Last-second goal lifts T-birds to 3-2 victory against Silvertips

EVERETT – The Everett Silvertips had another franchise first Friday night.

But this is a first the Silvertips could have done without.

And it couldn’t have come in any more painful a way.

Seattle’s Clayton Barthel scored the game-winning goal with three seconds remaining, and the Silvertips saw their unbeaten streak when leading after the first period come to end, falling to the Thunderbirds 3-2 in Western Hockey League action at KeyArena.

It was the first time in franchise history that Everett lost after leading after one period.

“Whenever you give up a goal that late, it really makes for a tough loss,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said.

“We let up,” Constantine added. “We quit playing in the second. We had a good first and then we really quit playing. Collectively we kind of quit and a couple players just shut their game down and almost quit on us. It’s kind of strange this time of year for that to happen.”

Everett (32-25-8-2) fell two points behind Tri-City, which defeated Portland 5-2 Friday, for first place in the U.S. Division. Everett still has one game in hand on Tri-City and plays the Americans twice in its final five games.

Seattle (22-28-8-9) kept its slim playoff hopes alive. The T-birds now trail fourth-place Spokane by six points with five to play.

The Silvertips have been so strong with the lead this season. Coming into Friday’s game, Everett was 23-3-3 when scoring first and 16-0-2 when leading after one period. When Mark Kress scored at 8:38 of the first period and the Silvertips led 1-0 after one, everything seemed in place for Everett.

But Seattle scored twice in the second period on goals by Yashar Farmanara and David Svagrovsky, and Everett seemed stymied until Mitch Love scored what appeared to be the rescuing goal with 3:59 remaining, tying the score at 2-2.

However, in the waning seconds, Seattle’s Tyler Metcalfe won the puck behind the Everett net and tried for a wraparound. Everett goalie Michael Wall went down to smother the attempt, but the puck pinballed out to Barthel in the left slot. Barthel’s shot slipped under the sprawled-out Wall and into the net to give the T-birds the win with his third goal of the season.

“We’ve been pretty good in that sense all year,” Seattle coach Dean Chynoweth said about the T-birds’ comeback. “We’ve had games where we’ve been down and we’ve been able to battle back. We’ve showed signs of that. Playing with the lead is what’s given us trouble. But tonight it was early enough and there was enough hockey left to be played that we didn’t panic, and the guys responded to that.”

Everett scored first at 8:38 of the first period. Strong work by Jeff Schmidt in the corner resulted in Torrie Wheat picking up the puck behind the Seattle goal. Wheat looked up and spied Kress crashing down the middle. Wheat slid the puck in front and Kress slammed a one-timer past Seattle goalie Josh Lepp to make it 1-0 with his fourth goal of the season.

Seattle tied it up early in the second. Bretton Stamler sent the puck all the way around the Everett zone and when it came out on the left, Barthel tipped it to Farmanara at the edge of the circle. Farmanara wristed a shot past Wall to make it 1-1 at 2:43 with his eighth of the season.

The T-birds took the lead late in the second. Metcalfe, along the right boards, flipped the puck toward the net. David Svagrovsky, lurking in the right slot, got a little touch on the puck as it sailed through the air, just enough for it to sneak past Wall at the near post to make it 2-1 at 16:05. It was Svagrovsky’s fifth goal of the season.

Love then tied it up at 16:01 of the third with an opportunity goal. Wheat was battling for the puck at the center point when it came loose to Love in the slot. Love picked out the corner to make it 2-2 with his 11th of the season.

Slap shots: Everett No. 1 goalie Jeff Harvey was suited up Friday, but did not start. Harvey has played just once in Everett’s last 12 games because of an injured hip muscle, and he hadn’t suited up since backing up Wall on Feb. 20 at home against Portland. … Seattle played without three regular forwards – fourth-leading scorer Nate Thompson, penalty-minute leader Adam Huxley and Ryan Gibbons – who were scratched. … The Silvertips’ home game next Friday against Seattle has a 7:05 p.m. start time. Season ticket holders’ tickets mistakenly list the game as starting at 5:05 p.m. … There was a healthy contingent of Everett fans among the 4,653 in attendance.

Thunderbirds 3, Silvertips 2