THUNDERBIRDS

Make it three straight as Thunderbirds end road swing strong with win in Swift Current

Jan 13, 2019, 6:57 AM

Seattle's Henrik Rybinski battles Swift Current's Ethan O'Rourke for the puck during the Thunderbir...

Seattle's Henrik Rybinski battles Swift Current's Ethan O'Rourke for the puck during the Thunderbirds 5-3 win (David Zammit/Broncos)

(David Zammit/Broncos)

For the first 40 minutes of Saturday’s game against the Swift Current Broncos, Seattle goalie Cole Schwebius had a pretty easy go of it as his mates built a 4-1 lead.

He would get a lot busier in the third period. The grind of playing four games in five nights caught up with the Thunderbirds skaters and fatigue set in. The Broncos pushed the pace and forced Schwebius to make 18 saves in the third, more than the total shots he had faced the previous two.

He hung in and made key saves to hold off the Bronco charge as the Thunderbirds would win their third straight game by a 5-3 score.

“He was great,” Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette said. “He stood tall there in the third and made some big saves to keep us in the game and ensured that we’d have a happy bus.”

While Schwebius saved things in the third, Seattle (15-21-4-0) was paced offensively by two goals from Sean Richards to get the win. The newly acquired 20-year-old has three goals in his last two games with Seattle.

Richards opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds just under five minutes into the game when he won a puck battle along the boards. He quickly took it into the high slot and beat Swift Current goalie Isaac Poulter with a wrist shot. Later, in the second period, he scored again as he converted a quick passing play. That goal came five minutes after Swift Current had cut into a 3-0 lead on a power-play goal from Tanner Nagel.

Since joining the club, Richards has fit in well.

“He’s very versatile,” O’Dette said of Richards. “He can put the puck in the net, he can defend, he can kill penalties and he can obviously agitate, as we were well aware of. He’s a smart player and he knows how to play the game and a veteran presence on the team, in key situations, has been a big boost for us.”

Seattle would start the game with the same game plan that has been working for them of late. Forechecking hard while getting shots and bodies in front of the net. They would end up outshooting the Broncos 27-14 over the first two frames.

Swift Current (8-30-2-1) turned the tides in the third but couldn’t overcome the early deficit.

“We liked the first 40,” O’Dette said. “Obviously the last 20 is not how you draw it up to close a game out. Our guys were a little bit tired. It’s obviously been a long road trip. We’ll learn from that third period but all in all we’re happy with the win and happy to get back home.”

The Broncos closed the gap in the third when Matthew Stanley scored at the 7:51 mark. That made it a 4-2 game and gave Swift Current some momentum. They blitzed the Seattle net the rest of the way but Andrej Kukuca would strike to stem the tide.

Kukuca got behind the Broncos defense on a breakaway and scored his 12th of the year with a nice top shelf shot. Since returning from the World Junior Championships, Kukuca has scored five times in five games.

“Playing with the best players in the world there, during that tournament, has obviously given him some confidence,” O’Dette said of the Slovakian import. “He’s got a little bit of a swagger coming back and its leading to him filling the net. It’s nice to see that from him, hopefully he stays hot.”

Seattle built its lead on the two Richards goals along with markers from Jaret Tyszka and Tyler Carpendale. In net, Schwebius would end the contest having kicked out 31 Broncos shots to pick up his second win of the season.

The Thunderbirds headed back home after the game and do so with a 4-2 record on the swing. Considering the trip started with them trading three key players away and bringing in a slew of new faces, it was beyond a successful swing.

“It’s pretty grueling trip,” O’Dette said. “Especially with the whirlwind at the deadline and bringing in the new faces. It takes a lot out of you but credit to the guys and a lot of credit to the new guys to give us that energy and fit in like they did. It’s definitely given us a new feeling in the locker room and we’re excited to get back and take on our division with our new team.”

Seattle will have a week off to recover from the trip and get ready for a stretch run where they will try to secure a playoff spot. The trip started with them in the basement of the Western Conference but they return home just one point behind the Prince George Cougars for the last playoff spot and out of the conference cellar.

The new players will have a few days to get acclimated to their new billets and city and O’Dette will finally get to have a couple of practices with the new team. But, that won’t come until they’ve taken advantage of some well-earned rest.

“We’ll reconvene on Tuesday,” the coach said.

Notes

• All five Seattle goals came at even strength as the Thunderbirds were not awarded a power play on the night. Swift Current was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

• Tyszka had a good swing by scoring three goals to go with an assist in the six games. He finished strong with two scores and an assist in the last two contests.

• Newcomer Henrik Rybinski has four assists in the five games he’s played with Seattle. While he hasn’t found the back of the net yet he is just one point away from matching his total in 14 games with Medicine Hat at the start of the year.

• Since trading away their leading goal scorer, Zack Andrusiak, the Thunderbirds are averaging 4.67 goals-per-game. That number is over a goal better than their season long average of 3.4 goals-per-game.

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