By Charles Hamaker

Kent, WA – Considering the absences that they had coming into this game, the Seattle Thunderbirds were extremely outmatched on paper against the visiting Prince George Cougars. The top team in the WHL’s Western Conference and currently the top team in terms of points in the entirety of the league, Prince George looked primed to blowout an injury-plagued Thunderbirds teams, but Seattle showed serious grit and toughness in a multitude of ways to make this just a one-score game when it was all said and done. Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, that one-score did not go in their favor, and instead the team's losing streak pushed to seven games. Returning from the IIHF World Junior Championships with Team Canada, Seattle goaltender Scott Ratzlaff played well, but only got one goal of support for his efforts.

“I thought everyone played well. Our young guys did very well out there. There was a lot of ice time consumed by those guys and I’m not disappointed in the effort.”

— Matt O’Dette, Seattle Thunderbirds head coach.

Ahead of this contest, Seattle Thunderbirds forward William Huo took his rookie lap. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

Physical presence, a good and bad thing

The first period came and went without a score, but an early theme that remained throughout the course of this game was that the physicality level was going to be high all night long. The Thunderbirds, already dealing with a lengthy list of injuries, had to stick up for themselves on a few occasions considering a few plays made by the Cougars, and thanks to the decision of the officials, Seattle had to be on their A-game when it came to their penalty kill. The Thunderbirds were able to ward off potential danger early on, and as a result got on the board first early into the second period of this contest.

From a tough angle, recently acquired forward Nathan Pilling got his shot up and over the right shoulder of Cougars goaltender Ty Young to get the party started, scoring his first goal in a Seattle uniform. The Thunderbirds had been searching for any sort of space in the Prince George zone, as Coster Dunn appeared to just get the pass off to Pilling to keep possession alive, but the quick shot of Pilling paid off and got Seattle on the board first. Although outmatched in terms of health and on paper, the Thunderbirds had gotten on the first in an unlikely turn of events, and with Ratzlaff in goal it appeared that Seattle may be able to pull off a wild upset to get out of their current funk and back into the win column. That lead, sadly, did not last very long.

Seattle Thunderbirds forward Nathan Pilling scored his first goal with the team in the loss, finding the back of the net from a tough angle on Prince George Cougars goaltender Ty Young. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

Prince George tied this game up on a rebounded chance, as Cougars defenseman Chase Pauls was left all alone to the left of Ratzlaff as he charged into the low slot with all five skaters on the ice for Seattle puck watching. The Thunderbirds goaltender was able to make the initial save on Pauls’ shot, but the rebound came straight off Ratzlaff’s chest and landed right back in front of the Cougars defenseman, who was able to get the puck around the goalie and into the net. The strong effort to that point in the game, from the skaters and from Scott Ratzlaff, had been wiped away in the matater of moments thanks to the lapse of puck watching by the Seattle players on the ice at the time.

The Prince George Cougars celebrate defenseman Chase Pauls second period goal that tied this game in the second period. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

Dramatics in the third, but Thunderbirds can’t find any late magic

As the physicality and the fierce competition in this game continued after Prince George tied things up, it was really either teams game for the taking if they were able to find a way to regain the lead. Sometimes, in games as such where both teams are searching for the answer to get ahead, all it takes is a puck on net or a greasy goal to be able to pull ahead and that is what happened tonight. Just over the midway point of the third and final period, Prince George defenseman Ephram McNutt sent a shot on goal from the blue line and with a screen of his own teammate in front of goaltender Scott Ratzlaff, the Cougars had taken their first lead of the game. Despite all of Seattle’s pushing and effort to be able to keep them in this game, largely behind the effort of Ratzlaff, that point shot had gotten through and taken the lead.

After allowing the go-ahead goal halfway into the third period, the Thunderbirds did have a few different opportunities afterwards to try and equalize, including a power play. Despite this and pulling Ratzlaff for a six-to-four skater advantage, Seattle was unable to get the extra bounce that they needed to tie this game up in order to force the overtime period. While mentioning that the Thunderbirds penalty kill played a big role in this game, eliminating six power play opportunities for the Cougars, Seattle themselves came out of this game empty handed on five power play opportunities of their own.

The deciding goal in this low scoring affair came from Prince George Cougars defenseman Ephram McNutt, as his point hot got through some traffic and took the lead halfway through the third period against the Seattle Thunderbirds. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

Quick notes

Attendance at the accesso ShoWare Center for tonight’s Seattle Thunderbirds loss to the Prince George Cougars was 4,045
- That’s 62% capacity of the accesso ShoWare Center
The Thunderbirds were without eight players today, due to different circumstances
- Jordan Gustafson, Eric Alarie and Nico Myatovic, all out with injuries.
  - Per the Thunderbirds radio broadcast, Myatovic is targeting a Mid-January return.
- Cru Hanas also missed the game.
- Luca Hauf is still on his way back from Sweden after playing with Germany in the World Junior Championships.
- Simon Lovsin sat out the first game of a two-game suspension handed down by the league after he was assessed a five-minute major check to the head penalty last Sunday in Wenatchee.
Two players made their Thunderbirds debuts against Prince George.
- Ashton Cumby was acquired from Wenatchee in a trade Thursday.
- William Huo is a T-Birds affiliate player. He is the younger brother of former T-Bird Sam Huo.
  - Meanwhile, 2023 draft pick Brendan Rudolph was recalled and made his home ice debut, playing in his third game with Seattle this season.

This was a physical game between the Prince George Cougars and Seattle Thunderbirds throughout, as fights broke out throughout the entirety of the contest. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

What’s next?

Following tonight’s Seattle Thunderbirds loss to the Prince George Cougars at the accesso ShoWare Center, the Thunderbirds will have their second game of a back-to-back just up the road. Seattle gets back in action tomorrow, Saturday, January 6th, when they battle the Everett Silvertips at Angel of the Winds Arena. The Silvertips will also be playing in the second game of a back-to-back when they host our Thunderbirds, as they lost in a high-scoring last night to the Portland Winterhawks down in Oregon. It may be another tough contest for the Thunderbirds, as they’ll still be fielding a young roster considering the number of injuries and other absences with some of their players. Seattle seeks only their second win against Everett this season, having lost the other three of four meetings during the current campaign, with a puck drop of 6:05PM PST.

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