T-Birds Clipped by Americans
KENNEWICK. Wash. –An early lead slipped away as the Seattle Thunderbirds fell, 2-1, to the Tri-City Americans Tuesday at the Toyota Center. It was the T-Birds fourth straight loss as they dropped nine points out of the playoff picture. It’s a quick turnaround for the Thunderbirds as they head home to host the Wenatchee Wild Wednesday at the accesso ShoWare Center. Game for is 7:05 p.m.
“I thought we had trouble executing the whole game long,” explained head coach Matt O’Dette. “Making simple passes, skating the puck ten feet up the ice without losing it. Mishandles, not connecting on passes, just a lot of poor execution.”
Seattle led most of the game after an Eric Alarie goal at 4:09 of the first period as he finished a 2-on-1 rush with Nishaan Parmar. The goal was Alarie’s 14th of the season and 75th of his WHL career.
It remained a 1-0 game until Deegan McMillan snapped home the tying goal at 13:28 of the third period. The game appeared headed to overtime but the T-Birds turned a puck over at their own blue line as they were breaking up ice. Jake Sloan gathered up the loose puck and broke in on goal. After Scott Ratzlaff stopped the initial shot, Sloan followed up his own rebound and scored the game winner with just over a minute remaining.
“Frustrating ending,” lamented Matt O’Dette. “We’re pretty fragile. Some of the resiliency we’ve shown at times this season just wasn’t there tonight. These are key moments in the game when we need to buckle down and we couldn’t get the job done.”
Before Tri-City tied and then took the lead the Thunderbirds had three opportunities to add to their advantage but couldn’t convert on the power play. “The execution on the power play was the same as it was 5-on-5,” remarked O’Dette. “You gotta be able to move the puck cleanly, you gotta be able to make plays and we weren’t executing.”
The Thunderbirds are now scoreless in their lasts nineteen power play opportunities. As a result Seattle has scored just four goals in their last four games.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
Seattle played much of the game down a forward as Nico Myatovic left the game and did not return after a hard hit into the boards earlier in the first period. There was no update on his status immediately available after the game.
Sam Popowich was back in the lineup after missing the last three games and ten of the last thirteen. Seattle remains without Jordan Gustafson, Coster Dunn and Simon Lovsin.
This was Seattle’s last visit to the Toyota Center this season. They finished 1-2. The season series against Tri-City concludes March 10th in Kent.
Boxscore: Seattle Thunderbirds at Tri-City Americans – Tuesday, February 13, 2024 (staging.chl.ca)