T-Brids blanked 1-0 by Carter Hart, Everett Silvertips
Jan 20, 2017, 10:46 PM | Updated: Jan 21, 2017, 10:26 am
EVERETT – Playing for the third time in a week, there was a lot of emotion Friday night between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips.
The emotion began in the pregame warmups when the linesmen had to position themselves in between the two teams as there was a lot of jawing. That carried over into the game, as two scraps broke out in the first five minutes.
“There was a lot of emotion,” Seattle head coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “They came out and tried to push, we pushed right back. It’s a loud crowd but I thought our guys handled their composure.”
That emotion set the tone for an intense, playoff-type affair that saw the Silvertips hold on to win 1-0 behind 33 saves from Carter Hart. It was Hart’s second shutout against Seattle this year and ended the T-Birds’ six-game win streak.
Everett (29-6-7-1) picked up all the offense it needed on a first period power-play goal by Orrin Centazzo. It was Centazzo’s fourth of the year and came when he ripped a point shot through traffic to beat Rylan Toth.
Toth played a strong game for Seattle, although he was not tested as often as his counterpart and made just 13 saves.
“It was a pretty good effort,” Konowalchuk said, “other than scoring. We needed to bury some of our chances. (Hart) made some good saves but we had time there to maybe put one under the bar.”
Seattle (24-15-3-1) had the better of the play on the night and outshot the Silvertips 33-14. Hart, the reigning CHL Goalie of the Year, showed why he is so highly regarded with big saves all night.
Nolan Volcan had two big chances for the T-Birds that could have swung the game. Early in the first he was stopped by a Hart glove, and then on a power play late in the third period he broke in close. But once again, Hart flashed the glove to keep the T-Birds at bay.
The Silvertips have not allowed a power-play goal since the end of December and killed off all four Seattle chances on Friday.
“Early I thought we had some good looks,” Konowalchuk said about the power play. “I didn’t like our last one, I thought we could have generated more there.”
Mid-way through the third period it looked like the T-Birds had tied the game when Luke Ormsby poked a puck into the Everett net during a melee in front of Hart. The official quickly waived his arms to say that the goal would not count.
The play was not reviewed as the official blew the whistle once he lost sight of the puck in the crease.
“The ref lost the puck,” Konowalchuk said. “Obviously, he’s not supposed to lose the puck. Tight games like this, tight games, you don’t want to make mistakes like that.”
Seattle made another late charge with an extra skater on and came close on a couple occasions, but Hart would continue to deny them.
The loss put the T-Birds 14 points back of the Silvertips for first place in the U.S. Division and broke a streak of three straight wins against Everett.
The T-Birds will get a chance to get back in the win column when they host the Vancouver Giants at the ShoWare Center on Saturday.
Notes
• The shutout was the 16th in Hart’s career, and he picked up win No. 72, which ties him for second most in Silvertips’ history with Austin Lotz.
• The T-Birds’ Ryan Gropp had his five-game scoring streak snapped.
• Seattle again played without leading scorer Scott Eansor and center Mathew Wedman. Everett was without 19-goal man Dominic Zwerger.
• The league fined the T-Birds $500 for a warm-up violation that occurred before their Jan. 17 game against Everett. The league did not mention what occurred to earn that fine, but the emotions have clearly been amped up in this rivalry.
