Silvertips fall to Prince George in shootout

Published 1:30 am Friday, November 10, 2017

PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia — The Prince George Cougars had won only once at home prior to Friday.

It took a shootout to give the Cougars their second home win of the season as Prince George topped the visiting Everett Silvertips 4-3 before 2,961 fans at CN Centre.

The win by Prince George (6-8-2-2, 16 points) snapped a three-game losing streak. Everett (7-10-1-1, 16 points) has dropped three straight.

The Tips held a 25-24 shot advantage for the contest.

Jared Bethune scored on Prince George’s third penalty shot and was the only player from either team to find the net.

Jack Sander’s late third-period goal through traffic tied the game 3-3 at 15:20 and sent the teams to overtime.

Neither team found the net in overtime to force the shootout.

Everett built a 2-0 lead in the first period. Gianni Fairbrother’s point shot through traffic opened the scoring at 8:23. Reece Vitell set up the goal with a faceoff win and played the puck to Martin Fasko-Rudas, who passed the puck to Fairbrother. It was the defenseman’s first career WHL goal.

Sean Richards pushed the lead to 2-0 with a shot from a tough angle at 14:36 as Everett took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

But the Cougars began the second period on the man advantage, and Koby McDonald sliced the deficit to 2-1 just 32 seconds into the second frame.

Richards tallied his second goal of the game at 16:43 with an assist from Ian Walker, but Prince George answered quickly as Jackson Leppard cut it back to a single goal at 17:27.

Everett led 3-2 through two periods before Sander’s goal sent the teams to the extra session.

Leppard had a goal and an assist, and Josh Maser had two assists to pace Prince George.

Richards had two goals for Everett. No other Tips player had more than one point.

Everett finished 0-for-2 on the power play against Prince George’s WHL-best penalty kill. The Tips are now 0-for-21 on the man advantage dating back to their 3-1 win at Kamloops on Oct. 27.

The teams conclude their two-game series at 7 p.m Saturday.

Cougars 4, Silvertips 3 SO

Everett 2 1 0 0 — 3

Prince George 0 2 1 0 — 4

1st Period—1, Everett, Fairbrother 1 (Fasko-Rudas, Vitelli), 8:36. 2, Everett, Richards 5 (Bajkov, Christiansen), 14:36. Penalties—Bethune Pg (boarding), 15:26; Onyebuchi Evt (hooking), 19:44.

2nd Period—3, Prince George, McDonald 10 (Maser, Leppard), 0:32 (PP). 4, Everett, Richards 6 (Walker), 16:43. 5, Prince George, Leppard 6 (Bethune, Schoettler), 17:27. Penalties—Butt Evt (holding), 6:15; Sutter Evt (high sticking), 6:47.

3rd Period—6, Prince George, Sander 1 (Maser), 15:20. Penalties—O’Brien Pg (high sticking), 4:40.

OT Period—No Scoring. Penalties—No Penalties.

Shootout — Everett 0 (Bajkov NG, Sutter NG, Kindopp NG), Prince George 1 (Mikhalchuk NG, Cholowski NG, Bethune G).

Shots on Goal—Everett 9-9-6-1-0-25. Prince George 6-7-7-3-1-24.

Power Play Opportunities—Everett 0 / 2; Prince George 1 / 2.

Goalies—Everett, Hart 2-2-0-1 (23 shots-20 saves). Prince George, Grant 5-4-2-0 (25 shots-22 saves).

A—2,961