KENT — The Everett Silvertips lost the opportunity to clinch home-ice advantage in the playoffs and saw their hopes for a second straight U.S. Division title grow even dimmer Friday.
The division-leading Thunderbirds scored a first-period goal and then handed the game over to goaltender Landon Bow. The netminder recorded 21 saves to earn his league-best seventh shutout of the season as the T-Birds moved four points up on the Silvertips with five games to play in front of 6,046 fans at ShoWare Center.
“That’s why they got him,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said of Bow. “They got him because they wanted to be solid in net. They’ve got a solid team so they picked up Bow on purpose to make sure they had all their bases covered and he does a nice job for them.”
The T-Birds (41-23-3, 85 points) have now won nine straight and 13 of their last 14. Meanwhile, Everett (37-23-4-3, 81 points) lost for the sixth time in its last eight games.
The Tips won six of the first seven games this season between the two teams, but the T-Birds won the final three to finish 2-6-1-1 against Everett this year. The Tips’ magic number to clinch home-ice advantage remains at two points.
Ryan Gropp set up the only goal of the game when he carried the puck into the Everett zone and fed a pass to Nick Holowko at the right post who flicked it over Everett goalie Carter Hart for the 1-0 lead at 6:41 in the opening period.
The T-Birds took a 1-0 lead into the second period. The teams combined for just 11 shots with a fruitless power-play opportunity for each side as the score remained unchanged into the second intermission.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the second period came at 2:03 when Everett’s Brian King and Seattle’s Brandon Schuldhaus dropped gloves for a brief fight. The officials quickly broke up the scuffle and both went to the box.
Matt Fonteyne had perhaps the best chance just 20 seconds into the third when a breakdown by Seattle in its defensive zone gave Fonteyne a look that he clanged off the post.
Constantine pulled Hart with 2:14 to go in the third, and the Tips had several open looks. But Bow was able to turn away each opportunity to preserve the victory.
“Early we didn’t get a lot of scoring chances through the first couple of periods,” Constantine said. “We got a little more in the third, but that doesn’t shock me with Seattle. They’re a good defensive team.”
The Tips finished 0-for-3 on the power play, but that’s not surprising since Seattle is the top penalty-killing team in the league. Everett also held Seattle scoreless on two man advantages.
Everett travels to Kennewick for a game at 7 p.m. on Saturday with Tri-City.
Thunderbirds 1, Silvertips 0
Everett 0 0 0 — 0
Seattle 1 0 0 — 1
1st Period—1, Seattle, Holowko 6 (Gropp, Barzal), 6:41. Penalties—Ottenbreit Sea (kneeing), 12:35.
2nd Period—No Scoring. Penalties—King Evt (major-fighting), 2:03; Schuldhaus Sea (major-fighting), 2:03; Fonteyne Evt (hooking), 2:50; Kolesar Sea (holding), 2:50; Smith Sea (holding), 12:48; Winkler Evt (tripping), 15:32.
3rd Period—No Scoring. Penalties—Hauf Sea (interference), 10:31; Dewar Evt (high sticking), 19:57.
Shots on Goal—Everett 5-5-11-21. Seattle 10-6-9-25.
Power Play Opportunities—Everett 0 / 3; Seattle 0 / 2.
Goalies—Everett, Hart 35-22-1-3 (25 shots-24 saves). Seattle, Bow 22-20-4-0 (21 shots-21 saves).
A—6,046
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
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