Final thoughts as the Everett Silvertips – without Carter Hart – fall to the Spokane Chiefs
Published 12:18 am Thursday, March 17, 2016
The Game
This game was of little significance for the Silvertips. They are already locked into a second-place division finish and home-ice advantage. Spokane still has a No. 7 seed to play for, while the Silvertips have nothing more than pride after Seattle clinched the division Tuesday.
Of more significance is the undisclosed lower body injury to Everett goaltender Carter Hart. Hockey teams are notoriously tight-lipped about injuries, particularly when it gets to this point of the year, so I don’t anticipate a lot of details to be released. With Everett solidified as the No. 2 seed Hart likely wouldn’t have played much this weekend even if he was healthy. He was dressed in a suit and seated in the top row along with the other Tips scratches Wednesday.
When asked after the game head coach Kevin Constantine did not elaborate, simply saying “he’s hurt right now.”
Hart’s importance to this Silvertips team cannot be overstated and he’s projected to go anywhere from the late first to the third round of this June’s NHL draft. Hart leads the league in wins (35) and goals-against average (2.14), is tied for first in games played (63) and is fifth in save percentage. His emergence as a 16-year-old starter last season was one of the primary reasons the Tips broke their eight-year division title/playoff series win drought.
As for now Hart is officially “day-to-day.” We’ll keep a close eye to see how this plays out over the next week-plus before Everett’s playoff opener on March 25.
If Hart’s injury is serious, there might not be a less-tested backup in the WHL than Mario Petit. The Manitoba native is 3-1-4 with a 2.64 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage. Wednesday was only his seventh start and just his 13th appearance of the season.
Petit has played well at times. In addition to his three victories, Petit’s best performance may have been an overtime loss against Kelowna in which he saved all eight third-period shots – several in spectacular fashion – as the Tips erased a 5-1 deficit to force overtime before falling 6-5 in the extra session.
As far as Petit’s performance against potential first-round opponents: he played in three games against Portland with 1-0-0 mark with 31 saves on 33 shots faced. Petit also beat Spokane 3-2 with 22 saves on 24 shots on Feb. 24, and saved all four shots in a Dec. 2 blowout loss to Tri-City in which he relieved Hart in the final period.
The Turning Point
With less than four minutes to go and the score tied, Lucas Skrumeda fired a shot from the point that trickled past Spokane goalie Lasse Petersen and just outside the far post. Carson Stadnyk collected the rebound and curled behind for the wraparound, but Petersen got his left pad in front to keep the game 2-2.
Three Stars
1. Spokane D Matt Sozanski: Sozanski scored the go-ahead goal in the opening period with a point shot and finished plus-one for the night.
2. Everett D Cole MacDonald: The overager assisted both of Everett’s goals.
3. Spokane F Markson Bechtold: Bechtold scored the first goal and was plus-one for the game.
