T-Birds Clipped by ‘Tips
KENT, Wash. – Nathan Pilling had a goal and an assist but the Seattle Thunderbirds dropped a 5-2 decision to the Everett Silvertips Saturday at the accesso ShoWare Center. The Thunderbirds next action is next Saturday when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the annual Fred Meyer Teddy Bear Toss game. Game time is 7:05 p.m. and tickets are available at seattlethunderbirds.com
“There’s a lot of positives to be had in this game,” said head coach Matt O’Dette. “There are no moral victories though. We’re disappointed but there is progress being made in our overall formula and the way we need to play. We went toe-to-toe with the best team in the league. Maybe it wasn’t there best game but they didn’t barrage us with chances against. There was a lot of tidy play and improvements in our defending and our decision making.”
Seattle (6-13-2-1) fell behind the Silvertips 2-0 after the first period, on a pair of Carter Bear goals. The T-Birds fought back with a strong start to the second period, cutting the Everett lead in half with Braeden Cootes scoring his eighth of the season from Simon Lovsin and Pilling.
“We grabbed some momentum,” remarked O’Dette on his team’s start to period two. “You could feel the energy on the bench. We were making a push.” But Everett regained their two-goal cushion with Bear’s third of the night with four minutes left in the second.
The ‘Tips were able to pull away by scoring twice in the first four minutes of the period. “The start of the third, they got a couple,” explained O’Dette. “The fourth one kind of set us back.”
Shortly after Everett’s fifth goal, and following a Seattle timeout, the T-Birds closed to within three goals with Pilling scoring his team leading 13th, assisted by Lovsin and Vanek Popil.
“The third period, we didn’t quit,” explained O’Dette. “But we didn’t create enough of a push and allowed a couple of tack on goals. Then we just stopped executing easy passes and that didn’t give us enough opportunities to create more offense.”
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
Seattle, which entered the game as the most penalized team in the WHL, was not assessed one penalty the entire game. In fact, there were just two minor penalties called all night, both on Everett, a cross check in the second period and a two many men bench minor in the third. Seattle was 0-for-2 on the power play.
Sawyer Mynio missed his fourth straight game and is listed as week to week with an upper body injury. Despite playing in just 15 games Mynio is third on the team in scoring with 17 points (4g, 13a).
Will Jamieson also remains out of the Seattle lineup with an upper body injury. He has missed the last 12 games.
Boxscore: Everett Silvertips at Seattle Thunderbirds – Saturday, November 16, 2024
