Thunderbirds down Silvertips, clinch playoff spot | WHL

Barzal has goal, three assists in 6-1 victory

February 27, 2017 9:30 am
The Thunderbirds’ Ethan Bear upends a Silvertip during WHL play Sunday evening. Seattle won 6-1 to clinch a playoff berth. COURTESY PHOTO, Brian Liesse/T-Birds

The Seattle Thunderbirds clinched a Western Hockey League playoff spot with a 6-1 thumping of the Everett Silvertips in front of 5,157 fans at the ShoWare Center on Sunday night.

The T-Birds (40-18-3-2) are in second place in the U.S. Division, one point behind the Silvertips who have two games in hand.

Mathew Barzal had a goal and three assists in the game. It was his second consecutive game with four points, having dished out four assists in a 5-3 win over Kelowna on Saturday.

Goalie Rylan Toth had 20 saves to improve to 33-17-1-1.

Seattle took a 1-0 lead on a five-on-three power-play goal by Keegan Kolesar at 7:10 of the first period. Ethan Bear passed the puck from the top of the right circle to Barzal at the top of the left circle. Barzal sent the puck to the bottom of the left circle to Kolesar. Kolesar snapped Barzal’s pass past Everett goalie Carter Hart on the short side for his 22nd goal of the season.

The T-Birds made it a 2-0 lead at 12:35 of the second on Luke Ormsby’s sixth goal of the season. Tyler Adams stole the puck off the stick of Hart behind the Everett net and turned into the right corner. Adams turned and send the puck behind the Everett net to Barzal. Adams got the puck back from Barzal on the left board. Adams centered the puck to Ormsby in the slot to send him in alone against Hart. Ormsby deked left, skated right and beat Hart from the right of the net on a sharp angle.

Anthony Bishop scored at 18:04 of the first to make it a 3-0 T-Birds lead. Reece Harsch passed the puck the right wing to Sami Moilanen who carried it into the Everett zone. Moilanen cut through the slot and dropped the puck for Bishop coming off the bench. Bishop came down the slot and beat Hart over the glove with a wrist shot.

Everett replaced Hart with Mario Petit to start the second period. Hart made nine saves on 12 shots and his record is now 27-8-6-1.

Ryan Gropp gave the T-Birds a 4-0 lead at 4:56 of the second period with a power-play goal. Bear took a shot from the right point that deflected into the slot to Barzal. Barzal crossed the puck to Gropp in the right circle. Gropp one-timed Barzal’s pass past Petit high on the glove side.

Everett (38-13-8-2) got on the board when Connor Dewar scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 10:39 of the second.

Barzal made it a 5-1 lead at 12:14 of the second on a power-play goal. Turner Ottenbreit passed the puck from the right-wing boards to Barzal at the left point. Barzal stick-handled into the slot and beat Hart over the glove with a wrist shot.

Everett outshot Seattle 9-8 in the second period. Seattle lead 20-13 in shots after two periods.

Elijah Brown corralled a loose puck in front of Petit and beat the goalie over the blocker at 15:13 of the third period to give the T-Birds a 6-1 lead.

Seattle outshot Everett 27-21 in the game.

Petit made 12 saves on 15 shots.

This week

The T-Birds travel to Kamloops to play the Blazers at 7 p.m. Wednesday. They host the Tri-City Americans at 7:35 p.m. Friday at the ShoWare Center.

Fans can purchase single-game tickets online or at the ShoWare Center box office.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Kolesar 22 (Barzal, Bear) 7:10 (pp). 2, Seattle, Ormsby 6 (Adams, Barzal), 12:35. 3, Seattle, Bishop 1 (Moilanen, Harsch), 18:04. Penalties – Strand, Sea (cross checking), 3:50. Volcan, Sea (interference), 4:55. Bajkov, Evt (interference), 5:25. Dewar, Sea (tripping), 6:28.

Second period – 4, Seattle, Gropp 29 (Barzal, Bear), 4:56 (pp). 5, Everett, Dewar 11, 10:39 (sh). 6, Seattle, Barzal 9 (Ottenbreit, Neuls), 12:14. Penalties – Anderson, Evt (charging), 4:43. Irving, Evt (slashing), 6:44. Tuulola, Evt (boarding), 10:18. Ottenbreit, Sea (cross checking), 19:59. Skrumeda, Evt (10-minute misconduct), 20:00.

Third period – 7, Seattle, Brown 3 (True), 15:13. Penalties – Andrusiak, Sea (tripping), 11:52. Anderson, Evt (10-minute misconduct), 18:58. Richards, Evt (roughing), 18:58.

Shots on goal – Seattle 12-8-7 27, Everett 4-9-8 21. Goalies – Seattle, Toth 21 shots-20 saves (33-17-1-1); Everett, Hart 12-9 (27-8-6-1), Petit 15-12. Power plays – Seattle 3-5; Everett 0-5. A – 5,157. Referees – Sean Raphael, Derek Zalaski. Linesmen – Nick Bilko, Adam Brastad.