Thunderbirds offense silenced by Hitmen in 3-1 loss

KENT – The Seattle Thunderbirds controlled the play for most of the night Friday against the Calgary Hitmen yet did not find a way to win.

Despite out shooting Calgary to a tune of 28-16 the T-Birds couldn’t beat goalie Cody Porter and dropped a 3-1 decision in front of 5,342 ShoWare Center fans. Ethan Bear scored Seattle’s lone goal late in the third period to give the T-Birds life but a Calgary empty net score would put it away.

“There’s not much to say about it” captain Scott Eansor said after. “We were doing so many things right, we were back checking so hard and we just couldn’t put it away. Good enough is not good enough.”

The Hitmen were not able to sustain much of an offensive attack but they took advantage of their chances when they got them. Porter did his part to make sure that Seattle couldn’t capitalize on its chances while making 27 saves to pick up his fifth win for the Hitmen this season.

The T-Birds offense was limited somewhat by the loss of Sami Moilanen in the first period. He took a hit against the glass late in the frame and did not return.

“It’s a scramble from there,” Konowalchuk said about the loss of Moilanen. “He’s a good player for us but we still have a lot of guys who can step up.”

Despite being returned from the NHL’s New York Islanders on Wednesday the T-Birds were still playing without Mathew Barzal. Keegan Kolesar also is close to returning but was not in the lineup on Friday.

Even with those players out, the T-Birds winning formula seemed to be in place.

Their forecheck was strong and the Hitmen struggled to get the puck out of their own end for much of the night, especially in the first two periods. Seattle played physical and created offensive chances. They did everything you would want, except score.

“I’m a little bit surprised by the results,” Eansor said. “To be honest I thought we played a really strong game. We had so many shots and opportunities and give that goalie credit, he played pretty well.”

By not being able to capitalize on their chances and beat Porter the T-Birds let the Hitmen hang around. That cost the T-Birds as Calgary would take a lead on only its ninth shot of the game in the second period. On the power play, they struck quickly as Michael Zipp’s point shot was tipped past Rylan Toth by Beck Malenstyn to make the score 1-0 for the visitors.

“When they get a chance and are putting pucks on the net, we’ve got to get in the shot lanes better,” Konowalchuk said. “They are going to get in your end and get chances. When it’s your turn to get in the shot lanes, you’ve got to get in shot lanes.”

In the third period the T-Birds would make things tougher for themselves after a bad turnover led to Jakob Stukel firing a goal into a wide open net.

Konowalchuk pulled Toth for the extra attacker with just over three minutes left and it paid off right away. Bear got the puck at the blue line and quickly fired a wrist shot that beat Porter up high. That’s as close as Seattle would get however and Matteo Gennaro would put it away with a late goal in the empty net.

Seattle has had games like this before, where they control the play but can’t bury their chances. It was the third time this season that Seattle enjoyed a significant shot advantage but only managed to score one goal.

“We’ve got to score some goals, no doubt about it,” Konowalchuk said. “We have guys who are capable of putting the puck in the net, we need to score there.”

The T-Birds won’t have to wait long to try and wash the taste of this one away as they will head north to play the Vancouver Giants on Saturday.

“We’ve got another game tomorrow,” Eansor said. “That’s the good thing about hockey. You play a lot of games so we get a chance to redeem ourselves.”

Notes

• Konowalchuk said after the game that he was hoping to get Barzal in the lineup Saturday night in Vancouver.

• Ryan Gropp assisted on Bear’s goal and extended his point streak to seven games.

• Moilanen’s status for Saturday remains unknown as the coach did not have an update on his condition immediately following the game.

• The T-Birds had chances on the power play but went 0-for-5 on the night. One or two conversions, especially in the first 40 minutes, might have swung the game in their direction.

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