EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips did what they needed to do Saturday night. And now the damage from Wednesday has been undone.
Everett shot out of the gate like a cannon as the Tips emphatically beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-1 before an enthusiastic sellout crowd at Xfinity Arena, pushing their lead in the WHL’s U.S. Division back to four points.
Everett was all over Seattle from the opening puck drop, outshooting the Thunderbirds by an obscene 20-1 margin in the first period. Although that shot advantage resulted in just one goal, the Tips continued to control play and had the game comfortably in hand before Seattle got a consolation goal with less than two minutes remaining.
“It was a great win,” said Tips defenseman Cole MacDonald, who contributed two assists to the cause. “We had a great start and we stayed consistent throughout the game. It was a big game for us.”
The race for the U.S. Division took another twist Saturday. Everett’s victory, combined with Portland’s 6-5 shootout loss to Prince George, means the Tips’ lead over the Winterhawks is back to the four-point margin it was prior to Wednesday 6-1 humbling at the hands of Portland. The Winterhawks still have two games in hand and will win the division for the fourth time in five seasons should they win their final five games. Portland plays one of those games in hand Sunday when the Winterhawks host Spokane.
Remi Laurencelle, Jordan Wharrie and Ben Betker scored the goals for Everett (41-20-3-5), which reached the 90-point milestone for just the third time in the franchise’s 12 seasons. The Tips also got their power play back on track as they scored twice with the advantage after managing just one power-play goal in their previous six games combined.
Carter Hart had a relatively quiet day in goal for Everett, being required to make just 19 saves.
“I thought we played well,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “It was probably a little easier game for us to get up for because we’re still kind of in the running for the division title, and Seattle is pretty much locked in their spot. At the same time, you have to get out there and get the job done, and I thought we were really ready to play right from the start of the game.”
Ryan Gropp scored the late goal for Seattle (34-25-4-5), which beat Everett 3-2 in a shootout the previous night in Kent. Goaltender Taran Kozun was the lone bright spot for the T-birds, making 39 saves to prevent the margin from being greater.
“They were better to start the game, then we couldn’t get going because we were always taking penalties, right to the very end,” Seattle coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “They were definitely the better team in the first period and we weren’t ready to play.”
The first period went almost exactly the way the Tips would have drawn it up. Everett, had all three of the period’s power plays and peppered the Seattle goal with 20 shots. The first official T-birds shot on net didn’t come until there were just 4 seconds remaining in the period.
But the Tips didn’t turn any of those shots into goals until 45.8 seconds remained. Everett was on the power play when Betker powered a one-timer wide, and Laurencelle dived to poke home the rebound off the back boards to make it 1-0 — and crucially give the Tips some reward for their dramatic advantage in shots.
“Some power plays helped,” Constantine said of the first-period shot numbers. “It’s unusual to look up and see that. It’s also scary when you look up and see it starting to hit 13, 14, 15 and you haven’t scored yet. Kozun was pretty good, he kept his team in the game, and it was important to get that goal.”
The Tips then doubled their lead 2:54 into the second period. Nikita Scherbak dummied a pass off the boards, opening up a shooting opportunity for Wharrie at the right point. Wharrie blasted a one-timer into the far corner to make it 2-0.
Everett thought it had scored again at 4:07, only for the goal to be disallowed by a goaltender interference penalty. But the Tips did get their third goal with 6 seconds remaining. The Tips, on the power play, long-shifted the T-bird penalty killers, eventually allowing Betker to wrist a shot from the point into the top corner to make it 3-0.
The Tips then tightened up in the third period, preventing Seattle from getting any good scoring chances until Gropp converted from the slot with 1:12 remaining to prevent Hart from picking up his fifth shutout of the season.
Slap shots
Two Everett prospects, 15-year-old defenseman Jantzen Leslie and 15-year-old winger Bryce Kindopp, are scheduled to join the Tips on Sunday. Leslie and Kindopp, Everett’s top two picks in the 2014 bantam draft, saw their season with Lloydminster of the Alberta Midget Hockey League end Thursday. Both have already made their WHL debuts and are expected to remain with the Tips through the playoffs. … Everett overage winger Brayden Low missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. Also, defenseman Tristen Pfeifer missed his seventh straight because of an upper-body ailment. … Seattle was without winger Keegan Kolesar. Kolesar, who went into Saturday third on the team in goals with 19, suffered a broken wrist during Seattle’s 4-1 victory at Victoria on March 3 and is out long-term. The T-birds were also without center Alexander True, who is nearing a return from a long-term upper-body injury.
Silvertips 3, Thunderbirds 1
Seattle 0 0 1 — 0
Everett 1 2 0 — 3
First Period—1, Everett, Laurencelle 21 (Betker, MacDonald), 19:14 (pp). Penalties—Spencer, Seattle (hooking), 3:34; Wardley, Seattle (roughing), 14:26; Pederson, Seattle (checking from behind), 18:33; Neuls, Seattle (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:33; Stadnyk, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:33; Lipsbergs, Seattle (checking from behind), 20:00.
Second Period—2, Everett, Wharrie 2 (MacDonald, Scherbak), 2:54. 3, Everett, Betker 6 (Stadnyk, Nikolishin), 19:54 (pp). Penalties—Stadnyk, Everett (goaltender interference), 4:07; Wharrie, Everett (high sticking), 9:28; Spencer, Seattle (tripping), 12:38; Barzal, Seattle (high sticking), 18:09.
Third Period—4, Seattle, Gropp 24 (Theodore), 18:48. Penalties—Laurencelle, Everett (cross checking), 6:31; Volcan, Seattle (slashing), 15:01; Gropp, Seattle (high sticking), 19:06.
Shots on goal—Seattle 1-12-7—20. Everett 20-15-7—42. Power-play opportunities—Seattle 0 of 3. Everett 2 of 8.
Goalies—Seattle, Kozun 31-19-4-4 (42 shots, 39 saves). Everett, Hart 17-5-2-2 (20 shots, 19 saves).
A—8,345.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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