It happened! The Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Everett Silvertips once again, winning Game 5 of the second round of playoffs with a final score of 3-2. This was their fourth win in five games against the Tips and you know that that means! It secures their spot in the Western Conference Championship tournament.

Saturday’s game at the ShoWare Center was another exciting game for T-Birds fans. Seattle scored the first goal of the night when Scott Eansor made a shot. Donovan Neuls and Nolan Volcan had the assists. Nick Holowko made the second goal of the first period as well as his second during the playoffs overall, with assists from Cavin Leth and Alexander True. Just to put things in perspective, not only did the Tips not score once during the first period, but they only took a fifth of the shots that Seattle made, three to the Birds’ 15.

Everett did make the first goal of the second period. Ralph scored with assists from Davis and Fonteyne. Ryan Gropp got on the board next when he scored during the same period. Turner Ottenbreit and Matthew Wedman had the assists. Everett scored another goal during the same period when Skoleski made a goal assisted by Khomenko and Fonteyne. There was no scoring during the third period.

Fans took to social media saying things like, “The last three minutes of the game were excruciating!” The game was an intense one with so much on the line and some thought that it just might go into overtime, but the Tips were never able to catch back up to the Birds due to their defense. Landon Bow had another great night for his record, blocking 17 out of 19 shots and aiding in a defense that is taking the young men to the championship.

So who is ready for a championship! The schedule is as follows so be sure to get your tickets when you can and stay tuned to see if our Birds win that trophy against the Kelowna Rockets or Victoria Royals.

WHL Western Conference Championship
Game 1 Seattle at Kelowna/Victoria, Friday, April 22, 7:05pm
Game 2 Seattle at Kelowna/Victoria, Saturday, April 23, 7:05pm
Game 3 Kelowna/Victoria at Seattle, Tuesday, April 26, 7:05pm
Game 4 Kelowna/Victoria at Seattle, Wednesday, April 27, 7:05pm
Game 5 Seattle at Kelowna/Victoria, Friday, April 29, 7:05pm*
Game 6 Kelowna/Victoria at Seattle, Sunday, May 1, 5:05pm*
Game 7 Seattle at Kelowna/Victoria, Tuesday, May 3, 7:05pm*
* if necessary

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia