Silvertips Pluck Thunderbirds 5-1
March 12, 2005 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Everett Silvertips News Release
The Everett Silvertips earned a commanding 5-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds in tonight's game at the Everett Events Center in front of a sold out crowd of 8,424. This was game 8 of 10 and the Silvertips now lead the series 4-3-1. On home ice against the Thunderbirds, Everett is 4-0. With the win Everett lifts their record to 31-25-8-2 and they now have 72 points, still holding onto 2nd place in the US Division. Seattle drops their record to 41-22-2-2 and stay unchanged at 86 points.
The first period was all about Everett. Brady Calla popped the first goal in at 6:58 with assists coming from Jonathan Harty and Michael Wuchterl. Zach Sim took advantage of the momentum and added another tally three and a half minutes later. Zach Hamill and Cody Thoring earned the assists on Everett's second goal.
Early in the second period Kyle Annesley extended the Silvertips' lead to 3-0 when he scored on a power play at 1:39. Curtis Billsten and Alex Leavitt earned the assists. Seattle's one and only goal came at 7:23 when Tyler Metcalfe beat Leland Irving and put a bouncing puck in the net. Nate Thompson had Seattle's only assist. Not letting the goal get to them, Everett responded when Torrie Wheat added to the team's tally at 15:37. He would go on to score again midway through the third period on a power play to round out the final 5-1 score. Alex Leavitt tallied another assist on one of Wheat's goals and Mitch Love and Shaun Heshka also added one a piece.
In net for the Silvertips was Leland Irving. Irving played well and made 31 saves on 32 shots. His record improves to 9-7-1. Bryan Bridges, in goal for Seattle, struggled and only stopped 23 of 28 shots. On the power play Everett converted on 2 of 4 chances while Seattle went scoreless on 2 opportunities. Despite losing the game, Seattle out shot Everett by a margin of 32-28.
In other news Torrie Wheat earned his 25th goal and tied the franchise record for most goals scored in a season. John Dahl was the first to set that record in Everett's inaugural season in 2003-04. Also Mitch Love in nearing his 100 point mark in his WHL career. After tonight's game he currently has 99 points, 33 goals and 66 assists.
The Silvertips are back in action for two big games against the Portland Winterhawks this weekend. The first is on Saturday, March 12th, at the Everett Events Center. The game starts at 7:05pm. The second is the following night, March 13th, at the Rose Garden in Portland Oregon. That puck drops at 5pm. The Silvertips and the Winterhawks are battling for second place and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Currently Everett has a two point lead over Portland.
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Western Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2005
- WHL This Week, News Edition - WHL
- Winter Hawks Take Step Back, Lose 4-1 - Portland Winterhawks
- Silvertips Pluck Thunderbirds 5-1 - Everett Silvertips
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