Roddy Ross, Nolan Volcan lead Thunderbirds past Everett

KENT – Hockey coaches preach hitting the net with shots, but the Seattle Thunderbirds benefited from a missed shot Saturday night against the Everett Silvertips.

With the score tied at 1-1 and the clock under three minutes left, Seattle’s Matthew Wedman took a shot that went well wide of the Everett net. It banged off the end boards however and rebounded out the other side. Nolan Volcan was there and with Silvertips goalie Dustin Wolf caught out of position the Seattle captain snapped a shot into the net to give the Thunderbirds a late 2-1 lead.

It was a big goal and it almost didn’t happen.

“I almost changed, and he almost dumped it in,” Volcan, who scored both of Seattle’s goals Saturday, said. “Luckily we both made the right decision to keep going on the play.”

Goalie Roddy Ross would make sure the lead stuck as the Thunderbirds won 2-1 for their third straight win and cut their magic number to clinch a playoff spot down to two points.

Volcan picked up goals 22 and 23 while Ross stopped 46 Everett shots to pick up his 14^th win of the season. After struggling against its I-5 rival to start the season, Seattle (28-28-6-2) now has won three of four against the Silvertips while picking up points in its last seven games overall.

“Wasn’t easy,” Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette said. “I thought we played a pretty good game. We kept a lot of stuff outside, on the perimeter. Not a lot of second and third opportunities. We probably would have liked to be a little bit more generating in their end but, obviously they’re a good defensive team. Credit to our guys, we hung tough the whole way, stayed the course and got that late goal. Managed to pull it out.”

With Volcan providing the offense, Ross, once again, back stopped the Thunderbirds to a win.

The rookie goalie has only allowed three goals in his last 184 minutes of action – a goals-against of .98. Saturday night, he not only stopped 46 shots, but the puck stuck to him. His rebound control was excellent and didn’t allow Everett (46-15- 2-2) many second look opportunities.

“Just a calming force back there,” O’Dette said of his goalie. “So many pucks gobbled up and plays killed that could have turned into more opportunities. That’s a big reason why we didn’t give up a lot of point blank, second opportunities because he was really good with his rebound control and always in position.”

Since arriving in Seattle on New Year’s Day, Ross’ demeanor has stood out.

On the ice, he always seems calm in control, despite the chaos of the game around him. Saturday night was no different.

He was especially calm during the last two minutes of the game when Everett was looking to tie the during a 6-on-4 power-play chance. Ross made all the saves he needed to and once again, controlled his rebounds.

“I never really notice it,” Ross calmly stated about his rebound control. “I’m just in the zone and playing. Whatever is happening is happening.”

His bid for a first WHL shutout was spoiled when Everett’s Robbie Holmes scored at 14:37 of the second period to tie the game at 1-1. The goal had to be reviewed as the referee initially waived it off, thinking that Holmes had batted the puck in with his hand.

After the review it was determined that wasn’t the case and the goal stood.

“I saw it hit my blocker and kind of lost it a little,” Ross said of the Holmes’ goal. “Then it turns out he had it, I dove, and he got it in. Good play by him.”

Volcan had given the Thunderbirds the lead earlier in the period when he scored his first of the night on Seattle’s lone power play.

Simon Kubicek fired a shot from the point and Volcan was able to get his stick on it, in front of the net, to deflect it past Wolf.

In a big game, the Thunderbirds got a big effort from their captain on Saturday.

“Massive,” O’Dette said of Volcan. “When you need your captain to be there, he’s there. We needed him tonight.”

Volcan has played in 49 playoff games with the Thunderbirds and knows what the post season is like. Saturday wasn’t a playoff game but with the 5,776 in attendance at the accesso ShoWare Center in full throat, the game felt like the playoffs had started early.

“We always get up to play Everett and I thought we played well,” Volcan said. “We’re starting to find that consistent game and usually bring it every night. It was big, everyone bought in and we got the win.”

When the final horn sounded Saturday, the Thunderbirds had to wait to see if they had clinched the Western Conference’s final wild card slot. It wouldn’t be though, as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Kelowna Rockets to stay alive.

The Thunderbirds magic number is down to just two points and they’ll have a shot of clinching the spot Tuesday night when they host the B.C. Division champion Vancouver Giants.

Notes

• Seattle was without forward Andrej Kukuca Saturday night. The Slovakian import had to return home to complete testing required for him to finish school. He will miss Seattle’s next two games. The Thunderbirds missed his offense but got contributions from the rest of the lineup. “I thought some guys stepped up,” O’Dette said. “I thought (Sean) Richards had a good game for us. It did hurt our depth to have Andrej gone. He’s been our best player against Everett statistically, he’s played them really well. But credit to the guys, (Payton) Mount stepped up, (Tyler Carpendale) as well, Jaxan (Kaluski) was good.”

• Seattle went 1-for-1 on the power play while killing off all three Silvertips chances.

• The accesso ShoWare staff have taken to playing country music star Aaron Pritchett’s ‘Let’s get rowdy’ when ever Ross makes big saves. “I like that one,” Ross said with a smile.

• Everett is in a race for the top spot in the Western Conference. If the Silvertips win the conference, then they will play Seattle in the first round. The last four games between the two have already featured playoff intensity. “Pretty much every game we’ve played against Everett after the trade deadline, they’ve all been tight,” Volcan said. “They’ve all been fun. I’m sure the fans enjoyed it, so did we.”

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