Silvertips rout Royals 8-1, clinch 2nd straight U.S. title

Published 1:30 am Saturday, March 17, 2018

VICTORIA, British Columbia — The news became official while the Everett Silvertips were in the second period of their eventual 8-1 win over the Victoria Royals before 7,006 fans at Save-On-Foods Arena.

That was when the Tips officially clinched their second consecutive and sixth overall U.S. Division title thanks to Seattle’s 5-1 win over Portland in Kent. The Tips also earned the Western Conference’s top seed and will open the playoffs on Friday at home against eighth-seeded and defending WHL champion Seattle.

“I was real proud of our guys’ effort here today,” head coach Dennis Williams said in a post-game phone interview. “We truck over early this morning, bus and ferry ride, and come right to the rink and play, and I thought we gave an honest effort.”

With Saturday’s eight-goal performance the Tips (47-20-2-3, 99 points) set a new franchise record for goals in a season with 246.

Everett also topped the Royals 3-2 Friday to snap a two-game losing streak that threatened the Tips’ division-title hopes.

“I think it helps you from a mindset in closing out what would be like a series,” Williams said. “I was real proud of our response from the Tuesday game (on Friday) night and today. We got a lot of balanced scoring tonight. It allows us to enjoy what was a long year.”

The 47th victory is the second-most in franchise history. Victoria fell to 39-27-4-2 (84 points) and will be the second seed in the B.C. Division playoff bracket.

The division title concluded a stunning turnaround for an Everett team that was 4-9-1 back on Oct. 27.

“I really don’t think a lot of people probably gave us a shot there for a while,” Williams said. “I give a lot of credit to our group and our staff and support that we were able to do it, and stick to the process and righting the ship there early in the year.”

Nanaimo native Patrick Bajkov had a hat trick and an assist to become the franchise’s all-time leader in assists. Linemate Matt Fonteyne had a goal and four assists while Connor Dewar had a pair of goals and two assists, and Kevin Davis had three helpers. Bryce Kindopp also scored twice.

Carter Hart played the first two periods in net before yielding for Dustin Wolf with a 6-1 lead after 40 minutes.

Kindopp added his second goal at 6:46 in the third, and Fonteyne deflected in a Davis point shot at 15:51 for the game’s final two goals.

Everett took a 3-0 lead into the second period. Dewar’s second goal of the game came via power play just 39 seconds into the second period.

Matthew Phillips broke up Hart’s shutout bid at 5:55 in the second period with a power-play goal that made it 4-1.

Everett answered with Bajkov’s second power-play goal of the game to make it 5-1 at 10:37. Bajkov completed his third career hat trick in the final minute the second period as Everett took a 6-1 lead into the second intermission.

The Tips scored early and often in the opening period. Kindopp opened the scoring when he buried a third attempt from between the circles at 4:48.

Bajkov doubled Everett’s lead with a power-play goal at 15:07, and Dewar deflected in Ondrej Vala’s point shot at 17:19 for a 3-0 lead.

Everett outshot Victoria 34-19 and finished 3-for-6 on the power play.

Silvertips 8, Royals 1

Everett 3 3 2 — 8

Victoria 0 1 0 — 1

1st Period—1, Everett, Kindopp 23 (Dewar, Fonteyne), 4:48. 2, Everett, Bajkov 31 (Davis, Fonteyne), 15:07 (PP). 3, Everett, Dewar 37 (Vala, Sutter), 17:19. Penalties—Gregor Vic (elbowing), 13:46; Sutter Evt (tripping), 17:25; Oliver Vic (high sticking), 20:00.

2nd Period—4, Everett, Dewar 38 (Pilon, Fonteyne), 0:39 (PP). 5, Victoria, Phillips 48 (Gregor, Hannoun), 5:55 (PP). 6, Everett, Bajkov 32 (Davis, Fonteyne), 10:37 (PP). 7, Everett, Bajkov 33 19:26. Penalties—Ormsby Evt (boarding), 1:10; Richards Evt (roughing), 1:10; Reddekopp Vic (interference), 1:10; Christiansen Evt (checking from behind), 4:58; Freadrich Vic (tripping), 9:30; Grishakov Vic (hooking), 11:38; Buziak Vic (slashing), 13:46; Dewar Evt (interference), 15:03.

3rd Period—8, Everett, Kindopp 24 (Dewar), 6:46. 9, Everett, Fonteyne 35 (Davis, Bajkov), 15:51. Penalties—Vala Evt (interference), 1:01; Butt Evt (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 7:54; Kaspick Vic (cross checking), 7:54; Kambeitz Vic (high sticking), 18:11.

Shots on Goal—Everett 14-14-6-34. Victoria 10-4-5-19.

Power Play Opportunities—Everett 3 / 6; Victoria 1 / 5.

Goalies—Everett, Hart 31-6-1-3 (14 shots-13 saves); Wolf 13-6-0-0 (5 shots-5 saves). Victoria, McNabb 4-10-0-0 (34 shots-26 saves).

A—7,006