Thunderbirds come up short in overtime loss to Tri-City

KENT – Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette was choosing to focus on the positives after his club’s overtime loss to the Tri-City Americans Saturday night.

He was playing short two of his top-six forwards and had to juggle his line combinations. Seattle fell behind early, struggled on the power play, but still found a way to earn a point by forcing a tie in the third before finally falling in overtime.

“I liked our push back in the third,” O’Dette said. “We came out and out played them in the third, managed to tie the game and get that point. Short-staffed, some guys stepped up. Cody Savey stepped up and played well for us. We’re going to take the positives out of it and move forward.”

Seattle (6-2-2-0) struggled to sustain offense for the game’s first 40 minutes and were trailing 2-1 heading into the third period. Matthew Wedman would tie the game late before Tri-City’s Sasha Mutala would end things 1:46 into overtime to give the Americans a 3-2 win at the accesso ShoWare Center.

The Thunderbirds struggled on the power play for the second consecutive night, missing on two five-on-three chances, and with defensive zone coverage but managed a point in the standings and have yet to lose in regulation at home.

“We were building up momentum for sure,” Seattle captain Nolan Volcan said about the third period. “That third, we put the pressure on them and really had a good push. We have to figure out how to play like that for 60 minutes and we can start playing the way we should be.”

After being out shot 24-17 through the first two frames, Seattle would find some offensive life and held Tri-City (6-4-0-0) to just four shots in the third. Wedman would get the game square at 16:06 in the period when he beat goalie Beck Warm with a hard wrist shot coming off the wing.

The overtime didn’t last long as Mutala would weave around the zone and get a back-hand shot past Seattle netminder Liam Hughes to give the Americans their second win over Seattle in as many nights. Hughes would end the night with 27 saves and kept the Thunderbirds within striking distance.

“We’re not happy,” O’Dette added.  “Obviously the special teams didn’t capitalize on some really good opportunities. Those could have been the difference in the game but sometimes when you’re short-staffed and maybe it’s not your best night and you fight for that point, we’ll take that and move ahead.”

Seattle was again playing without Dillon Hamaliuk, who was injured on Tuesday night, and without Payton Mount. The rookie Mount was injured Friday night in Kennewick and took warm ups Saturday to try and go but was ultimately scratched.

That caused O’Dette to mix up his lineup and was part of the struggle Saturday night.

That struggle also carried over to the power play. Seattle ended 0-for-5 on the night and was tentative when it had the man advantage. Passes weren’t crisp, and shots were passed up on a couple of occasions.

“I think guys are maybe gripping their sticks a little bit right now,” Volcan said of the power play. “Its one of those things where we’re probably over thinking a little too much. We’re in a bit of a dry spot right now. It seems like we were dry at the start of the year, then got hot, and now we’re dry again. We just need to get back to the basics, shots from the point. I don’t think we’re shooting enough.”

A Seattle turnover led to the first goal of the game.

Tri-City worked the puck deep, got Hughes down and Mitchell Brown was able to fling the puck over him for his first goal of the year. The goal came at 7:36 of the first period and was the first shot of the game for the Americans.

Tri-City would double its lead three minutes later on a similar play. With a scramble in and around the Thunderbirds net, Riley Sawchuck found Hughes down again and would lift his sixth into an empty net.

The Thunderbirds cut into the lead early in the second period. Andrej Kukuca got the puck in deep and was stopped by Warm on two shots from in close. Kukuca got the rebound and skated around the net to slide it past Warm on a wrap around. The goal came at 2:17 and was the fourth of the season for the Slovakian import.

Seattle would not be able to generate any more offense until Wedman’s goal late in the third period.

Despite the loss, the Thunderbirds were able to earn a point on a night where they faced some adversity and did not play their best. While not happy with losing a point, O’Dette liked the compete level of his club.

“We’re working hard,” he said. “When you see guys stepping up and blocking shots and sticking up for each other we can be happy with the battle. There’s a lot to fix in the D-Zone, I think that will be the biggest thing. With coverage, communicating and switches, things like that. That will be a focal point this week.”

The Thunderbirds will get a full week of practice to heal up and prepare for Friday’s home match up with the Kamloops Blazers.

Notes

• With Hamaliuk and Mount out due to injury, Seattle was short a forward on Saturday. Defenseman Cade McNelly played some shifts up front to fill in.

• Seattle’s top line of Wedman, Volcan, and Kukuca contributed to both goals and played well. Volcan says they took it upon themselves to step up, knowing the T-Birds were short-handed. “We want to be a dominant line in this league and I think we’re really starting to come together a bit more and playing the way we should be,” he said. “On a night like this I think it does fall on our shoulders to step up and we want to keep the ball rolling.”

• Noah Philp was held off the score sheet Saturday which snaps his seven-game point streak. He recorded 13 points over the seven games.

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