Thunderbirds offense continues surge in rout of Oil Kings
Oct 13, 2018, 10:37 PM | Updated: Oct 14, 2018, 12:45 am
(Brian Liesse/T-Birds)
KENT – Zack Andrusiak had just a sliver of net to shoot at late in the second period Saturday night.
With the score tied at three and 20 seconds left, the 20-year-old winger flung a shot towards Edmonton Oil Kings goalie Dylan Myskiw from a short angle, nearly at the goal line. The puck somehow found its way over Myskiw’s shoulder and into the net.
“I tried him a few times, short side, right before that,” Andrusiak said of his fifth goal of the year. “He stopped me on the first one and the second I caught a little bit of the post, so I tried it again and luckily it worked out.”
The goal gave Seattle a 4-3 lead and it would go on to add three more in the third period to skate away to a big 7-3 win at the accesso ShoWare Center. It was the third straight win for the Thunderbirds, a streak that has seen them score 20 goals.
“Anytime you can end the period on a goal like that and snatch the momentum before the intermission, that’s big,” Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette said of Andrusiak’s goal. “Those guys played hard, give them some credit.”
There were plenty of offensive stars for Seattle (5-1-1-0) against a road weary Oil Kings team.
Noah Philp scored two more goals, coming off his four-goal performance Wednesday, while Dillon Hamaliuk added a goal and two assists and Jake Lee picked up four assists. Defenseman Simon Kubicek added two goals and has four in his last two games.
“We’re pretty happy with ourselves but we still know we’ve got better,” Philp, who recorded his 100th career point, said. “We’ve been giving up lots of goals as well, but we’ve been scoring. I think we need to bear down a little more defensively.”
Edmonton (5-6-0-1) ended its U.S. Division road trip with five losses and will be happy to put the division in its rear view mirror.
The Oil Kings did show some resolve on Saturday however. After Seattle had built a 3-1 lead in the second period, the Oil Kings fought back to tie the game in the second on goals by Liam Keeler and Scott Atkinson.
That set up the Andrusiak goal to give Seattle the lead and some big momentum.
“That was huge, going into the third with the lead, we love that,” Philp said. “We’re able to shut it down pretty good. That was a great play from ‘Andy, he’s got a great shot and he showed it there.”
Kubicek got the Thunderbirds on the board at 3:40 of the first period when his wrist shot found its way through traffic. Edmonton would tie the 44 seconds later on a goal from former Everett Silvertip Brett Kemp.
The Thunderbirds would take the lead on another goal from Kubicek, this time a big slap shot at 3:26 of the second period. It was his fourth of the season and fourth in the last two games. Hamaliuk would then add to the Seattle lead on a nice play while killing a penalty.
He got a feed from Philp and turned on the jets to beat Myskiw for his sixth of year. Hamaliuk didn’t kill penalties last season but has done a good job doing so this year and cashed in Saturday.
“For him, with his speed, he’s valuable on the penalty kill,” O’Dette said. “He doesn’t have a lot of experience doing it but guys that are fast are naturally good penalty killers even if they don’t have the X’s and O’s down. They can get on the opposition quickly and create turnovers.”
After Andrusiak gave Seattle the late lead in the second, the Thunderbirds power play took over in the third.
Philp scored twice on the power play as Seattle went 2-for-4 with the man advantage. The Thunderbirds are 9-for-16 on the power play in the last three games, with most of those goals coming from the so-called second unit.
“The way the Philp unit is playing, I’ve said it before, I think its 1A and 1B,” O’Dette added.
Hamaliuk and Lee assisted on both of the power-play goals as Lee’s four assists give him seven in last two games. He now has 10 points on the season.
“He’s keeping it simple and making the right plays,” O’Dette said of his NHL Draft eligible defenseman. “He’s being rewarded for that and it helps when you’re the guy up top and the power play’s clicking. You’re getting those assists by being out there and making smart plays. He’s not trying to invent new plays, he’s just making the plays that are there and being rewarded for it.”
Andrusiak added a second goal late in the third to round out the scoring for Seattle.
The win vaulted Seattle into a first-place tie in the division with the Portland Winterhawks. The season is still young, but the Thunderbirds are playing with a ton of confidence.
“We’ve got to keep playing the right way and make sure we play both ways on the puck and hopefully good things keep happening for us,” Andrusiak said.
Notes
• Liam Hughes picked up the win for Seattle, his fifth of the year, by making 38 saves on the night. Edmonton’s Myskiw stopped 31 Seattle shots in the loss.
• Seattle had defenseman Reece Harsch back in the lineup Saturday. He had missed the previous two games after suffering an upper body injury in Everett.
• Hamaliuk has seven points in his last two contests as his red hot start to the season continues. He has goals in six of Seattle’s seven games and has points in all seven. He also scored in the last regular season game of the previous year for an eight-game regular season point streak.
• Lee has seven assists in his last two games and has matched his point total (10) in 64 games during his rookie season last year.