Thunderbirds forge tie with Silvertips

EVERETT — This time, there was no question whether the goal would stand.

Seattle’s Aaron Gagnon scored with 5.9 seconds remaining in regulation, giving the Thunderbirds a 3-3 tie with the Everett Silvertips on Saturday night in Western Hockey League action.

Before a sellout crowd of 8,308 at the Everett Events Center, Gagnon’s second goal of the game avenged Seattle’s previous trip to Everett, when the T-birds had a last-second goal disallowed.

"That was nice, for sure," Gagnon said. "The last game we thought we outplayed them. We got a lot of shots and we didn’t deserve what the outcome of the game was."

In that previous encounter, Seattle put the puck in the net just as the final horn sounded. However, it was ruled to have come after the horn, and Everett escaped with a 2-1 win for the first victory in franchise history.

This time, the T-birds (4-8-4) left no doubt. After Seattle pulled its goalie, Yashar Farmanara snuck past the defense into the left corner and whipped a pass into the crease. From a mass of bodies, Gagnon poked the puck into the net to tie the score.

"I hope we’re taking this really tough, because it’s something that should never happen," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "We had the puck over the red line with 20 seconds to go, and from there the puck is supposed to go deep in the other end. We could have done that, but instead we tried to shoot on net."

However, given the nature of the third period, the late goal was not a complete surprise. Seattle dominated the period, outshooting Everett 13-1, and the Tips (5-6-3) spent most of the period resembling a dog chasing a frisbee.

"I thought we started sitting back," Constantine said about the third period. "That gave them energy and let them come at us. Our defense played way back. When you play back, you give space to the other team and that’s what they need to get going. We let them get going."

Both teams had chances to win in overtime. Seattle’s Denis Tolpeko had a blast that Everett goalie Jeff Harvey could only deflect, but defenseman Bryan Nathe was there to clear the puck off the line. Then Everett’s Ivan Baranka’s shot from the point hit the crossbar.

John Dahl scored his seventh goal of the season and added an assist to lead the Tips. Riley Armstrong and Chad Bassen also scored for Everett, which led 3-1 going into the third period, and Harvey made 31 saves.

Nate Thompson scored the other goal for Seattle, which has struggled offensively this season.

"Every goal is nice right now," Seattle coach Dean Chynoweth said. "We haven’t seen a lot of them."

Everett struck first with a power-play goal with 12.9 seconds remaining in the first period. Seattle goalie Josh Lepp had just made a stunning glove save from point blank on Dahl, but Armstrong was there to clean up the rebound and make it 1-0.

The Silvertips made it 2-0 just 1:12 into the second period. Marc Desloges collected the puck on on Lepp’s right post and shuffled a pass to Bassen at the left post. Bassen made a quick move, then lifted the puck into the top shelf.

But Bassen was the victim when Seattle cut the lead to 2-1 at 6:07. Everett was on the power play when a slip by Bassen at the point resulted in a two-on-none breakaway for Seattle. Gagnon finished off the move with a nifty pullback, beating Harvey to the stick side.

Everett restored its two-goal cushion eighth minutes later. Barry Horman, in the left slot, spun and put a backhand shot on goal. Lepp made the save, but Dahl put in the rebound to make it 3-1 at 13:54.

Seattle closed within one again five minutes into the third period. Thompson beat Baranka around the right corner, skated in front of the goal and stuffed the puck past Harvey to cut it to 3-2.

Slap shots: Saturday’s game was the first at the Everett Events Center featuring permanent netting behind each goal. The netting is designed to protect the fans sitting behind each goal from pucks flying out of the rink. A temporary netting had been in place for the first six home games. The new netting is thinner and easier for the fans to see through. … Next up for the Silvertips is a six-game, 10-day road trip that swings through the Central Division. The trip begins Wednesday at Swift Current.

Silvertips 3, Thunderbirds 3