Ladies and gentleman, some fans said it couldn’t be done but the Seattle Thunderbirds just proved that line of thinking invalid! The T-Birds are back in the number one spot in the US Division, back where the team was in the fall before several sweeping changes were made. Blame it on the changes, bad management or coaching or the water, but the Birds are definitely back in the game and on their way to the Cup. Friday night the young men beat the Everett Silvertips 2-1. Seattle now stands at 38-22-3-0, which would be a tie with the Tips for points if they didn’t have more wins than Everett. First place never felt so right.

Having won every game in the last couple of weeks, the Birds seem to be showing off now—especially Landon Bow, the goaltender that people wanted to like but were wary of at first. Since beating the Tips last week, Bow has been metaphorically raised on the shoulders of T-Bird fans across the city and last night he went even further, leading the Birds in a victory against Everett on their own turf at the Xfinity Arena.

The Birds didn’t score heavily during the game like they did with the Americans earlier in the week, but Bow ensured that they didn’t have to. After saving 40 shots and stopping seven shooters, he gave the team the defense they needed for the narrow 2-1 victory. Fans were even calling it “The Bow Show.” The shootout was so exciting that even fans who listened to the game on the radio held their breaths or grew hoarse from shouting. Some are even saying that the game broke the team’s “Xfinity Curse.” While most teams perform better at home in a general sense, the Birds have had a tough time at Everett this year.

Ryan Gropp made the first goal of the evening with assists from Nick Holowko and Matthew Barzal. No scoring occurred during the second period, but Everett tied the game up 1-1 during the third period when Connor Dewar scored with a rebound. Cole MacDonald and Remi Laurencelle made the assists.

Seattle will take on the Portland Winterhawks for their next game. Tickets are on sale online and at the box office. On Sunday, the Birds will be at Tri-City. They will take on Everett again on Friday, March 11. Fans can enter to win free tickets to that game if they use their digital programs from the Portland game to enter.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia