THUNDERBIRDS

Big third period propels T-Birds past Silvertips

Oct 22, 2017, 8:04 PM | Updated: 10:58 pm

EVERETT – Seattle Thunderbirds center Donovan Neuls didn’t figure in any of the scoring at the Xfinity Arena Sunday night but he had a big impact.

Due to injuries amongst the Seattle defensive corps during the game, Neuls had to play on defense for several shifts. The Thunderbirds survived that and then used a big third period to beat the Everett Silvertips 4-3.

“I just didn’t want to get beat wide,” Neuls said with a smile after. “I just tried to use angles like I do as forward. I didn’t get scored on so that’s all that matters.”

Dillon Hamaliuk scored twice for Seattle (5-4-0-1) as the Thunderbirds broke open a 2-2 tie early in the third period. In perhaps his strongest outing as a T-Bird, Hamaliuk’s goal late in the second period was his biggest as it evened the game and stopped some momentum that Everett (4-9-1-0) had picked up.

“He’s been buzzing around and creating opportunities for himself and his linemates,” Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette said of Hamaliuk. “It was nice to see him break through and get those first two goals, hopefully there’s more to come.”

The second period saw Seattle lose Turner Ottenbreit four a 14-minute stretch due to penalty after he became engaged with Everett’s Montana Onyebuchi. Both players were assessed a double-minor for roughing and a ten-minute misconduct. Ottenbreit was playing his first game since serving a six-game suspension and was livid with the call, as was the entire Seattle bench.

O’Dette said they used the second intermission to get focused for the final 20 minutes.

“We just had to regain our composure,” the coach said. “It was nice to get that intermission and try to settle down, kind of reset some of the lines and D-pairs because we had guys out.”

Seattle came out in the third period buzzing,  would score twice to build a 4-2 lead and then held on, despite a late Everett tally, to snap its two-game losing streak. All game long, and especially down the stretch, goalie Matt Berlin was sharp, ending the night with 31 saves to pick up his fourth win of the year.

A night after they struggled to finish numerous chances, Seattle cashed in on its first shot of the game. Hamaliuk intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and raced in on goal where he found a way to beat goalie Blake Lyda with one hand on his stick. The goal came just 45 seconds into the game and was Hamaliuk’s first goal of the year.

“Just thought I would drive it wide,” Hamaliuk said of the goal. “I knew the young goalie was in net so I just tried to take it to the paint and keep jamming.”

The two teams would play a second period that featured a little bit of everything.

Seattle got into some penalty trouble and Everett’s Connor Dewar would tie the game when he flung a shot from the point while on the power play at 11:03. It was after that goal that the skirmish at the Seattle bench between Ottenbreit and Everett’s Onyebuchi occurred.

That led to another Everett power play and Dewar would strike again when his centering pass deflected off a Seattle defenseman and past Berlin at 15:37 to give the Silvertips a lead.

Emotions were running high at that point for the Thunderbirds, who were upset with the officials and the Silvertips.

Hamaliuk would calm everything down ten seconds after Dewar’s second goal. He flew down the wing and flung a puck that Lyda seemed to glove, but it snuck past him for Hamaliuk’s second of the night.

In the third period, the Thunderbirds took the lead early, at the 1:07 mark, when Zack Andrusiak found Noah Philp alone in front of the Everett net. Philp fired a quick shot that beat Lyda for his third goal of the season.

Continuing to push the pace, Seattle extended the lead with a power-play conversion of its own a minute-and-a-half later. Austin Strand scored his fifth power-play goal of the year with a shot from the point to give the Thunderbirds a 4-2 lead.

The Silvertips made things interesting by scoring their third power-play goal of the night at 12:22 of the third period when Bryce Kindopp slid a puck past a prone Berlin for his third tally. Everett could not find the equalizer however and skated off the ice with its fourth straight loss, and third straight at home.

“It was a roller coaster ride of a game,” O’Dette said. “A lot of ups and downs, we faced some adversity and guys bound together, stuck together, and found a way to win.”

The Thunderbirds will now hit the road for a six-game swing through the Central Division. It all starts on Friday as they will visit the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C..

Getting a win in the game before that long trip was reason to smile for the team after the game.

“It’s huge,” Neuls said of the win. “It makes the road trip a lot more fun when you start off. We’re in Cranbrook next.”

Notes

• Neuls said he had played defense once before in a preseason game and O’Dette said that it’s not surprising to see him step up and help the team when asked. “He’s that type of guy willing to what the team needs,” O’Dette said. “That’s what being a leader means. You’re willing to do what the team needs and that was one of those situations.”

• Injuries to Jarret Tyszka and Aaron Hyman led to Neuls being forced to the blue line. After the game, O’Dette didn’t have any details as to the severity of either injury.

• Everett ended the night 3-for-6 on the power play while Seattle was 1-for-4.

• Sami Moilanen picked up an assist on Philp’s goal in the third period which extended his point-streak to seven straight games.

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