EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips’ 11-game winning streak snapped at the hands of their archrival, the Seattle Thunderbirds, as the T-birds knocked off the Tips, 5-2, on Saturday at Angel of the Winds Arena.
The Silvertips also relinquished a one-point lead in the U.S. Division standings to Portland after the Winterhawks won in overtime on Saturday against the Victoria Royals.
After a scoreless opening period, Ty Kolle opened the scoring at 4:27 in the second by flinging a shot from the halfwall that leaked by Seattle netminder Roddy Ross for his 21st goal of the year.
But momentum shifted quickly after that.
Andrej Kukuca buried the equalizer at 5:35 on a second-chance rebound and Conner Bruggen-Cate scored the go-ahead goal on the power play after Michal Gut’s tripping penalty at 7:33.
Keltie Jeri-Leon made it 3-1 after he backhanded a shot past Dustin Wolf at 11:55 in the second.
Kukuca added another goal unassisted on the power play at 14:31 in the third and Payton Mount potted an empty-netter at 15:26 to complete the rout.
Brendan Lee scored his second goal in as many nights with 1:55 remaining in the third, but it was too little too late for Everett, which recorded its first regulation loss since a 5-3 defeat at Spokane on Feb. 9.
Everett, which entered Saturday with the league’s best power play at 28.6%, struggled mightily on special teams on Saturday, as the Silvertips’ power play went 0-for-7 and Seattle’s went 2-for-2.
Ross was sturdy in net for the Thunderbirds as the Flyers prospect stopped 31 of 33 shots.
Wolf made 15 saves for Everett.
The Silvertips and Thunderbirds play again at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday at the ShoWare Center in Kent.
Josh Horton covers the Silvertips for the Herald. Follow him on Twitter, @JoshHortonEDH
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