Thunderbirds vs. Everett: How the series was won

As Seattle awaits the outcome of Tuesday night’s Game 7 between B.C. Division rivals Victoria and Kelowna, we take a look back at how the Thunderbirds won their own second-round playoff series over the rival Everett Silvertips:

Puck possession. With the exception of Game 1, which was not coincidentally Seattle’s only loss of the series, the T-Birds dominated puck possession for the entire series. You expect Seattle to hold on to the puck with its top line, led by puck possession maestro Mathew Barzal, but all four of Seattle’s lines were able to keep the puck in the offensive zone the majority of the time.

Scott Eansor, Nolan Volcan and Donovan Neuls may have been the T-Birds’ most dominant group of forwards. Matched up against Everett’s top scorers, their primary duty was to keep the puck out of their own net. They did just that and so much more, hemming the Silvertips deep in their own end, wearing down their defense and combining for three goals and six assists in the series.

Even Seattle’s fourth line, if you can call it that after the addition of NHL prospect Ryan Gropp in Game 4, was able to trap the Silvertips, getting contributions each night from players like Matthew Wedman and Josh Uhrich. While official puck possession numbers aren’t available, the shot counts tell the story. In Game 1, Everett outshot Seattle 29-26, the only time the Silvertips would do so in the series. In Games 2 through 5 combined, the T-Birds outshot the Silvertips 143 to 82, averaging over 15 shots more than their opponent per game.

Health. For the most part, Seattle had its complete roster for the series. After a Game 1 that saw Jerret Smith unexpectedly out with injury, Gropp out for the eighth consecutive game with injury and Keegan Kolesar serving the final game of his two-game suspension incurred in the first round, the T-Birds were as shorthanded as they’ve been in a while and it showed.

When Smith and Kolesar returned for Game 2 and Gropp for Game 4, it was a different story. Seattle plugged three players with NHL aspirations into its lineup and won every game from that point on.

The story was different on the Everett side. After Game 2, the Silvertips were without Montreal Canadiens first-rounder Noah Juulsen as well as 20-year-old forward Carson Stadnyk for the rest of the series. Juulsen is Everett’s top offensive d-man, and Stadnyk was one of its top scorers during the regular season. With both of them removed from the lineup, the Silvertips were less physical and struggled to muster much of an attack offensively.

Defense. Everett has been known all season for its defense, keeping pucks out of its own net and scraping together just enough offense to get by.

Once again, the Silvertips were solid defensively (with the exception of Seattle’s 5-0 Game 3 victory), but Seattle was better. Surrendering only 22.2 shots per game, the T-Birds didn’t give Everett much of a chance to do anything. The forecheck was strong throughout the entire series, making breakouts the other way difficult.

When Everett did get the puck out of its own zone, Seattle’s forwards were not far behind, pestering them through the neutral zone and creating a number of turnovers that sent play back the other way.

On the rare occasion that the Silvertips gained possession of the puck in Seattle’s zone, the T-Birds’ defense forced their forwards to the outside, meaning their shot attempts were turned away with relative ease. The forwards shadowed Everett’s defenseman consistently, meaning shots from the point were few and far between.

Goaltender Landon Bow didn’t face a ton of rubber in the series, but he made his saves count, particularly in Seattle’s 2-1 Game 4 victory. He only saw 16 shots all game, but made a few highlight-reel saves, most memorably in the third period, that allowed the T-Birds to eek out the victory that gave them a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

Road warriors. Without a doubt, Seattle was far better at home this season than on the road. When the T-Birds lost Game 1 at the ShoWare Center, it meant that they had surrendered the home-ice advantage they worked so hard at the end of the regular season to gain.

Things turned around quickly as the T-Birds won Game 2 at home, but they then moved up to Everett, where winning one road game in a hostile environment may have been enough to tilt the series back in their favor. As it turns out, the T-Birds wouldn’t be content with just one road victory, winning both of their games at Xfinity Arena to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series with a chance to clinch at home.

There was a loud contingent of T-Birds fans in attendance for both road games, which no doubt provided a spark for the Seattle players on the ice. Seattle is now a perfect 4-0 away from the ShoWare Center in the playoffs and maintains the best overall record of any team still standing.

Everett is another team that was very good at home during the regular season, so taking that advantage away in the series was pivotal.