T-Birds hold off Silvertips for 3-2 shootout win

KENT – To say the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds play a few tight games each year would be an understatement.

Every game between the two rivals is close, and Friday night was no different.

The two teams squared off at the ShoWare Center and for the 12th time in their last 18 meetings played a one-goal game. Seattle got the win 3-2 in the shootout after their seventh shooter, Jerret Smith, beat Everett goalie Carter Hart with a nice, quick move at the net.

“I’ve practiced that (move) in practice all the time,” Smith said. “Kind of fake shot, go backhand and then forehand and it paid off in a game.”

At the other end, Seattle goalie Taran Kozun shut the door on Cole MacDonald to seal the victory as the T-Birds bench rushed on to the ice to celebrate to the cheers of the 4,572 fans in the building. Kozun has been particularly good in the shootout all year, and the T-Birds lead the league in shootout wins as a result. Friday was their seventh and Kozun has been in net for all of them.

“I love it,” the goaltender said about the shootout. “It’s fun to do in practice and it’s more fun to do it in front of 5,000 fans. It’s good to hear them cheering. It’s a fun time for me to be the center of attention for a little bit.”

Kozun ended the night with 21 saves, and Roberts Lipsbergs paced the T-Birds offensively by scoring twice.

In a game between potential first-round foes, Friday’s game had a playoff atmosphere. Room on the ice was sparse, the checks had a little extra bite to them, and goals were tough to come by.

“I thought we played a pretty strong game,” head coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “Ended up going to a shoot out, they had a couple of chances at the end and capitalized on one. Overall I thought we played a good 60 minutes and gave ourselves a chance to win the game.”

Everett earned a point in the standings and still leads the U.S. Division by three points over Portland. The Winterhawks have two games in hand, however, and control the race. Seattle is solidly in third place and will end up playing whichever team loses out.

If It’s Everett, count on more close, one-goal games.

Seattle got on the board first after Everett’s Ivan Nikolishin was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for diving. Matt Barzal then found Lipsbergs in the slot on the power play and the Latvian fired a shot past Hart for his 13th tally of the season. The call for diving is one that you don’t see very often and Konowalchuk has been critical of officiating in the past for overlooking it.

“It was good to see an embellishment call when they dive,” he said. “It’s the best way to get rid of diving, by penalizing the guys. It’s one thing to send letters and talk about it but every ref knows who dives and who doesn’t dive … That ends up the one goal difference in the game.”

It wouldn’t take Everett long to get the game square, however. The Silvertips scored a minute later when Noah Juulsen blasted a shot through traffic that glanced off a T-Birds defender and trickled over the goal line.

With the score tied at one, both teams locked into a tight-checking, grinding game. Seattle was strong defensively and it started with its shutdown line. The line of Donovan Neuls, Scott Eansor and Nolan Volcan were all over the ice early on Friday and once again shut down their opponents’ top line.

When they are at the best the T-Birds are strong on the forecheck. Friday night against the Silvertips they were just that. From the start of the game Seattle was in the face of Everett defenders, making it hard to get any sustained offense.

“It was something we focused on a little bit during the week,” Konowalchuk said. “Not just getting on the forecheck, but being smart on the forecheck … We were able to get into the forecheck because we were good with the puck in the neutral zone.”

The T-Birds forecheck was relentless all night and in the end began to wear down the Silvertips.

The game would remain tied at one until the third period. Mid way through the period Evan Wardley flung a wrist shot that Lipsbergs tipped in for his second of the night. That got the crowd going, and it looked like Seattle was going to guide home the win.

The Silvertips kept pushing however, desperate to get a win, and managed to score with two minutes left when Carson Stadnyk beat Kozun on the short side. That tied the game and sent it into overtime.

Neither team scored in overtime and the two teams went to an extended shootout. There was some controversy as it appeared that Barzal scored on his chance early. Hart stopped the puck but he slid into the goal and nearly all of his body was over the line. Since the officials couldn’t see the puck they couldn’t call it a goal.

“He (the referee) can’t see the puck,” Konowalchuk said. “Everybody knows if the goalie is 90 percent in the net and pulls his feet out it’s got to be a goal right? But, if the ref doesn’t see it, the ref doesn’t see it – it’s just unfortunate. Their goalie made a smart play, the way he scooped the puck out. That’s a good, smart play by him.”

The non-goal didn’t end up hurting the T-Birds as Kozun stopped six of the seven Everett shooters. Lipsbergs scored on his attempt, which set up the winner from Smith at the end.

The two clubs will square off again Saturday night in Everett – adding to the playoff feel of the weekend – and the Silvertips will be even more desperate to get a win and hold off Portland.

“They’re going to come out even harder tomorrow,” Konowalchuk said. “In their building it should be a lively atmosphere. It should be fun.”

Seattle plays a lot of games in Everett and has had some success at the Xfinity Arena. The Silvertips fans are known for ringing cowbells all game long, which can be an irritant. Kozun remarked that since he grew up on a farm the cowbells don’t bother him.

“We like going to Everett,” he said. “They get big crowds when we’re there and get the cowbells ringing. It’s a fun atmosphere up there and should be another good game.”

Notes

• Barzal had an assist on Seattle’s first goal and has tied Ryan Gropp for the team lead in scoring. It’s kind of remarkable, however, considering the amount of time Barzal has missed this season due to injury. He has only played in 39 games.

• The T-Birds are in the playoffs but they can’t relax just yet. Spokane is seven points behind them and could still technically catch them for third place. The Chiefs picked up a big win on Friday as they surprised Portland and clinched a playoff spot for themselves.

• Coming into the game, half of the goals that the Silvertips have scored in the season series came via the power play. They have one of the best power-play units in the league but Friday night the T-Birds played with discipline. Everett only had two chances, both in the second period, and the T-Birds held them to just one shot.

• Seeing Lipsbergs score twice has to make Konowalchuk happy. The 20-year-old has always been a streaky player and hadn’t scored in four games. With a week left in the season, now would be a good time for a hot streak.

Follow Andy Eide on Twitter @andyeide.

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