Shorthanded Silvertips fall in OT to Thunderbirds

EVERETT— The Silvertips, now even more shorthanded up front with Connor Dewar now on the shelf with an upper-body injury, scratched and clawed to a 2-1 lead, but eventually couldn’t squelch their closest divisional rival.

A point will have to do.

Jarret Tyszka buried the overtime winner at the 2:24 mark to lift Seattle over Everett, 3-2, at Angel of the Winds Arena on Friday.

“(It was) a good effort by our group,” Silvertips head coach Dennis Williams said. “We worked hard. We had nine forwards there for the better part of the game and I was proud of our effort.

“There was some gutsy play by guys. They did a good job and we just fell short.”

19-year-old center Riley Sutter and 18-year-old right wing Dawson Butt have been out with a lower-body and upper-body injury, respectively, for multiple games, Dewar joined them on the injury report after missing a pair of games against Prince George on Monday and Tuesday and 18-year-old forward Martin Fasko-Rudas left the game midway through the second period on Friday after being on the receiving end of a brutal open-ice hit.

Still, the Silvertips lead shots on goal 41-30 by the end of 60-plus minutes.

But Seattle recorded the timely goals.

Tyszka took advantage of a late change in the 3-on-3 overtime period and buried a snap shot from the high slot over Dustin Wolf’s blocker side to send a host of Thunderbirds players into the Silvertips’ end to celebrate.

Andrej Kukuca scored a power play goal at the 11:25 mark in the third period, walking into the slot and finishing a rebound attempt after Wolf made the initial save to tie the game at two apiece.

Jalen Price potted an unassisted goal with 6:46 in the second after Nolan Volcan’s slapshot goal tied it at the 4:56 mark.

Price, a 17-year-old rookie forward, potted his sixth goal of the season, an unassisted tally after a pouncing on a turnover and finishing over Thunderbirds goaltender Roddy Ross’ gloveside.

step one: steal the puck

step two: score a goal

step three: go crazy pic.twitter.com/cRuiwmuExl

— x Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) February 23, 2019

“To get your head up and have the poise to make the play under pressure, it was a big play by him and for us,” Williams said.

Wylie put the Silvertips on top 1-0 at the 16:49 mark of the first period with his ninth goal of the season, as the 19-year-old defenseman stepped up and snapped a shot past Seattle goaltender Roddy Ross. Zack Andrusiak and Reece Vitelli earned assists.

maybe not from way back … but still an ABSOLUTE BEAUT 🎯#LetsGoTips pic.twitter.com/AQ0QNZKvk4

— x Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) February 23, 2019

Everett’s blueline has plenty of offensive capabilities: Two Everett defensemen, Jake Christiansen and Gianni Fairbrother, boast double-digit goals and four — Christiansen, Fairbrother, Wylie and Sahvan Khaira, own 20 or more assists on the season.

They’ll be relied on to chip in more with a slew of forwards out for Everett.

“We need right now to get offense from them with those four guys out,” Williams said. “We need our ‘D’ to get activated and join the rush at the right times and be a layer coming in.”

Nolan Volcan tied the game at kept the Thunderbirds in it, clapping a shot over Dustin Wolf’s blocker to tie the game at one.

Ross made 39 saves for the Thunderbirds to earn his 11th WHL win.

Wolf stopped 28-of-30 shots for Everett.

After losing six consecutive games to Everett to start the season, Seattle owns two straight wins over the Silvertips.

Next up

The Silvertips host Prince George tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. The Cougars snapped a 17-game losing streak with a 2-1 shootout win over Kamloops on Friday.

Notes:

—Dewar is not expected to play tomorrow against the Cougars, according to Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson. The Silvertips’ captain is out with an upper-body injury.

—Fasko-Rudas left the game in the second period after a massive open-ice hit from Seattle’s Cade McNelly and did not return. Fasko-Rudas was down on the ice and needed to be helped off the ice. McNelly was assessed a check-to-the-head major penalty for the hit.

–The Silvertips still hold a three game lead over Vancouver for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, but after the Giants’ 4-0 win over Victoria on Saturday, the Giants can surpass Everett in the standings if they win of their two games in hand in regulation.

—The two points were key ones for Seattle. The Thunderbirds are now four points ahead of Kamloops for the final Western Conference wild card spot after the Blazers fell, 2-1, in a shootout to Prince George.

Josh Horton covers the Everett Silvertips and AquaSox for The Everett Daily Herald. Follow him on Twitter (@joshhortonEDH) or reach out to him over email (jhorton@heraldnet.com).