Game 1: A hard fought game ends in a tough loss on opening night

Everett Silvertips 4, Seattle Thunderbirds 3

(1-0) (0-1)

It was there for the taking. A huge opening night win on the road against the arch rival Everett Silvertips.. it was right there. The game was tied 3-3 with just over six minutes remaining in the third period when Charles Wells was checked from behind and collapsed into the boards.A five minute major was called on Everett’s Alex Theriau and the Thunderbirds were in position to put a couple in the net and take home the hard earned victory. But a power play which clicked pretty well all night (2-5) all of a sudden couldn’t get anything going and Seattle only managed four shots on net through the five minutes and came up empty. This re-invigorated the Everett crowd and the team as well and with only 38 seconds left, a giveaway in front of Calvin Pickard found its way onto the stick of Tyler Maxwell and into the back of the net. This would be the first and only lead of the game for the Silvertips, the only one they would need to defeat the Thunderbirds 4-3.

The game started extremely well for Seattle as goals by Marcel Noebels and Luke Lockhart (pp) gave the Birds a 2-0 lead. Only 23 seconds after the Lockhart goal, Campbell Elynuik got the Silvertips on the board and cut Seattle’s lead to 2-1. That would be the way the first period would end as the shots were even at 8 a piece. Everett wouldn’t see a power play opportunity until the 6:56 mark of the second period but it didn’t take their high powered pp unit long to take advantage as Kellan Tochkin scored to even the game at two. Burke Gallimore would put the Birds back on top with Seattle’s second pp goal at 16:31 of the second and they would take that 3-2 edge into the third period. Everett would draw an early power play opportunity in the third period and they once again cashed in as Tyler Maxwell scored to tie the game at three. That’s the way it would stay until Maxwell netted the game winner.

The game could be described as the usual Seattle-Everett affair with both teams fighting for every possession, with a few offensive flurries for each time in between a tight checking game. It being the first game of the season there was quite a bit of “feeling out” between the teams and even though it featured two of the top goalies in the league with Calvin Pickard and Kent Simpson, neither of them factored that much in the outcome. Pickard ended up stopping 24 of 28 while Simpson stopped 20 of 23. Actually I’m sure both of them would tell you that they weren’t at their absolute best in this one. Both are also just recently back from NHL camps. Except for the five minute major that Seattle couldn’t capitalize on, both power play units were impressive. While the Birds went 2 for 5, the Silvertips went 2 for 3. Taking into consideration pre-season and the first game of the regular season it certainly looks as though Everett will have a power play that ranks at the top of the league. So the Birds did a good job of staying out of the box but their penalty killing couldn’t figure out how to stop Everett’s top power play line. In addition to the power play goals scored by Tochkin and Maxwell, both Ryan Murray and Chad Suer had assists on each goal.

For the Thunderbirds it was certainly a tough loss if not a heart breaking one. They played well most of the night but as they will learn, when you have to fight tooth and nail for every edge you can’t make big mistakes in key situations. The giveaway in from of Calvin as the seconds ticked down cost them the game and at least one point. Luke Lockart was once again a major force in the game, it seems as though he’s in the middle of every play. The Birds first goal was a wicked shot off the stick of Marcel Noebels that just plain beat Kent Simpson. Newcomer Travis Toomey had an assist on Burke Gallimore’s goal.

There are several positives the Birds can take away from this first game but as I have mentioned several times it will be important for them to learn how to win and to build confidence. While they won the first period (2-1), tied the second period (1-1) and lost the third period (2-0), I don’t think it would be fair to say that the effort declined at all. No big second period blues like last season and no deflation after a tough goal against. It’s just up to them to figure out how to turn these one goal losses into one goal victories.

So with the first game in the record books the page turns to the home opener Saturday night against the Portland Winterhawks. The Thunderbirds will welcome back Glen Goodall and look to start the home schedule on a positive note. Game time is 7:05 pm at the ShoWare Center.

Game notes:

F Tyler Alos, F Branden Troock and D Scott Ramsay did not play. No updates at this time on their status. G Matt Krahn was re-assigned. F Charles Wells first appeared to be hurt on that hit from behind but was able to return to his feet and play for the remainder of the game. The attendance in Everett was 6,599.

Scoring Summary:

First period – 1, Seattle, Noebels 1, 2:50. 2, Seattle, Lockhart 1 (Wells, Dillon), 13:54 (pp). 3, Everett,

Elyniuk 1 (Murray), 14:17.Penalties – Fowlie, Evt (tripping), 12:58.

Second period – 4, Everett, Tochkin 1 (Suer, Murray), 14:13 (pp). 5, Seattle, Gallimore 1 (Toomey,

Sanvido), 16:31 (pp).Penalties – Sohor, Evt (hooking), 4:35. Ferraro, Evt (holding), 10:04. Dillon, Sea

(holding), 13:04. Rissanen, Evt (tripping), 14:46.

Third period – 6, Everett, Maxwell 1 (Murray, Suer), 1:56 (pp). 7, Everett, Maxwell 2 (Ferraro), 19:22.

Penalties – Lockhart, Sea (goaltender interference), :40. Sutter, Sea (hooking), 11:14. Theriau, Evt (major-

checking from behind, game misconduct), 13:28.

Shots on goal – Seattle 8-7-8 23. Everett 8-10-10 28. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 28 shots-24 saves (0-1-

0-0); Everett, Simpson 23-20 (1-0-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 2-5; Everett 2-3. A – 6,599. Referee –

Jeff Ingram, Colby Smith. Linesmen –Kiel Murchison, Nathan Van Oosten.