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Favorable circumstances allowed Thunder defenseman Kevin Seibel to enjoy the most productive night of his professional career on Wednesday.
His hat trick against Arizona was out of character for a player who has never scored more than six goals in a pro season. Seibel has been on a scoring surge lately, and the only thing different about Wednesday’s game, an 8-4 Wichita win, was that Seibel was the one delivering the goals.
In his previous 13 games, Seibel had 13 points — all assists. But against a pourous Arizona defense and with extended playing time, Seibel proved he could add to the list of accomplished Thunder goal scorers.
"I was just finally shooting the puck a little bit more," Seibel said. "I don’t think I’ve ever had a pro hat trick before, so something was on my side."
Seibel, often a part of Wichita’s third pairing of defensemen, has seen more time in all shifts recently by necessity.
Defenseman Andrew Martens was picked up by Oklahoma City of the higher-level AHL early in the month, and Wichita’s defense became further depleted by the recent lower-body injury to Daniel Tetrault, who is on the 30-day injured reserve.
Martens and Tetrault are high-scoring defenseman — Tetrault holds Wichita’s career record for points by a defenseman — and though Wichita has plenty of capable scorers, the Thunder needed someone to carry their load.
Seibel filled in nicely with added ice time. Martens rejoined the Thunder on Friday and the team signed Francis Trudel out of Europe, but Seibel’s impressive play when Wichita was shorthanded likely means he won’t be lost in the shuffle.
"Absolutely you’ve got to elevate your game," Seibel said after Wednesday’s game. "Those two guys (Martens and Tetrault) are irreplaceable, and we’ve got to do what we can between the five of us to make up a little bit of difference. But you can never replace those guys."
With an incomplete roster, McClelland was looking for players to make the most of their chances to help the team in a larger capacity. Seibel was one who answered the call.
"We knew he had a lot of skill," McClelland said. "He’s played well for our hockey team, but now he’s getting put into a position where he hasn’t played a lot this year. More power-play time, penalty killing, and on the regular shift, and he’s stepped up and met the challenge."
The 28-year-old Seibel joined the Thunder six games into the season, when he was signed as a free agent. He blended in early but has thrived of late.
A veteran of four CHL seasons, Seibel has already set his career high in assists with 14, all but one coming since Dec. 23. With a plus-minus rating of plus five, he is two off his career-best set last season between Bossier-Shreveport and Odessa.
"We have such good group of forwards," Seibel said. "Our whole team is great players, easy to adjust to. It’s easy to jel."
The best scoring run of Seibel’s career peaked with Wednesday’s hat trick. It had never happened before, but it was explainable. Seibel isn’t worrying about making sense of the rest of the previous four weeks.
"I wish I knew," Seibel said. "It’s been a good run so far, so that’s great. I’m just trying to keep my game elevated, learning new things. Mac’s a good coach and we’ve got a lot of good older players to learn from. I wish I could tell you what it was."
