EVERETT — Trying to pick Carter Hart’s best game is akin to picking the best part of Thanksgiving.
There are many options from which to choose, but the Everett netminder’s 37-save performance in a 3-0 shutout of the Seattle Thunderbirds on the eve of Thanksgiving certainly belongs in the conversation.
“I thought he was sharp,” said Everett head coach Kevin Constantine, himself a former goaltender. “Sometimes you look at goalies and pucks are hitting them and they’re bobbling around. He looked crisp on his saves and that generally means a guy is really focused when he’s crisp. I thought he was really solid.”
Hart’s 12th victory and second shutout of the season helped propel the U.S. Division-leading Tips (16-3-4, 36 points) to their second victory over their closest geographic rivals in as many match-ups this season.
The reigning WHL Goaltender of the Week got some help from his roommate Riley Sutter, who had a goal and an assist as the Tips topped the defending Western Conference champion Thunderbirds (11-9-1-1, 24 points) before 4,434 fans.
Hart was at his best while helping the Silvertips kill all three of Seattle’s power plays. He recorded a half-dozen saves on the T-Birds’ first man advantage that came just 38 seconds into the contest, and finished with 18 stops in the first period alone.
“We had a couple big blocks early on and I know they like to feed (Ethan) Bear on the one-(timer),” Hart said. “We had some huge blocks on him and I think all night we had some pretty huge blocks. I think the reason we were so successful tonight is that we had everybody laying their bodies on the line to sacrifice for the good of the team.”
Everett killed off two more penalties, one each in the second and third periods. The final one came with just 2:37 to go in the third period when Patrick Bajkov took a holding penalty. But Hart once again stoned the Thunderbirds and kept the shutout intact.
“Nothing really changes,” Hart said of his preparation for facing Seattle. “Maybe my depth a little bit because I’ve played them so many times in the last three years. I know they like to get on top of me and on top of the crease and they like a like a lot of traffic. Maybe just raising that battle level a bit up tonight, but overall I thought we did a pretty good job of limiting them to quality scoring changes.”
Everett took a 2-0 lead in the first period and carried it into the third. Silvertips rookie forward Orrin Centazzo all but sealed the victory at 2:07 in the third when he won a race to the puck at Seattle’s blue line, skated in from the left boards and buried a tough-angle shot past Seattle goalie Matt Berlin for a 3-0 lead.
“He’s got a nice skill set, he’s got good vision,” Constantine said of Centazzo. “He’s a good athlete that is still young and it may not emerge yet, but you see these little flashes of some pretty good offensive things. Great hands, good vision on the ice. It will take a while but I think he’s going to be a very good junior hockey player.”
Everett, which boasts the league’s third-best penalty kill, established it early. Seattle earned a power play in the game’s first minute, but Hart stoned all six shots to keep the game scoreless.
“If (Seattle) would have scored a goal they would have settled in a little bit,” Constantine said. “We played better once the first 10 minutes of the game were done. We were a little steadier after that.”
Indeed they were.
Seattle’s Nolan Volcan was penalized for roughing at 5:37 and the Tips took advantage 20 seconds later when Kevin Davis won a corner battle for the puck, found a trailing Sutter who in turn found Fonteyne at the left post for the tap-in goal and a 1-0 lead.
“Kevin was coming up with a lot of speed and I knew he was going to kick it out – it’s what we always do,” Sutter said. “Two guys came to both of us and they kind of left me open after he got it. I saw (Fonteyne) back door and he put it in.”
The Tips made it 2-0 at 14:46 in the opening stanza. Brian King dug the puck out out from the end boards and found Sean Richards, whose shot deflected over to Sutter at the left post. Sutter stuck it past Toth’s right blocker to take the two-goal lead.
“It was just a scramble and I was just trying to get in front of the net,” Sutter said. “It just bounced right to me so I’m just happy I put it in.”
The Tips return to action Friday when they play host to the Edmonton Oil Kings at Xfinity Arena. The puck drops at 7:35.
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
Silvertips 3, Thunderbirds 0
Seattle 0 0 0 – 0
Everett 2 0 1 – 3
1st Period-1, Everett, Fonteyne 5 (Sutter, Davis), 5:57 (PP). 2, Everett, Sutter 9 (Richards, King), 14:46. Penalties-served by Sutter Evt (too many men), 0:38; Volcan Sea (roughing), 5:37.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Ottenbreit Sea (tripping, roughing), 9:48; Onyebuchi Evt (roughing), 9:48; Gropp Sea (boarding), 14:12; Wylie Evt (holding), 17:31.
3rd Period-3, Everett, Centazzo 2 2:04. Penalties-Moilanen Sea (slashing), 4:44; Richards Evt (roughing), 4:44; Ottenbreit Sea (tripping), 5:56; Bajkov Evt (holding), 17:23; Kolesar Sea (roughing), 19:54; Volcan Sea (roughing), 19:54; Onyebuchi Evt (roughing), 19:54.
Shots on Goal-Seattle 18-9-10-37. Everett 8-8-8-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Seattle 0 / 3; Everett 1 / 5.
Goalies-Seattle, Toth 9-9-1-0 (8 shots-6 saves); Berlin 1-0-0-0 (16 shots-15 saves). Everett, Hart 12-3-3-0 (37 shots-37 saves).
A-4,434
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