EVERETT — Everett Silvertips rookie Connor Dewar has seen no shortage of ice time in high pressure situations this season despite his youth.
That includes playing penalty kill and power play minutes, as well as 3-on-3 overtime chances.
It was the latter opportunity during which the 16-year-old got to play the hero Monday as he scored the overtime game-winning goal as the Tips defeated the visiting Saskatoon Blades 2-1 before 3,763 fans in a rare afternoon contest at Xfinity Arena.
“It was the first overtime goal of my life, actually,” said Dewar, who has seven goals and six assists this season. “It was pretty cool. Someone had to do it and I’m happy it was me.”
Captain Dawson Leedahl set up the game-winner when he kept the puck away from a sliding Saskatoon defenseman and played it across the mouth of the goal to Dewar, who was waiting for the tap-in at the right post at 1:29 in the extra session.
The Silvertips (27-12-2-2, 58 points) have now garnered points in 10 consecutive games and improved to 7-2 in overtime games. Everett also extended its U.S. Division lead to seven points over idle Seattle.
“I think our penalty kill has been playing really well, and it’s our attention to detail,” said Silvertips defenseman Brycen Martin, who was playing his first game against his former Blades teammates since he was traded to Everett in December.
“Everybody’s got a job and everybody’s got to do it,” Martin continued. “A lot of it has to do with zone time. You look at our third line and they got probably the most zone time out of all our lines. We’ve got some third and fourth line scoring the last couple games. You know every team needs that and we got a pretty deep team.”
Dewar played on Everett’s third line Monday, while Brandon Ralph, normally a third or fourth line forward, scored Everett’s first goal less than a minute into the second period.
Ralph filled in on the second line for Graham Millar Monday after playing on the first line for Leedahl in Saturday’s victory.
Ralph’s goal came after a strong save by Everett goaltender Carter Hart to open the second period.
The Tips took the puck down the ice and Ralph scored off tic-tac-toe passes from Matt Fonteyne and Patrick Bajkov just 58 seconds into the second period.
Remi Laurencelle appeared to score the go-ahead goal for Everett with about eight minutes to play, but it was disallowed due to an offsides call.
The thrilling finished belied a less-than-ideal start for both teams. Saskatoon (17-25-4-0, 38 points) was in the fifth game of a seven-game road trip, while the Tips were playing their third game in four days.
“It had a Monday afternoon feel to it to me,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “It didn’t have the energy of Saturday when you have Seattle and 7,000 people. I didn’t think we played all that great, but it’s 72 games (in a season). You gotta find wins in games like that if you’re going to be good.”
Saskatoon took the initial lead when Nick Zajac curled behind the Everett goal and found Mason McCarty in the slot. McCarty went top shelf past Hart to give the Blades the 1-0 lead at 19:00 in the first period.
That was Hart’s only blemish as he finished with 27 saves en route to his league-leading 26th victory.
“Hart was good and kept us in the game, and you gotta find wins in games that are more on the ugly side,” Constantine said. “I thought we were just OK, but we won.”
The Silvertips head northeast beginning Wednesday when they play at Kamloops. The road trip continues with games Friday and Saturday at Edmonton and Red Deer.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
Silvertips 2, Blades 1 (OT)
Saskatoon 1 0 0 0 — 1
Everett 0 1 0 1 — 2
1st Period—1, Saskatoon, McCarty 12 (Zajac), 19:00. Penalties-Leedahl Evt (boarding), 4:29; MacKenzie Sas (elbowing), 6:51; Reid Sas (interference), 16:29.
2nd Period-2, Everett, Ralph 4 (Fonteyne, Bajkov), 0:58. Penalties—Perillat Sas (cross checking), 7:13; MacKenzie Sas (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 12:27; Leedahl Evt (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 12:27.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Laurencelle Evt (tripping), 3:24; Bishop Sas (stick infraction), 9:46; Leedahl Evt (slashing), 10:25.
OT Period—3, Everett, Dewar 7 (Leedahl, MacDonald), 1:29. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal—Saskatoon 9-10-8-1-28. Everett 12-10-7-1-30.
Power Play Opportunities—Saskatoon 0/3; Everett 0/4.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Hamm 13-14-3-0 (30 shots-28 saves). Everett, Hart 26-11-1-2 (28 shots-27 saves).
A—3,763
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