(Everett, WA) The Seattle Thunderbirds’ special teams and 2003-born goaltender, Thomas Milic, carried them to a 4-2 win in their first preseason outing of the year.
“It was amazing. The fans that were out here, my family is also here to support me, it was pretty amazing,” said Milic of his first game.
Milic got his first taste of Western Hockey League action, turning aside 29 of 31 shots on goal.
“He was great. I think he really held the fort down before we got our legs under us. He came up with some huge saves. He’s super poised for a young kid, he’s comfortable in there. He was great all camp, I’m impressed with him,” said Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette of the young net-minder.
Early in the first period, defenseman Owen Williams was called for a hooking penalty to put Vancouver on the power play. Justin Sourdif pounced on a rebound from a shot taken by John Little.
“They seemed to have the momentum at the beginning, but we did a great job of killing penalties and were able to get the win. Looking forward to getting back out on the ice in Tri-City later on in the week,” said Milic.
Lucas Ciona took his first of three penalties on the morning at the 12-minute mark of the first, putting Seattle back on the kill. However, shortly after, Sergei Alkhimov was called for interference, putting the two sides at four players aside. During the ensuing four-on-four play, John Little created a turnover in the neutral zone, sending him on a breakaway, where he beat goaltender Milic over his right shoulder, giving Vancouver a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Seattle took two more penalties, including a Brecon Wood tripping minor at 19:19 of the first.
The second period was much like the first, with both teams this time having to rely on their special teams. Seattle got their fourth opportunity on the power play at 14:27 of the second period, and camp standout, Michael Horon, put Seattle on the board after a great individual effort. The streaking Horon received a pass from Tyrel Bauer, and Horon made a good cut to the outside, giving him the space to let a slap shot go from the faceoff circle, beating goaltender Drew Sim low to the glove side. Seattle wasn’t finished yet, however.
Just over a minute later, Jared Davidson created a turnover at the bottom of the circle and then slipped the puck five-hole, tying the game at two. The two teams ended the period deadlocked.
Seattle opened the third period with yet another incredible individual effort — this time by Thunderbirds rookie, Lucas Ciona. He created a turnover at the Vancouver blue line, sending him on a two-on-one with Jackson Kaluski. Ciona cut to the center of the ice and was able to look off the goaltender, putting the puck in on the short side. The goal stood as the game winner.
“Yeah, I saw them going d-to-d with the pass and it took a weird bounce, went in with Jaxan [Kaluski] and the d-man sucked over so I was able to get a greasy goal,” Ciona said.
After the goal, Ciona was called for his third penalty of the morning — goaltender interference.
“They just said I ran over the goalie after I got the goal. I had never seen that before, so it was kind of weird. I got the goal though, so that was alright”
Seattle added an insurance marker at 19:47 of the third on a Brecon Wood empty-net goal.
In all, Seattle killed nine-of-10 penalties and was one-for-six on the power play.
“Obviously, with all the penalties called at this time of year, that’s sometimes how the games go, a little bit of sloppy play. Not everyone plays on the power play or penalty kill, so it’s hard to see guys at five-on-five situations, most of the time where the majority of the game is played. That’s why we have six preseason games. It was nice to get the win though,” said O’Dette after the game.
Vancouver head coach Michael Dyck was not impressed with his team’s play in the 4-2 loss.
“I didn’t think that we played very well. The first period we were just okay and the second and the third period we didn’t play Giants hockey,” Dyck stated.
“A lot of power plays and a lot of PKs takes away from the flow of the game a little bit. We haven’t worked on special teams much, so it was pretty sloppy.”
Dyck’s Giants next play tomorrow against the Portland Winterhawks. Seattle next plays at 3pm against the Tri-City Americans.
