T-Birds Shot Down in Everett
EVERETT, Wash. –Scott Ratzlaff’s 41-saves were not enough as the Seattle Thunderbirds fell, 4-1, to the Everett Silvertips Friday at Angel of the Winds Arena. The Silvertips got three goals in the final four minutes to break a 1-1 tie. Seattle and the Silvertips now head south for a rematch in Kent Saturday. Game time at the accesso ShoWare Center is 6:05 p.m.
“I think tonight was a lesson in efficiency,” said head coach Matt O’Dette. “I thought the first period was pretty good, once we got our feet under us. Then we didn’t get enough from line to line and got hemmed in our end for several minutes at a time. When you’re not efficient enough and your spending too much time in your own end, you just get slowly worn down. That’s what happened to us.”
Seattle (8-7-1-0) got out of the gates slow, outshot 8-1 in the early going of the game. They found their legs though and would outshoot Everett the rest of the first period, 11-3. The reversal of fortune led to a Seattle power play and a Thunderbirds lead. Luca Hauf scored at 15:01 off assists from Coster Dunn and Bryce Pickford.
Unfortunately, Seattle couldn’t sustain that pace and the rest of the game was dominated by Everett as they outshot the T-Birds 34-10 over the final forty minutes. The only thing keeping the game close was the play of Ratzlaff who made a number of highlight reel worthy saves.
“Scotty was great tonight,” remarked O’Dette of his goaltender. “He kept us in striking distance up until the final few minutes or so.”
Everett tied it at 14:08 of the second period on a Carter Bear goal but Ratzlaff limited the damage and kept the game even until the final four minutes of the game.
“We got a penalty kill. But there was a momentum change from there,” explained O’Dette. “We couldn’t get on track and spent a good chunk of that period in our end, and it set us up for a poor third period.”
In the final period, after both teams failed to convert on a power play, the Silvertips finally broke the tie with a Julius Miettinen goal at 15:55. Just 14-seconds later Dominik Rymon got a step in behind the T-Birds defense and scored to make it 3-1.
Seattle got one more power play chance but failed to convert. Rymon then iced the game with an empty net goal at 18:52.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
Antonio Martorana saw his six-game point streak end in the loss.
Earlier in the day the Thunderbirds announced the signing of defenseman Tai Riley to a standard WHL Player Agreement. The 2007-born Edmonton, Alberta native is currently playing with the HC Edmonton U18. Through sixteen games he has 16-points (7g, 9a).
The game was the first of six Seattle will play over a nine-day stretch.
Boxscore: Seattle Thunderbirds at Everett Silvertips – Friday, November 17, 2023 (chl.ca)
