-working power play and it has come through for a lot of our success,” Bajkov said. “Possibly a little bit sleepy during the end there with our pressure off the faceoff. I was guilty a little bit there, but like I said we’ve been doing a great job on our PK and it was a rough time for us to slip tonight.”

The Silvertips entered the game killing penalties at 88.1 percent. Bear’s first goal snapped a string of 33 straight kills.

“We’re trying to get more guys in front and more shots and that’s it,” Bear said. “It’s simple and we’re not trying to do anything too fancy. Just get ‘em to the net and get guys in front.”

Bajkov, who finished with a goal and an assist, snapped the 1-1 tie when the Thunderbirds left him unattended at the left post and he snapped a shot past Matt Berlin at 15:20 in the second.

Everett had taken a 1-0 lead into the second period, but Mathew Barzal intercepted Irving’s attempt to clear the puck from the Tips’ zone, skated in and found Keegan Kolesar who flicked the pick past Hart. That tied the game at 3:56 in the second.

Seattle dominated the possession early as Hart piled up a dozen first-period saves, half of which came on the T-birds’ first power play.

But Everett took the lead at 16:00 when Seattle was unable to clear the puck out of its zone. Dominic Zwerger skated in from the right wing, waited out goaltender Berlin and slipped the puck into the net for the 1-0 advantage.

Barzal assisted all three goals while Kolesar finished with a goal and an assist.

Hart finished with 27 saves on 30 shots. Berlin saved 21 of Everett’s 23 shots.

Everett returns to action at 4:05 p.m. Sunday at Xfinity Arena against the Kamloops Blazers.

Thunderbirds 3, Silvertips 2

Everett 1 1 0 — 2

Seattle 0 1 2 — 3

1st Period—1, Everett, Zwerger 21 (Bajkov, Fonteyne), 16:00. Penalties—Butt Evt (interference), 6:44.

2nd Period—2, Seattle, Kolesar 9 (Barzal), 3:56. 3, Everett, Bajkov 21 (Dewar, Irving), 15:20. Penalties—Strand Sea (high sticking), 9:33; Christiansen Evt (major-fighting), 18:52; Ormsby Sea (major-fighting), 18:52; True Sea (boarding), 19:05.

3rd Period—4, Seattle, Bear 10 (Barzal, Gropp), 12:54 (PP). 5, Seattle, Bear 16 (Barzal, Kolesar), 18:51 (PP). Penalties—Kindopp Evt (high sticking), 12:05; Irving Evt (hooking), 17:57; Davis Evt (cross checking), 18:51; Gropp Sea (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 18:51.

Shots on Goal—Everett 10-9-4-23. Seattle 12-7-11-30.

Power Play Opportunities—Everett 0 / 2; Seattle 2 / 3.

Goalies—Everett, Hart 19-6-5-1 (30 shots-27 saves). Seattle, Berlin 4-0-2-0 (23 shots-21 saves).

A—5,075