Newcomer Layne Bensmiller gives Thunderbirds another shootout win over Everett

EVERETT – For the second straight night, the Thunderbirds found themselves in a shootout with the Everett Silvertips and newly acquired Layne Bensmiller would be front and center.

He had already scored a goal in Saturday’s game but he must have been surprised when head coach Steve Konowalchuk tapped him to go take the shot to win it.

“He said, ‘Are you good at these?’ and I kind of hesitated,” Bensmiller said.

Grabbing the puck at center ice, he faked, went to the backhand and lifted a shot over Silvertips goalie Mario Petit for the win.

“I guess I was good at it,” Bensmiller added.

The conversion gave Seattle a 4-3 shootout win over Everett at Xfinity Arena and it closed out the T-Birds’ preseason schedule. Bensmiller was good as was Cavin Leth, who potted a short-handed goal and added an assist. Rookie goalie Carl Stankowski took over for starter Ryan Gilchrist midway through the game and stopped all 23 shots that he saw.

Seattle ends the preseason with a 5-2-0-0 record and will now prepare for the start of the regular season next Saturday in Portland.

Bensmiller’s debut is more impressive when you consider that he drove 20 hours over the past two days to get to Everett. He met the team at the loading dock at the arena, and having never met anyone on the team prior, went out and played a strong game.

“Sometimes when the puck drops you get going,” Konowalchuk said about throwing Bensmiller to the fire right away. “He did some good things there. You can see he has some offensive ability with the shot and some give-and-go hockey. We hope he can chip in with some points.”

It had to feel somewhat of a whirlwind for the Alberta native who, is dealing with his second trade over his WHL career. He started last year with Calgary and then was moved to Prince Albert at the deadline. He didn’t fare well there and Seattle could give him a fresh start.

“It was kind of surprising,” he said of the trade. “I’m really excited, though. I didn’t fit in like I wanted to in Prince Albert. I had a terrible end to the season after leaving Calgary. But I’m excited to be on a team that’s looking to do really good things this year.”

Playing on a line with Leth and Alexander True, he got right into the swing of things. With Seattle trailing by a goal in the second period, he worked a nice two-on-one play with Leth and found himself with some room.

Leth got him the puck in front of the Everett net and he banged it home to tie the game. With his first game under his belt, Bensmiller now has the entire week to practice and get to know his new teammates.

The game Saturday was similar to the one Friday in that the T-Birds took a lot of penalties and found themselves shorthanded on eight occasions.

Seattle took an early penalty but Leth chipped the puck to center ice and then won the race towards the Everett end. While fighting off a defender, he got the puck up and over Petit for a short-handed tally. The T-Birds took another penalty a couple of minutes later and did not fare as well as Riley Sutter was alone in front and knocked home a pass from behind the net.

Everett’s Brett Kemp put the Silvertips ahead later in the period, cashing in on another T-Bird penalty.

The T-Birds were outshot 12-1 in the first period but got back on track in the second period. They tied the game on Bensmiller’s marker but Everett answered that score eight seconds later on a goal by Sean Richards to retake the lead.

Sami Moilanen notched his third goal in two nights midway through the second to get Seattle back to square and send the game to the extra frame. After a scoreless overtime period, it was back to the shootout for the second straight game.

In the shootout, Stankowski stopped all three Everett shooters, which allowed Bensmiller to win it.

Notes

• For the third consecutive day, the T-Birds pulled off a trade. Saturday morning the club sent goalie Logan Flodell to the Saskatoon Blades for defenseman Anthony Bishop.

•New goalie Rylan Toth arrived in Everett Saturday after the game had begun, so he will make his Seattle debut next weekend in Portland.

• Seattle still has a decision to make in regards to its backup goalie situation. Both Gilchrist and Stankowski have been good but it’s hard to ignore what the latter has done in preseason. Only 16, Stankowski may have been Seattle’s best goalie. His performance on Saturday pushed his record in the preseason to 4-0 with a 1.66 goals-against-average and a save percentage of .945.

• Three of Seattle’s five preseason wins came via the shootout.

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