Fight Night in Kent

Both teams bring out the best in one another.

This time their best went to overtime as the visiting Everett Silvertips edged the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 on Bryce Kindopp’s bisquit in the basket Friday night.

Everett held a 3-1 advantage late in the second period when a melee erupted, igniting the ShoWare crowd and inspiring the guys wearing the home sweaters.

“Whatever was happening with the officiating there? They don’t even know,” a baffled Seattle Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette queried after the barn burner.

O’Dette was referring to the second period line brawl that brought mayhem to the mix, “We lost all our guys that were on the ice and somehow Bajkov and Fonteyne, two of their best players, manage to stay on the ice. Ridiculous. The officials lost the handle on that sequence. They had no idea what was going on.”

O’Dette says while the officiating crew got lost in the “heat of the moment,” his team did not.

Brian Liesse

Seattle managed to come back to tie the contest with goals from Austin Strand and Turner Ottenbreit.

“Unbelievably gutsy showing in the third period,” said O’Dette. “We willed our way back into that game. Our guys have heart and character and put that on display.”

“There’s a lot of positives you can take out of that third period,” said Seattle Captain Turner Ottenbreit. The team must reset quickly for Saturday’s game in Everett. “Just don’t quit. We’re a resilient bunch. It’s a big point(in the standings) and we just have to come out tomorrow with that same energy.”

Everett head coach Dennis Williams also expects the intensity of this rivalry to rise as the playoff push hits the stretch run, “Both teams battled really hard. It was an entertaining, fun hockey game.”

Both teams hope their best is yet to come.

The two teams face-off again tomorrow night at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 PM.