Silvertips beat Thunderbirds, clinch playoff spot

EVERETT — With no team able to tilt the ice in one considerable direction throughout the course of the game, the Everett Silvertips won the special teams battle and in turn knocked off its archrival, the Seattle Thunderbirds, 2-1 on Friday night at Angel of the Winds Arena.

The Silvertips scored the lone power-play goal and Everett’s penalty kill was lights out by squelching all three man advantages for Seattle on Friday.

The aforementioned power-play goal was the go-ahead goal, courtesy of Silvertips captain Bryce Kindopp. The overage forward buried the pass from Cole Fonstad on the man advantage for his 33rd goal of the season at 19:01 in the second period, providing the Silvertips a 2-1 lead.

Everett hung strong in the waning moments with Seattle’s goalie pulled, with Silvertips goaltender Dustin Wolf making a number of saves to earn his 26th win of the year.

With the win the Silvertips clinched a playoff spot. Everett hasn’t missed the playoffs since joining the league in 2003-2004.

The Silvertips struck early, as Ty Kolle potted his 17th goal of the season at 1:08 in the first period. The 2000-born forward buried the centering pass from Jackson Berezowski to put the Silvertips up 1-0.

Seattle responded at the 10:58 mark in the second, as Matthew Rempe cleaned up a rebound in front of Wolf to tie the game at 1-1.

The Silvertips remain nine points back of Portland, with a game in hand, for the lead in the U.S. Division after the Winterhawks knocked off the Spokane Chiefs, 4-1, on Friday.

The Silvertips and Winterhawks face each other on Saturday night at Angel of the Winds Arena.

Everett also extended its lead to seven points over the Chiefs for second in the division after Spokane lost on Friday. Everett possesses three games in hand on the Chiefs.

Josh Horton covers the Silvertips for the Herald. Follow him on Twitter, @JoshHortonEDH