THUNDERBIRDS

Thunderbirds generate offense but come up short in shootout loss to the Tri-City Americans

Jan 19, 2019, 7:27 AM | Updated: 3:08 pm

Seattle's Noah Philp battles with Tri-City's Riley Sawchuck during the Thunderbirds 3-2 shootout lo...

Seattle's Noah Philp battles with Tri-City's Riley Sawchuck during the Thunderbirds 3-2 shootout loss Friday (Judy Simpson/Americans)

(Judy Simpson/Americans)

Despite not winning the game Friday night in Kennewick, the Seattle Thunderbirds pulled themselves into playoff position with a loss in the shootout.

The Thunderbirds got the point in the standings thanks to heavily out shooting the Tri-City Americans but couldn’t capitalize enough on their chances. Americans goalie Beck Warm would stop 39 shots to give his club a 3-2 win.

“I thought we played a pretty good game,” Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette said. “I think we’ll probably have out chanced them with zone time and all that stuff. Their goalie played well and we didn’t capitalize on our chances.”

While the loss snapped Seattle’s three-game win streak, it does extend its regulation unbeaten streak to four and caught the idle Prince George Cougars for eighth in the Western Conference. Seattle (15-21-4-1) still has a game in hand with the Cougars.

The Thunderbirds poured the rubber on Warm all night, outshooting Tri-City 41-24 but could only garner goals from Payton Mount and Noah Philp in the loss. Seattle had its chances on the power-play but would go 1-for-6 on the night.

It was a power-play that looked sloppy at times with some casual passes but also created some chances, including the goal from Mount, his fourth of the year.

“I thought our execution wasn’t there at times on the power play,” O’Dette said. “We did have some moments where we were moving it well and peppering their net a bit. We did get the one goal but I thought we could have executed and moved the puck a little bit better to get a little bit more from our power play.”

Up 2-1, Tri-City (22-16-2-1) would get the game tied on a goal by Parker AuCoin at 9:41 of the third period. The marker came after a scramble in front of Roddy Ross and just trickled over the goal line. Ross made 22 saves in his fourth start and still has yet to lose a WHL game in regulation.

With the score tied at two, neither team could push one across before overtime. The two teams played a cautious overtime period, only combining for three shots and that forced the shootout.

Warm would stop both Seattle shooters he faced while Nolan Yaremko and AuCoin would score for the Americans to give them the decision. It was the first shootout for Seattle on the season and the first time Ross has participated in a WHL shootout.

“It’s all experience for him,” O’Dette said of his rookie goalie. “He’s coming across a lot of new experiences for the first time. He played a great game, he’s solid in there. It comes down to a skills competition and they’ve got some good shooters that can capitalize.”

There were positives for Seattle as it continued to create offense by generating shots and it resulted in a big road point.

“We’re carrying the play a little bit more than we have in the past,” O’Dette said about his club. “It leads to more shots on net, more opportunities and obviously less time in our end. The shots against have been down as well. We’re trending in the right direction. We’re trying to catch these guys and we don’t want to lose points to them but a point on the road, we didn’t come away empty handed.”

The Thunderbirds second line, with Philp, Sean Richards and Henrik Rybinski was dangerous all night. Philp picked up the goal while Richards chipped in with a pair of assists.

Moving forward, having that second line perform will help Seattle down the stretch.

“They’ve got some good chemistry going right now,” O’Dette said. “Philp has a tendency to make his line go, regardless of who he plays with, he’s playing some good hockey. Richards has fit in seamlessly, Rybinski has been great on that line as well. We’re pretty happy with our depth that we can roll out there with all four of our lines.”

The Thunderbirds fell behind in the second period after a bad turnover resulted in a three-on-one that was converted by Tri-City’s Riley Sawchuck at 3:06 of the second period. The Thunderbirds would bounce back from that and dominate the rest of the period.

Seattle out shot the Americans 17-6 in the middle frame and tied the game on Mount’s goal, his fourth, at 13:22. Richards and Philp would team up to give Seattle the lead at 17:41 of the third with a nice passing play that resulted in Philp scoring his 16th of the season.

The Thunderbirds will take the point and return home where they will play their first home game since December on Saturday against the Victoria Cougars.

Notes

• Philp scored his 16th goal Friday on seven shots at the net. Since the trades have given him new linemates he’s been on a hot streak with eight points in the last four games.

• Richards continued to show that he is a guy who can contribute up and down the ice. He set up both of Seattle’s goals Friday and since joining the Thunderbirds has three goals and five points in five games.

• While Rybinski didn’t get his name on the scoresheet Friday, he was good. He generated several scoring chances, killed penalties and was a noticeable player all night.

• There was an amusing moment prior to the start of the game as the Americans were honoring the United States military by bringing a Humvee on the ice. After the pregame ceremonies, the vehicle would not start and the Tri-City players eventually had to band together and push it off the ice.

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