T-Birds Come up Short versus Royals
KENT, Wash. – The Victoria Royals scored three third period goals to break a 1-1 tie and went on to defeat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-1, Tuesday at the accesso ShoWare Center. The Thunderbirds resume play with a pair of games this weekend including a road contest at the Toyota Center in Kennewick Friday against the Tri-City Americans.
“We needed to be way more efficient and manage the game better than we did,” explained head coach Matt O’Dette of the loss. “We did some good things over the first half of the game, but we got into some penalty trouble. We lost a forward because of the major (penalty). That left us with a short bench and when you have a short bench and have to kill penalties, it’s extra taxing.”
Seattle (12-24-2-1) scored first, an unassisted shorthanded goal from Simon Lovsin at 13:20 of the first period. “(Braeden) Cootes chipped it behind the net and I kinda put the pressure on the goalie,” said Lovsin of his fifth of the season. “He kinda left it for me and I had a nice wrap (around).”
The T-Birds preserved the lead early in period two, killing off a four minute penalty. Seattle finished the night a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill. Midway through the second period the Royals tied it to send the teams into the second intermission even at 1-1.
Victoria grabbed the lead at 4:43 of period three after the T-Birds failed to clear the defensive zone. Four minutes later Seattle was denied a chance to tie it on the doorstep. The Royals transitioned off that save and scored to make it 3-1. They would add a fourth goal at 14:13 to finish off the scoring.
“It felt like the second half of the game we weren’t generating a ton,” commented O’Dette as the T-Birds have been held to just one goal over their last two games. “We probably could have directed more at the net, get more traffic. Tonight was a night where we needed to be okay winning 2-1.”
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
Seattle’s penalty killers have now killed off sixteen straight penalties, dating back to their New Year’s Eve game. “We made some adjustments,” said O’Dette. “Our aggressiveness on the PK has been ramped up a little bit. We’ve worked on it, studied a lot of video and we’re in a groove. It’s a positive for us right now.”
Sawyer Mayes made his T-Birds debut Tuesday. Mayes was acquired over the weekend from the Calgary Hitmen in the Sawyer Mynio trade. “I think he had a really nice debut for us,” said O’Dette of his newest player. “He played some wing tonight; he played some center. Center is his more natural position. He skates well and he made an impact.”
For the second straight game goalie Scott Ratzlaff made 39 saves in defeat.
Boxscore: Victoria Royals at Seattle Thunderbirds – Tuesday, January 7, 2025
