Thunderbirds de-claw Silvertips in 6-2 pounding
By Charles Hamaker
Kent, WA – In the sixth meeting between the I-405 rivals, the Seattle Thunderbirds maintained their perfect record against Everett thanks to an absolute thrashing. The Thunderbirds laid the smack down on Everett through the first two periods, amassing six goals while shutting Everett out to that point. The Silvertips were able to find a few consolation goals in the final frame, but it mattered not as Seattle continues to rumble on through another successful season.
The Thunderbirds celebrate one of their six goals on the night (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Party starts early for Seattle
Following last night’s tight overtime battle with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, it was interesting to wonder how the Thunderbirds were going to perform. On the second day of a back-to-back, Seattle came out roaring, scoring just barely over three minutes into the opening frame. Tij Iginla dangled around several Silvertips skaters and fired a heat seeking missile past starting Everett goaltender Tyler Palmer. That goal set the tone for the game, as it seemed the Silvertips were getting circles skated around them by the Thunderbirds.
Following Iginla’s goal, Seattle was able to generate tons of traffic in front of the Everett net to score three total goals in the opening frame. Nico Myatovic and Jared Davidson both joined Iginla to score. In period two, the Thunderbirds started to force the issue as Kevin Korchinski and Kyle Crnkovic scored from impressive areas. Crnkovic scored Seattle’s final two goals to push the lead all the way up to six, causing the Silvertips to pull Palmer and put Tim Metzger in net for the final frame.
Tij Ignila celebrates his goal (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Home sweet home
The Thunderbirds have now won their past two games, both at home, and will have a home game filled month of January. With Seattle already sitting atop the WHL standings but a few months still to go before we reach the playoffs, now is the best time for the Thunderbirds to work out any potential kinks that they may have. Seattle is loaded with talent on every single line and have an excellent goaltending tandem, so it’s hard to pinpoint weak points to address. The Thunderbirds do still have some tough matchups ahead, and surely Seattle will find areas to address once those contests arrive.
Mekai Sanders and Thomas Milic celebrate (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Quick note
The Thunderbirds have out scored the Silvertips 31-10 this season
Seattle has a 6-0-0-0 record against Everett this season
What’s next?
Seattle is into a stretch of nine overall where they will play seven home games, and all of those are within the state of Washington. The Thunderbirds are riding a two-game winning streak since returning home and will look to protect that win streak in their next game on Friday, January 27th on the road against the Spokane Chiefs. Puck drop is at 7:05PM PST as Seattle visits a Chiefs team that sits at the bottom of the Western Conference. Spokane has lost seven of their last ten games.