The Everett Silvertips return to the familiar surroundings of Xfinity Arena this week following a disappointing conclusion to last week’s four-game swing through the Western Hockey League’s Central Division.
The Tips (11-7-0-2, 24 points) led in each of the final three games of the trip, but wound up losing all three. They had a two-goal advantage in the third period of Saturday’s loss at Calgary before the Hitmen came back to tie the game in regulation and win in a shootout.
Everett is not the only team to struggle against the Central this season. Seattle went 2-4 on its Central swing, but has won six in a row to maintain its lead in the U.S. Division.
The Thunderbirds received a boast last week when Scott Eansor returned after missing nine games because of a head injury. The forward had three assists as Seattle knocked off Portland 5-2 Saturday at the ShoWare Center in Kent to remain unbeaten at home.
The loss also snapped a four-game winning streak for the Winterhawks (11-10-0-0, 22 points) who remain fourth in the U.S. Division.
Chiefs stay hot
The Spokane Chiefs (12-8-2-1, 27 points) turned in another impressive weekend. They’re riding a three-game winning streak and are 8-1-1-0 in their past 10 games. Spokane’s only defeats in that span were a 5-2 setback at Everett Nov. 13, and a 5-4 overtime loss at Kamloops on Nov. 3.
Overager Adam Helewka continues to impress since being returned from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League. In Spokane’s past three victories, Helewka has four goals and three assists, giving him nine and eight, respectively, in 11 games this season.
“(Helewka) is another guy who can make a play, score a goal and open the games for us,” Chiefs coach Don Nachbaur told the Spokesman-Review. “We struggled to score goals up until the time he got here, but he’s for sure another stick that can score for us.”
Tri-City knocks off Victoria
The last-place Tri-City Americans (9-13-1-0, 19 points) defeated then-Western Conference leader Victoria 6-5 in overtime Saturday, allowing Kelowna to move ahead in the conference standings.
Each team scored three times in the first nine minutes and Victoria held a 5-3 lead at the first intermission. Tri-City scored once in each of the remaining two periods and got the game-winner in overtime for the comeback victory.
“It gives us extra confidence going into games ahead,” Tri-City defenseman Brandon Carlo told the Tri-City Herald.
Carlo has a goal and two assists in three games since missing nearly a month because of an upper body injury.
Laurencelle’s streak
Everett overage center Remi Laurencelle has a six-game scoring streak, tying him with the Vancouver’s Tyler Benson and three Seattle Thunderbirds for the second-longest active streak in the WHL. Seattle’s Mathew Barzal, Keegan Kolesar and Ethan Bear all have six-game streaks, and Medicine Hat’s Chad Butcher leads the league with a seven-game streak.
Barzal leads the league with 28 assists and has 34 total points. The latter is good for sixth in the WHL and second in the Western Conference. Kolesar has 15 goals and 16 assists. His 31 points are eighth overall and third in the West.
Weekly honors
Kelowna Rockets forward Tyson Ballie was named the WHL Player of the Week and Declan Hobbs of the Kootenay Ice earned the WHL’s nomination for CHL Goaltender of the Week, the league announced Monday.
Ballie had three goals and four assists in addition to a plus-five rating as the Rockets finished 3-0-0-0 last week. The 20-year-old has 16 goals and 25 assists in 23 games this season for the first-place Rockets.
Hobbs finished 1-1-0-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and a .957 save percentage last week for the Ice. He recorded 39 saves in Kootenay’s 2-0 loss to Everett on Tuesday, and added 27 saves in a 2-1 win over Swift Current Saturday.
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