THUNDERBIRDS

Philp pots pair as Thunderbirds edge Royals to inch closer to playoff spot

Mar 8, 2019, 11:37 PM | Updated: Mar 9, 2019, 1:03 am

Noah Philp scored twice for Seattle as the Thunderbirds edged Victoria 2-1. (Brian Liesse/T-Birds)...

Noah Philp scored twice for Seattle as the Thunderbirds edged Victoria 2-1. (Brian Liesse/T-Birds)

(Brian Liesse/T-Birds)

KENT – The Seattle Thunderbirds were clinging to a slim 2-1 lead with under two minutes to go Friday night against the Victoria Royals and got a scare.

The Royals had pulled goalie Brock Gould for the extra skater and threw a puck towards the Seattle crease. Thunderbirds goalie Roddy Ross dove for it but it hit the mass of bodies in front of the net. When he finally spotted it, the puck was sitting in the crease, inches away from the goal line and a tie game.

“It was just ‘find it’,” Ross said of the play.

With some help from his teammates, the Thunderbirds found the puck and Ross got the whistle to stop the play. Seattle would hold on for the 2-1 victory and inch closer to securing a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“That was a big moment there and I saw it slipping in there and reached for it,” Ross, who made 19 saves in the win, said. “I saw it stop and I was just hoping it was our teammate’s blade and it was. It was a lucky play and good that we didn’t let that in…I was smiling after that.”

Seattle (27-28-6-2) was smiling at the fact its magic number is now down to three over the Kamloops Blazers to clinch at least a tie in the wild card race, four to win it outright.

It wasn’t easy Friday night but thanks to a pair of goals from Noah Philp, the Thunderbirds were able to grind out a critical victory.

“I didn’t think we played great tonight,” Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette said. “Had a good start and the first three quarters of the third were really good. Nothing is easy in this league, you’ve got to earn it. Some of our guys weren’t quite prepared enough. A little bit of a wake up call.”

After setting up three goals in last Sunday’s win over Tri-City, Philp turned goal scorer Friday and notched his 23rd and 24th markers of the season. The biggest of the two came at 17:47 of the second period to put Seattle up 2-0.

He got the puck in the neutral zone, made one move off the rush and beat Gould with a hard wrist shot to put Seattle up for good.

“A good play by both wingers,” Philp said. “I think one chipped it out then the other made a nice little move through a guy and I just tried to get it on net.”

Victoria (33-27-2-2) would cut that lead with a power-play goal with .1 second on the clock as Igor Martynov was able to pick up his 11th of the season when he scored from the slot.

That goal would be the only one that Ross would allow on the night as he picked up his 13th win on the season and pushed his record to 13-4-1-1. In his last three starts he’s posted a .944 save percentage and a 1.96 goals-against.

With critical points on the line each night, Seattle’s goalie is playing his best hockey.

“I’m feeling good in there,” Ross said. “It helps a lot that we’ve got the playoff mindset with our team. They’re doing great and that helps me a lot. I’m feeling good and looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the games.”

The Thunderbirds started the game strong.

They fired out of the gates and took 10 of the game’s first 11 shots. Philp put them up with his first of the night when he converted a slick passing play with the man advantage. He got the puck in the high slot and beat Gould with a wrister.

Things changed however, midway through the first period, the Royals pushed back and the game turned into a slog. Neither team was able to generate much offensive pressure.

“This is the WHL and nothing is ever easy,” O’Dette said. “We came close to not getting the two points that we needed. Some guys stepped up and were great, carried the load. Philper was one of them. We need to be better tomorrow.”

The Thunderbirds will move on to host the U.S. Division champion Everett Silvertips at the accesso ShoWare Center Saturday night with a chance to clinch the playoff spot. The Kamloops Blazers will be in Kelowna for a game against the Rockets.

If Seattle wins and the Blazers lose in regulation, then the Thunderbirds will have clinched the second wild card in the Western Conference.

“We’ve got to obviously tighten the reigns back up,” O’Dette said. “We know what Everett brings to the table. They’re a really good team and we’ll need to be a lot better tomorrow night.”

With the magic number dwindling down, the Thunderbirds could sit back and wait for Kamloops to lose. With just five games left in the season, nobody in the Seattle dressing room wants to wait for that to happen.

The Thunderbirds control their own fate and want to earn their spot.

“That’s our mindset,” Philp added. “We don’t want to lose a bunch of games and have them lose so we can squeak in. We want to take it for ourselves. That’s our mindset going into tomorrow.”

Notes

• Friday night saw the return of defenseman Cade McNelly who had been serving a four-game suspension.

• Philp’s two-goal game was the fifth multiple goal game he’s scored this season. Prior to this year, Philp had not scored more than one goal in a game.

• Seattle ended the night 1-for-3 on the power play and have scored with the man advantage in nine of its last 10 games.

• After being swept last year in the season series with Victoria, Friday’s win gave the Thunderbirds a 3-1 series win this year.

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