Seattle Thunderbirds wrangle the Broncos in 4-2 victory over Swift Current
By Charles Hamaker
Kent, WA – The Seattle Thunderbirds were able to overcome a quick start by the Swift Current Broncos and ward off a late comeback attempt, securing their 34th win of the season. Seattle bounced back from a three goals loss to rival Portland, led by top liners Lucas Ciona and Jared Davidson who accounted for all four of the Thunderbirds goals. Seattle was able to settle in after looking passive to begin the game, and simply shooting the puck was able to help generate dangerous opportunities for the Thunderbirds. With their victory, Seattle moves to second in the conference in points, just one behind Portland.
Seattle’s Nico Myatovic and Swift Current’s Adam McNutt fight (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Overcoming a Swift start by the Broncos
Swift Current came out of the tunnel ready to play, pressing the issue by generating meaningful offense against Seattle in the first few minutes thanks to a power play. Just three minutes and 41 seconds into the opening frame, a shot from the blueline turned into a juicy rebound off the pad of Thunderbirds goaltender Thomas Milic. Seattle forward Reid Schaefer tried to take a Broncos skater out of the play, but just created a sort of moving screen for Swift Current. In addition to that, the Broncos had another skater right in front of Milic, and Swift Current forward Brady Birnie took advantage by sniping a shot top corner.
Broncos forward Mathew Ward scored Swift Current’s second goal of the night (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Seattle was able to settle down after allowing the early score, as top line center Jared Davidson received a pass in the clear after the Thunderbirds had taken away the puck in the neutral zone. Off the pass from Reid Schaefer, Davidson was off and running right down the slot, beating Broncos netminder Joey Rocha glove side to equalize things just under 10 minutes into the first period. Then, with under a minute remaining before the teams went to intermission, newly minted captain Lucas Ciona started to make his mark in the contest.
Seattle winger Lucas Ciona was named captain the morning of the game (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Captain Ciona makes his mark
Thunderbirds winger Lucas Ciona was officially named the team's captain earlier in the day, swapping out his alternate captain A for a C on his jersey. A special moment for Ciona in the Calgary Flames prospects young and promising career, he made sure to mark the occasion with a strong performance. When his team needed a boost to get them really rolling, the newest Thunderbirds captain was able to rise to the occasion and put his team in position to secure another win.
“First of all, it was just super exciting. It’s something that everybody kinda dreams about having at some point in their life, and it’s a very special honor and a privilege to have something like that. Getting told that by O’D(ette) in the meeting was very special and I couldn’t be happier. You kinda see yourself in warmups with the little reflection of it, and you’re like ‘that’s really cool.’ It’s just a really special moment, and I’m so privileged to have it”
With just under a minute left in the first period and in a four on four, Ciona was able to help screen Swift Current goaltender Joey Rocha as Kevin Korchinski launched a bomb from the blue line. Because of a save attempt from Rocha that saw some skaters end up on the ice, the goaltender had lost his stick. That made things all the easier for Ciona, who was able to easily tip Korchinski’s shot into the net. Ciona was able to notch goal number two of the night as he joined a Thunderbirds rush that caught the Broncos undermanned. Jared Davidson made the easy pass to Ciona in the slot, and all the captain had to do was collect and fire, tallying his second goal of the night and pushing Seattle’s lead to two goals.
“We were just playing hard, playing the right way. We were backtracking the puck, just getting strips and going North. You don’t wanna dipseedoodle going West and South all the time, so just playing strong and fast and just shooting the puck. If we’re just ripping the puck, it’s gonna go in at some point.”
Lambert’s long journey home
Seattle forward Brad Lambert has had quite the “interesting” past few weeks, so tonight was a bit of a relief to get over with. Officially announced on January 9th that he was joining the team; the touted Winnipeg Jets prospect was able to participate in some of the away games this month but had a hang up over the course of the past week. Lambert missed Seattle’s game on the 21st of the month as he was in his native Canada, awaiting a VISA. Thankfully, things got cleared up for Lambert and he arrived in the area the night before the game. Although it was a rough situation, Lambert was able to make the most of his return, tallying an assist in the win.
“It was tough and frustrating for sure, had some VISA problems, tried to make the best of it and skate as much as I could. Obviously really frustrating, coming here really excited to play and then not being able to for a week or two. Just happy to have it over with and happy to be here. It felt pretty good considering that I got here late last night, it was a good game from our group, a good win. The guys were sticking up for each other, which was great to see. It was a great win for us.”
Winger Reid Schaefer recorded an assist in the game (Photo by Liz Wolter)
Quick notes
Tonight’s game between Swift Current and Seattle was the 500th total of the current WHL season.
Seattle went two for six on the power play on the night
The Thunderbirds penalty kill was three for five on the night
Attendance for this game was 4,025
With tonight’s victory, Thomas Milic improved to 14-3-1-0 on the season
Swift Current’s Drew Englot and Seattle’s Reid Schaefer are seperated by an official (Photo by Liz Wolter)
What’s next?
Seattle gets a few days of rest before they begin a home and away back-to-back with their most heated rivals, the Everett Silvertips. The two rivals will meet at the Accesso Showare Center on Friday, February 3rd with a puck drop time of 7:05PM PST. The Thunderbirds hold a perfect 5-0-0-0 record against Everett this season, with one of those wins coming in overtime. The Silvertips have had a very middling season to this point, sitting at a 23-22-1-0 record while currently at fifth in the WHL’s Western Conference.