The Everett Silvertips will likely be pleased Friday when they will look across the ice and see an opponent other than the Portland Winterhawks.
Sunday’s 2-1 win over Portland was Everett’s fifth match-up with the Winterhawks in 11 games this season, and Portland holds a 3-2 advantage in victories.
There are five more Portland-Everett match-ups scheduled in the regular season, but the next one isn’t until Dec. 9. Following that the teams don’t square off again until February.
With the exception of Portland’s 5-1 victory on Oct. 16, the games have been tight low-scoring affairs. The two teams have combined for just 18 goals in five games, and a full third of those came in the Oct. 16 game.
A large part of the reason is that Winterhawks goaltender Adin Hill and Everett counterpart Carter Hart are among the best in the conference.
Hill, Barzal earn weekly honors
In fact, Hill was the WHL’s nominee for the CHL Goaltender of the Week for the second straight week. Hill, the current reigning CHL honoree, posted two wins to go along with a 1.67 goals against average and a .958 save percentage. He had 37 saves en route to first star honors in Friday’s 2-1 victory at Everett.
Mathew Barzal’s big week contributed mightily to the Seattle Thunderbirds’ success and he was rewarded by being named the WHL Player of the Week. Barzal had a goal and nine assists as the Thunderbirds went 2-1-0-0 for the week. The New York Islanders prospect is averaging two points per game in 10 outings this season.
Moose Jaw forward Brayden Point was named the WHL Player of the Month for October. The 19-year-old Calgary native tallied 11 goals and 17 assists and leads the league with 28 points.
Hill was also named WHL Goaltender of the Month. For the month Hill posted a record of 7-4-0-0 over 11 appearances in October. He recorded a 2.02 goals against average and a .944 save percentage to go along with a league-leading three shutouts. In six of the games he started, Hill held the opposition to two goals or fewer.
Spokane playing well on Central swing
The Spokane Chiefs (7-7-1-1) have won three straight following Sunday’s 3-1 win at Edmonton. Spokane was playing its fourth game in five nights, and the trip continued at Kamloops on Tuesday before a Friday match-up with Tri-City.
The Chiefs have shown a propensity not to be bothered by playing quick turnarounds. They took Everett to overtime on Oct. 10 despite playing their fourth game in five days. Kalier Yamamoto is averaging better than a point a game. The Spokane native has five goals and 15 assists on the season, including two goals in Sunday’s win at Edmonton.
Everett makes its first trip to Spokane Nov. 11 and plays host to the Chiefs two nights later.
Benson’s return hasn’t slowed Vancouver slide
The Tips will take on Vancouver Saturday for the first time this season and it appears the return of NHL prospect Tyler Benson hasn’t done much to jumpstart the Giants. Benson has just one goal and one assist in five games since returning from surgery that kept him out of Vancouver’s first 10 games. Meanwhile the Giants (4-8-2-1) have lost six straight, including Sunday’s 4-1 loss at home to Tri-City (6-8-1-0). The Americans have won two straight, but are just 3-7 in their last 10 games.
Thunderbirds blow two-goal lead
The Seattle Thunderbirds (9-3-1-0) allowed three third period goals at Calgary Sunday and dropped a 4-3 decision to the Hitmen. The win snapped a two-game winning streak for Seattle after the Thunderbirds propelled themselves into first place in the U.S. Division following an 8-2 stretch. Seattle is in its Central Division swing and will play at Red Deer, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat the rest of this week.
Follow Silvertips writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
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