SEATTLE – Wednesday night’s Western Hockey League game between the Everett Silvertips and the Seattle Thunderbirds was tough on the Tips on so many levels.
Tough because Everett lost to the team it’s chasing in the Western Hockey League U.S. Division standings.
Tough because the Silvertips lost despite leading in the third period.
Tough because, already shorthanded through international call-ups, Everett had three forwards unable to finish the game because of injuries.
No question about it, Everett’s 3-1 loss to Seattle before a split crowd at KeyArena – the first of nine meetings between the two teams in the second half of the season – was a tough one for the Tips to take.
“We take losing pretty tough all the time,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “But we’re trying to chase the division leader right now, we’ve been kind of sitting behind them, so it was a game that meant a lot.”
Yashar Farmanara scored the tie-breaking goal with six minutes, 33 seconds remaining as U.S. Division-leading Seattle (24-9-0-1) stretched its lead over Everett (18-11-6-2) to five points.
Ryan Gibbons also scored and Aaron Gagnon added an empty netter for Seattle.
Shaun Heshka scored the Silvertips’ lone goal and Michael Wall made 29 saves in goal for Everett.
Seattle controlled play for much of the game, outshooting Everett 32-15 and forcing Wall to make a number of tough saves.
“I thought we played a fairly complete game,” Seattle coach Rob Sumner said. “They’re a tough team to generate offense against, so we tried to simplify, put pucks on the net and get bodies in there.”
Yet despite the advantage in play, Seattle found itself trailing after Heshka’s shot from the center point on the power play found the upper corner at 2:18 of the third period.
But Everett’s lead was short-lived.
Seattle needed 25 seconds to tie the score, Gibbons beating Wall between his legs in close after a nice feathered pass from the corner from Denis Tolpeko, and from there it seemed inevitable that the T-birds would emerge victorious.
“We always talk about how goals come in bunches,” Constantine said. “We ask the group that goes onto the ice after a goal to play hard and play smart. There we didn’t. We turned the puck over in the neutral zone, which was a big mistake, and we didn’t do a good job in the corners. That shift was definitely the difference in the game.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, Everett took its physical lumps as well as its top three available centers – Torrie Wheat, Tyler Dietrich and Derek Lewis – all left the game with injuries. Dietrich’s appeared to be the worst as he remained on the ice for several minutes after taking a high hit from Zach FitzGerald. Fortunately for the Tips, none of the injuries are believed to be serious.
For two periods neither team was able to find the net, though both drew iron. In the first period Everett’s Karel Hromas hit the post after being set up by Alex Leavitt, and later FitzGerald also found the post after being given space to skate in from the point. Seattle again found the post in the second period during a wild scramble in front that saw Wall make some breathtaking saves.
Everett finally broke through with Heshka’s third goal of the season. Wheat sent a pass from behind the net to Heshka at the center point. Heskha wound up and fired a shot into the top corner to make it 1-0.
Everett’s lead lasted just 25 seconds when Gibbons scored his 10th of the season. Then Farmanara scored the winner with his fourth of the season, tipping in Clayton Barthel’s whipped pass from the left boards at the far post.
Gagnon completed the scoring, netting his 22nd of the season into an empty net with 46.9 seconds left.
Slap shots: The Tips made one lineup change from Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Spokane, with defenseman Graham Potuer replacing Randy King. … There were two fights in the final minute, with Everett’s Mitch Love squaring off with FitzGerald and Taylor Ellington facing off against James McEwan. … With three players away at international tournaments, Seattle suited 15-year-old center Lindsay Nielsen, the T-birds’ third-round selection in the 2004 Bantam Draft.
Thunderbirds 3, Silvertips 1
Everett001-1
Seattle003-3
First Period-No goals.
Second Period-No goals.
Third Period-1, Everett, Heshka 3 (Wheat, Leavitt), 2:18 (pp). 2, Seattle, Gibbons 10 (Tolpeko, Durand), 2:43. 3, Seattle, Farmanara 4 (Barthel), 13:27. 4, Seattle, Gagnon 22, 19:14 (en).
Shots on goal-Everett 7-5-3-15. Seattle 9-12-11-32. Power-play opportunities-Everett 1 of 6. Seattle 0 of 6.
Goalies-Everett, Wall 13-10-5 (31 shots, 29 saves). Seattle, Bridges 20-6 (15 shots, 14 saves).
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