T-Birds win fourth straight with 4-2 win over Everett

KENT – When things are going well for a hockey team, everybody chips in. The Seattle Thunderbirds are playing well, and on Tuesday night it was backup goalie Danny Mumaugh’s turn to step in and play big.

Making only his sixth start of the year, Mumaugh made 28 saves to back stop the T-Birds to a 4-2 victory over the U.S. Division-leading Everett Silvertips. It was Seattle’s fourth straight win as it has come back from the holiday break on fire.

“My first home win of the season,” Mumaugh said. “In front of the biggest crowd at home I’ve ever played in front of. Two for Tuesday, you’ve got to love it.”

The season high 6,219 fans at the ShoWare Center certainly loved it as the T-Birds (17-15-2-2) turned in one of their most solid efforts of the year. Fueled by $2 beers and an entertaining game, the crowd was into the game from the start.

“The guys are really playing hard for each other,” head coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “That’s the bottom line – they’re playing hard for each other, they’re having fun there.”

Seattle picked up two goals from Keegan Kolesar along with a goal and two assists from Ethan Bear. While still being short-handed due to injury and the World Junior Championships, Seattle is playing some of its best hockey of the season. Tuesday night it started with Mumaugh making another start against a division leader.

The backup has now faced all four division leaders this season, winning twice.

“Any time you play any team, whether it’s a not-so-good team or a really good team, you have a different game plan,” Mumaugh said. “But preparation-wise I like to do the same thing.”

The Silvertips (21-11-3-1) are a tough team to play against. They play a stingy defense and require opponents to grind out space on the ice and stick to their game plan. Seattle managed to do that Tuesday, and it got solid contributions up and down their lineup.

With their backup goalie making saves, the T-Birds opened the scoring with their fourth line. Sahvan Khaira, forced to play forward on Tuesday, won a puck battle behind the Everett net. He found Lane Pederson in the slot and gave him a perfect pass. Pederson scored his second goal in as many nights to give Seattle an early lead for the fourth straight game.

Everett would tie it up shortly after the Pederson goal when Dawson Leedahl picked up a loose puck in the corner and beat Mumaugh with a nice top-shelf backhand shot.

The T-Birds would take the lead for good seven minutes into the second period on the power play. They peppered the Everett net during the two-minute advantage and capped if off when Kolesar got a backhand shot off a rebound to trickle through Lotz. It was the big winger’s 12th goal of the year as he continues his strong season.

Kolesar would strike again early in the third period after receiving a nice pass from Ryan Gropp for his 13th of the year to give the T-Birds a commanding 3-1 lead. The Kolesar-Justin Hickman-Gropp line has been strong for Seattle of late. Playing without a true center the three wingers combined for two goals and three assists on the night.

“They’re two great players, it’s easy to play with guys like them,” Kolesar said after. “Without them, I wouldn’t be having the success (I’m) having. I guess three wingers can handle themselves.”

The Silvertips would make the game interesting seven minutes later when Nikita Scherbak fired a shot from the point for a power-play goal, cutting the lead to 3-2. The power play has been a big factor in the season series between these two clubs. In the five games the two teams have played, five of the 12 Everett goals have come on the power play, and a sixth came just as a power play was ending.

On Tuesday night Seattle did a good job killing penalties, only allowing the one score in five opportunities.

“The penalty kill was solid. There were a couple of key kills there (that) could have got them to within one,” Konowalchuk said. “Very good kills and some good saves by Mumaugh.”

The Scherback goal put the game in some doubt, but Seattle would use the power play to its own advantage and put the game away two minutes later. After two Silvertips penalties, the Thunderbirds had a full minute of a five-on-three advantage. They worked the puck around and finished it off when Ethan Bear blasted a slap shot from the face-off circle. It was Bear’s ninth goal of the year and Seattle’s second power-play goal of the night.

“Against this team, you don’t get a lot of opportunities usually,” Konowalchuk said about his power play. “When you do, you have to take advantage of them.”

With their two-goal lead intact the T-Birds steered home their fourth straight win to the delight of the loud sold-out crowd. After the game, Konowalchuk and the Seattle players acknowledged the role the crowd plays for them.

“It was exciting,” Kolesar said. “We had a sold-out barn that adds a lot of momentum for us. You can tell when there’s a goal or a big hit, the fans go crazy. It really motivates us.”

The T-Birds will look to extend their winning streak to five on New Year’s Eve when they travel to Portland to take on the Winterhawks with an 8 p.m. face off.

Notes

• Justin Hickman picked up two assists on Tuesday to extend his point-scoring streak to five games. He has picked up two goals and six assists over that span. He also has points in eight of his last nine games.

• Ethan Bear’s three-point night was the second such in his brief WHL career. He had one three-point game last year when he tallied three assists. His nine goals and 13 assists this year give him a career-high 22 points. Last year, at 16-years-old, he registered 19 points in 58 games.

• The win was the second on the season for Danny Mumaugh and the first since he beat the Brandon Wheat Kings on the road back on Nov. 14. A devout Denver Broncos fan, he compared himself to a backup quarterback always being ready to come in when needed. His teammates showed their appreciation by giving him a shaving cream towel to the face post-game.

• Wednesday night is the big U.S.-Canada match up in the World Junior Championships, which will feature Seattle defenseman Shea Theodore. Theodore has been playing on Canada’s top pairing in the tournament and has registered an assist so far. When asked who he liked in the match up, Keegan Kolesar said “Canada,” then smiled and asked, “Is that even a question?”

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