WHL Playoff Preview: Everett Silvertips versus Seattle Thunderbirds

We knew it was going to come to this didn’t we? Since about mid January, the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds were the two best teams in the U.S. Division and now they’ll settle the matter in the second round of the playoffs.

How close were they? Everett won the division by two points but Seattle ended up with two more wins. There is no love lost between these clubs as they meet in the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons.

Everett is looking to turn the tide as they’ve lost the previous two meetings — including a five-game loss in last season’s second round. In that round, and in their first round loss to Seattle in 2013-2014, the Silvertips did not have home ice advantage. That changes this time around as Everett, who only lost seven regulation games at the XFinity Arena this year will start at home.

Will that be enough to take out a Seattle team that many feel might be the best in the league? Will Seattle’s skilled forwards be able to win the battles against Everett’s stingy defense? We’ll find out as Game 1 opens this series on Friday night.

Is Seattle healthy

The biggest question heading into this series is the health of the Seattle Thunderbirds. They haven’t seen Mathew Barzal on the ice since he left with an illness just before the faceoff on March 10th. The Thunderbirds also have been without starting goalie Rylan Toth. He left a game against Portland with a lower body injury the day after Barzal came down sick . Ryan Gropp played the first two games of the Thunderbirds first-round series with the Tri-City Americans but missed the last two after taking a big hit from Tri-City’s Dalton Yorke. The loss of their two top scorers and number one goalie didn’t seem to slow down Seattle against the Americans. They scored 23 goals, by 12 different players, and never trailed in the series. Stepping in for Toth, rookie goalie Carl Stankowski won his first four playoff games while never giving up more than two goals in any game.

Five on five or special teams?

A big key to this series may be whether or not its played more five-on-five or on the special teams. Everett scored 16 goals in its first-round victory over Victoria but half of them came off the power play. Patrick Bajkov and Dominic Zwerger each led the Silvertips with 10 points apiece against the Royals, each picking up seven of those points while on the power play. Everett will need to find some traction while playing five-on-five if they want to win here. Seattle’s penalty kill shut down a potent Tri-City power play to the tune of 18 kills out of 19 attempts. In the regular season, Everett was 9-for-41 against Seattle with the man advantage but the majority of those came early in the season. In the last seven meetings, Everett only managed three converts in 27 attempts and lost five of those games.

The Hart and head

Great goaltending is always a great equalizer in the playoffs and Everett has the edge here. Carter Hart is the best goalie in the league and has been tough on Seattle in the past. He shut the Thunderbirds out twice this season, including a 37 save beauty on Nov. 23rd. Seattle out shot Everett in seven of their ten meetings this season yet only out-scored the Silvertips by two goals. That speaks to how good Hart has been and can be. If he stands on his head, he’ll get in the Thunderbirds’ heads and it won’t matter how good Seattle’s top players are. In the first round, Hart showed how clutch he can be in the playoffs by winning two overtime games, the last of which was an epic, history making five-overtime masterpiece.

The possession game

In last season’s second round match up, the Thunderbirds dominated the Silvertips in terms of puck possession. Everett did not have an answer for Seattle’s top two lines who are puck-gobbling monsters. That swayed the series and Everett will have a similar challenge here. If healthy, Seattle will roll Barzal, Gropp and Keegan Kolesar out on their top line, followed by a speedy line of Nolan Volcan, Scott Eansor and Sami Moilanen. The Eansor line is tenacious and a bear to play against while Barzal’s line is as dynamic a line that the WHL features. How Everett matches Seattle’s top six will be something to watch for in this series. If Seattle owns the puck, they will eventually wear down the Silvertips defense and win the series.

Defense aplenty

If you like defensemen, then this series is for you. Everyone knows how good Everett’s defense is. They gave up the fewest goals in the entire league and are led by Montreal Canadiens’ prospect Noah Juulsen. A physical presence, Juulsen will log heavy minutes in this series and see a ton of Barzal and company. Everett also picked up Aaron Irving at the trade deadline from Edmonton to add some size and experience. Kevin Davis turned in a career season for the Silvertips with 59 points which gives Everett a deadly combination of guys who can play in their end and chip in on offense.

Seattle also has a couple of high-end defenseman. Ethan Bear has turned in a spectacular season with 28 goals, many coming thanks to his cannon slap shot. His partner, Turner Ottenbreit is a physical blue-liner and one of the top plus-minus guys in the Western Conference. Seattle didn’t make a big splash at the trade deadline but the additions of Austin Strand and Aaron Hyman helped solidify their back end.

Home ice

Everett won the division and gets home ice in this series and that’s huge. They were one of the top home clubs this year and Seattle struggled at the XFinity Arena — only winning twice in five chances. Those two wins were two more than Everett was able to pick up at the ShoWare Center however so this series could come down to the first club that can win a road game.

Who wins this?

This will be an entertaining series to watch. It may not be pretty at times as both teams have the ability to clamp down on the other. Everett will need Hart to be at his best and find a way to score at even strength. Seattle needs to get healthy. They’ve had a remarkable run this season playing with key players out of the lineup but the playoffs are a different beast and in a grind-it-out series like this one shapes up to be, they’ll need a full boat. Assuming that Seattle does in fact, get Barzal, Gropp and Toth back in the fold for this series, Seattle should have the edge. They’re better up front and while not Everett on the back end, they’re still pretty good. Thunderbirds in six.