RECAP: Short(handed) Straw
EVERETT, Wash. – Landon Bow needed each and every one of his 17 saves to turn away the Everett Silvertips, who fell short, 3-2 to the Seattle Thunderbirds and were eliminated, 4-1 in the second round of the WHL Playoffs before 4,339 fans at ShoWare Center on Saturday in Game 5.
The Silvertips nearly rallied back in the final minutes of regulation which included a dramatic 6-on-3 power play with three seconds left, and ended the season without Noah Juulsen, Carson Stadnyk, Graham Millar and Tristen Pfeifer in the lineup – a combined total of over 800 games of experience.
ROUND 2: EVERETT vs SEATTLE (Thunderbirds win series, 4-1)
GAME 1: Everett 3 atSeattle 0
GAME 2: Everett 1 at Seattle 3
GAME 3: Seattle 5 at Everett 0
GAME 4: Seattle 2 at Everett 1
GAME 5: Everett 2 at Seattle 3
Ryan Gropp scored the game winning goal in back-to-back nights for the Thunderbirds, who scooted out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. At the 12:16 mark, Carter Hart made a spectacular save on Scott Eansor’s bid from the left circle, with Hart scrambling to cover the blocker side. With the Silvertips unable to recover behind their own net, Eansor jumped on the puck and tucked a wraparound for a 1-0 lead.
Nick Holowko then buried a snap shot off the rush at 15:41 of the first period for a 2-0 lead, and the Silvertips were forced to respond with two goals in the second period to fight their way back into the game. Brandon Ralph slammed a rebound past Landon Bow’s blocker side, produced off a Kevin Davis shot at the 10:11 mark, bringing the Silvertips to within a goal.
Just 1:32 later, Gropp crashed the net and tucked a rebound to the glove side of Hart for a 3-1 cushion, but the Silvertips remained energized to produce a power play goal with less than two minutes left. Devon Skoleski cleaned up a rebound after Yan Khomenko put a wrister into the skates of Landon Bow and the Silvertips drew to within a 3-2 deficit with 1:11 left in the period.
The Thunderbirds outshot the Silvertips 18-4 in the third period but Hart turned away every shot to set up one last attempt to tie the game. Following a penalty kill to Brandon Ralph’s cross-checking call at 16:13, the Silvertips earned one last chance on a Ryan Gropp slashing call with 1:47 left in regulation.
The Silvertips were able to pull Carter Hart with less than a minute left and Donovan Neuls’ attempted clear sailed over the defensive zone glass, establishing a 6-on-3 opportunity with three seconds left. Mathew Barzal swiped the face-off win from the left circle into the corner, and Connor Dewar’s attempt before the horn, from the bottom of the left circle, was paddled away by Bow.
NOTES: With Juulsen, Stadnyk, Millar and Pfeifer scratched from the lineup, Wyatte Wylie was the previous Silvertip to suit up in Game 4 and miss action on Saturday … the Silvertips – drawing the largest crowd of the series (over 5,800 in attendance at Everett for Game 4) advanced to the second round of the WHL Playoffs for the second straight year, possessing four U.S. Division titles in 13 seasons (the longest active playoff clinch streak in the WHL) … the Thunderbirds advanced to the Conference Final for the first time since 2002-03, the season before the Silvertips entered play … Matt Fonteyne finished as the Silvertips leading scorer for the postseason with eight points in nine games … despite a 2-4 record, 2016-draft eligible Carter Hart registered a .929 save percentage in the WHL Playoffs as the reigning WHL Goalie of the Week.
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