Everett Silvertips stunned by Portland Winterhawks’ five-goal rally
Published 11:24 pm Wednesday, December 9, 2015
The Game
Wow. Where to start with this one? The Tips did not trail until late in the final period and seemingly had a comfortable 5-2 lead after Remi Laurencelle and Jake Christiansen scored to open the third period.
Then Portland came storming back as the Winterhawks scored on three consecutive power plays to stun the Silvertips and their fans in a midweek game at Xfinity Arena.
The Tips entered with a WHL-best 2.00 goals against average, so you had to feel pretty comfortable up three. Now Everett is still allowing a league-low 2.11 goals per game, but this was by far its worst performance this season.
Normally rock-solid Carter Hart also struggled more than he has all year. He saw his GAA “balloon” to 1.93, while his save percentage fell to .927. Hart’s GAA still leads the league and his percentage trails only Prince George’s Ty Edmonds (.937).
Portland goaltender Adin Hill also struggled as he allowed five goals. However, he did make one incredible save in the first period to rob Laurencelle as he stopped a point-blank shot from Laurencelle while falling backward onto the ice.
Portland improves to 4-2 against Everett this season and seems to be the one team that can consistently score against and beat the Tips.
The Turning Point
It’s hard to pinpoint any specific moment. Portland’s three consecutive power play goals to tie would qualify as the turning points, I would say. The Winterhawks grabbed the momentum and carried it through to the end of the game.
Three Stars
1. Portland F Rihards Bukarts: The Latvian had a hat trick (all power plays) and an assist to lead Portland’s comeback
2. Everett F Carson Stadnyk: On another night Stadnyk would have been the story as he had two goals and an assist to finish plus-4 on the night.
3. Portland F Alex Schoenborn: Bounced back from the WHL injury report to score a short-handed goal that included some deft puck handling, and had three assists.
