The Seattle Thunderbirds clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs with a 3-2 win over the Everett Silvertips on Friday night in front of 5,204 fans at the ShoWare Center.
Seattle (43-19-4-2) moved back into first place in the U.S. Division and Western Conference standings with its 17th consecutive win on Kent ice. The T-Birds are one point ahead of the Silvertips in the division and one point ahead of the Prince George Cougars in the conference race.
The T-Birds have four games remaining in the regular season, the Silvertips have six games, the Cougars three.
Seattle travels to Portland on Saturday to face the Winterhawks at 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Arena.
Seattle goalie Rylan Toth had 21 saves and post his 36th win of the season, tying the team’s single-season record for wins. Toth is 36-18-2-1 and is tied with Bryan Bridges who had a 36-20-3(tie) record in the 2004-05 season.
Everett outshot Seattle 9-7 in a scoreless first period.
Everett (40-15-8-3) took a 1-0 lead at 1:38 of the second period on a goal by Sean Richards.
Seattle tied the game 1-1 at 2:26 of the second. Sami Moilanen skated up the right wall and backhanded the puck down the boards to Donovan Neuls. Neuls crossed the puck through the top of the slot to Turner Ottenbreit in the left circle. Ottenbreit toe dragged the puck around an Everett defenseman. Ottenbreit took a wrist shot that beat Everett goalie Carter Hart over the glove.
Alexander True and Ryan Gropp combined shorthanded to give the T-Birds a 2-1 lead at 4:18 of the second. True stole the puck from Everett inside the Seattle blue line. True sent the puck up ice where Gropp chased it down in the left corner. Gropp centered the puck to True who beat Hart over the glove for his 22nd goal of the season.
The Silvertips tied the game 2-2 at 19:11 of the second on a goal from Connor Dewar.
The T-Birds took a 3-2 lead with 2:15 left in the game. Ethan Bear took a slap shot from the right point that was blocked and came back to him at the point. Bear skated to his left and took another slap shot with Hart screened. Bear beat Hart for his 27th goal of the season. Donovan Neuls had the only assist on the goal to give him two assists in the game.
The teams were playing 4-on-4 when the Silvertips pulled Hart for an extra attacker with 1:25 left in the game. Toth stopped Riley Sutter in close with 18 seconds left in the game. Ottenbreit made a diving block of a Silvertips shot as time expired to seal the win.
Everett outshot Seattle 10-5 in the third period and 23-22 in the game.
Hart made 19 saves and his record is now 29-10-6-2.
Playoff games, tickets
Games 1 and 2 of the first round of the playoffs will be Friday, March 24, at 7:35 p.m. and Saturday, March 25, at 7:05 p.m. against a to-be-determined opponent at ShoWare.
Single-game playoff tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 15, at the ShoWare Center box office and on the T-Birds website.
Fans who purchase 10 tickets to either Game 1 or Game 2 for $220 will also receive two additional free tickets to the playoff game they choose. Fans can purchase this playoff Group Ticket Special for Game 1 and Game 2 online or by calling the T-Birds at 253-239-PUCK (7825).
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – No scoring. Penalties – Bishop, Sea (holding), 15:55.
Second period – 1, Everett, Richards 7 (Sutter, Skrumeda), 1:38. 2, Seattle, Ottenbreit 7 (Neuls, Moilanen), 2:26. 3, Seattle, True 22 (Gropp), 4:18 (sh). Missed Penalty Shot – Evt, Richards, 16:00. 4, Everett, Dewar 13 (Kindopp),19:11. Penalties – Wedman, Sea (charging), 4:03. Onyebuchi, Evt (charging), 10:24. Strand, Sea (hooking), 13:14. Tuulola, Evt (embellishment), 13:14.
Third period – 5, Seattle, Bear 27 (Neuls), 17:45. Penalties – Adams, Sea (interference on goaltender), 4:45. Bajkov, Evt (tripping), 18:19. Kolesar, Sea (slashing), 18:35.
Shots on goal – Seattle 7-10-5 22, Everett 9-4-10 23. Goalies – Seattle, Toth 23 shots-21 saves (36-18-2-1); Everett, Hart 22-19 (29-10-6-2). Power plays – Seattle 0-3; Everett 0-2. A – 5,204. Referees – Jeff Ingram, Colin Watt. Linesmen – Mark Heier, Michael McGowan.
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