The Thunderbirds enter the final game of February this coming Tuesday riding a four-game losing streak. All four setbacks have been in regulation, meaning they haven't earned a point in the standings. As a result, their lead over Kamloops for the final Western Conference playoff spot is a tenuous six points.
There have been a lot of factors at play in this skid. Injuries to Sami Moilanen and Blake Barger have jumbled up their forward lines. For his part, Moilanen was averaging nearly a point a game (19g, 18a in 40 games) when he left a contest in Everett on January 26th with an upper body injury. He hasn't returned to the lineup yet, missing 13+ games to this point. Bargar and his 24 points (11g, 13a) has missed the past three games with no timetable yet for his return. These are two wingers who play in all situations for Seattle.
A struggling offense is another reason for the team's recent lack of wins. With the exception of the four goals they scored in a 5-4 loss Friday in Kelowna, Seattle has struggled to crack the three goal mark in many recent games. in four of their last five outings they have been held to two or less goals. In four of their last nine games the T-birds have been held to a single goal. Not surprisingly, all four of those games were losses. This is a stark contrast to the months of December and January when Seattle was averaging over four goals per game.
Part of this is puck possession, or lack there of. Shots on goal are usually a good indicator of who has more of the puck possession and in 11 of their last 14 games, Seattle has been outshot. Even in the three games where they outshot their opponent, the T-birds are 0-3. Some of Seattle's struggles from the early part of the season have returned late in the year, an inability to finish chances. They're losing too many puck battles in front of the opposing goal as they look for rebounds and deflections.
Another issue? Not closing the door. Seattle hasn't won a game in regulation since a 7-2 win over Kelowna on January 19th. That's 16 games without a regulation win. Since then the T-birds have played beyond regulation eight times, posting a 5-3 record in those games. A number of those games, it was Seattle fighting back for a tie but on several occasions the T-birds couldn't hold leads, having to go beyond 60 minutes to earn the extra point.
This weekend Seattle found two different ways to lose games that should have earned them points. Well, to be fair they found one way to lose, and one way to lose found them. Friday in Kelowna Seattle battled from two goals down in the third to forge a 4-all tie, only to give up the late winner by allowing Kelowna to get behind their defense on an odd man rush. Not very good situational hockey and it cost them at least a point and a chance at a win. An 0-for-4 power play didn't help either, especially since they were surrendering two goals while on the penalty kill in a frustrating road loss in which Seattle had the early 2-0 lead, only to fall behind 4-2.
Saturday's frustration comes from playing a fairly smart game that was greatly infected by less then stellar officiating. Wait, I mean affected by...no, no, I was right the first time, infected. While Seattle's penalty kill was a perfect 4-for-4 against Everett, I thought a couple of the calls against Seattle were borderline, but, okay, will give it the benefit of the doubt and call those as correctly called penalties. But then let's be consistent with the calls.
The non-call, on the obvious slashing in half of Donovan Neul's stick, was the seminal moment of the game. It led directly to Everett's first goal. Instead of Seattle being on the power play and up by a goal, the game is tied at 1-1. As soon as that sequence of events was over, slash-no call-Everett goal, you knew that goal would be the difference on the scoreboard and it was. The excuse that the slash was at the bottom third of the stick is either a lie or wishful thinking. The stick broke in the middle of the shaft. That is the point of impact. The evidence was lying on the ice for everyone to see. If you missed the call, admit it. So often the cover up is worse then the original crime. Two things happened there. The slash left Neuls without a stick to fight for the puck, essentially taking him out of the play, and it gave Everett possession of the puck in the Seattle zone.
You can argue Seattle still had enough time to win the game. That they didn't do enough to over come that singular call. That they missed a chance to tie on their only power play when they had the goalie beat but hit the post with the shot. But I can argue that they did do just enough to get that game at least to overtime or a shootout. They did enough to at least earn a point. You can't have one team have to over come obstacles the other team doesn't have to deal with. Seattle shouldn't have to argue the merits of a very easy-to-call slashing penalty. As Abraham Lincoln would tell you, one play can alter the course of history.
T-Birds Three Stars for the Week:
G Liam Hughes: Hughes may have lost both his decisions this week, a 4-2 setback Wednesday in Kennewick and the 2-1 loss Saturday to Everett, but he was the main reason Seattle was in both those games. He faced a combined 84 shots in the two games, making 79 saves. While his record may be .500, his .907 save percentage is among the best in the league
LW Dillon Hamaliuk. The 17 year old rookie from Edmonton had the first three point game of his young WHL career with a goal and two assists in the loss to Kelowna Friday. In 61 games he has 35 points (14g, 21a) and leads the team in plus/minus at +10. Just by comparison, Ryan Gropp, who was a first round bantam pick by Seattle in 2011, finished with 42 points (18g, 24a) in 59 games and was -5 in his 17 year old season rookie season. I'm not saying they are the same player , but I like the comparison because both are 6'3" left wingers who skate well.
W Nolan Volcan. In three games he registered four points (1g, 3a) and was +4. He leads the team in both goals scored, with 26 and points with 62. The 26 goals are ten more then he had last season. One of just two point-per-game players on the team, along with Donovan Neuls. He's had the progression through his WHL career you expect, increasing his point totals each season. Normally a left winger, he has been playing right wing the past week with the injuries to Moilanen and Bargar.
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