When we last saw the Seattle Thunderbirds, they were in the lead, fighting on the ice with this year’s arch rival and the only team to really give them a run for their money, the Everett Silvertips, during Game 2 of the second round of playoffs. We held our collective breath waiting to see if Matthew Barzal’s big goal during the first period, assisted by Scott Eansor, would hold up against the rival team, possibly leading in a victory to cancel out Everett’s victory during the previous game.

Well, Barzal did not lead a shutout. Everett did manage to slip one puck past Landon Bow. But that one shot was all that made it; Bow blocked the other 23 attempts by Everett to score and Barzal scored again, along with Kolesar! Remember how the Birds put up a picture of Kolesar on Facebook on game day? This same thing happened when the Birds took on the Cougars and they featured a pic of Alexander True, and True made a goal that night. Hmm, does anyone running that page have a touch of the inner eye, perchance?

All kidding aside, Game 2 was a great game. Although Everett made a goal during the second period (MacDonald made a power play, with an assist by Hart) and Seattle didn’t make one, they sure did during the third period. Barzal made the first one, with assists by Schumacher and Kolesar; then Kolesar made the final goal of the evening, resulting in a final score of 3-1. Seattle took more risks than Everett did during the game, outshooting the Silvertips 33-24 and it really showed. You could see it on their faces: they had lost their first playoff game for the season and were NOT going to let it happen again. Well done, fellas.

Tickets for the 5^th game in the playoff series are on sale. The Birds and Tips will be back at the ShoWare Center on Saturday, April 16. The puck drops at 7:05 PM. Until then, you’ll have to watch or listen from home while the Birds play at Everett on Wednesday and Friday nights this week for games 3 and 4. Catch those games on WHL LIVE on Android, iPad and iPhone. The puck will drop at 7:05 and 7:35, respectively.

Will Barzal pull off a hat trick in the next game? Do you think the Birds will continue to beat the Tips?

Photo courtesy of Flikr/ Harold Cecchetti