Silvertips shut out rival T-birds at Climate Pledge Arena

Published 1:30 am Saturday, February 26, 2022

SEATTLE — For one night at least, the Everett Silvertips can declare themselves kings of Puget Sound, and they have Koen MacInnes to thank for it.

In the first ever WHL game at Climate Pledge Arena, dubbed the Battle of the Sound, MacInnes made 48 saves as the Tips defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-0 at the home of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

In a game that pitted an Everett team in first place in the Western Conference against a Seattle team that is one of four in hot pursuit, the Tips played a sloppy game, taking careless penalties and getting outshot 48-27. However, MacInnes was a rock in Everett’s goal, and the Tips found a way to score at crucial junctures.

”It was kind of nice, to be honest,” MacInnes said about seeing the high volume of shots, given Everett usually outshoots its opponents by a large margin. “You don’t get those games very often, so it’s fun to be in net when you can. You just keep yourself in the game mentally and physically, and it’s a lot easier when you’re getting shots every few seconds.

“You’re bound to give up some grade-A chances when you have (eight penalty kills),” MacInnes added. “Our discipline wasn’t quite as good as we would have liked heading in, but the guys on the PK did an unbelievable job in front of me, they limited chances, and when there were chances that’s when you need a goalie.”

Hunter Campbell scored twice, including a late empty netter, while Ryan Hofer and Alex Swetlikoff also found the net for Everett (36-7-3-5), which did a victory lap after the game was over to salute their fans in the partisan crowd.

“It was a huge two points for us,” Campbell said. “We needed that bounceback after last night (an unexpected 6-5 overtime loss at Tri-City) and I think it’s going to set us up for a good week.”

Thomas Milic made 23 saves in net for Seattle (30-13-4-1), which as the home team had a slightly larger portion of the 8,381 in attendance.

After a scoreless first period, Seattle carried the play in the second. However, Everett got the goaltending and emerged with the lead. MacInnes made several smart stops among his 22 saves in the period, and the Tips opened the scoring on one Milic would likely want back. Campbell fired a shot off the rush from the right circle, and it got through Milic and rolled into the goal to give Everett a 1-0 lead at 10 minutes, 18 seconds.

Then came the game’s decisive moment. Everett was faced with a double-minor early in the third period while trying to hold onto a one-goal lead. But before the Seattle power play began there was a brief moment of four-on-four, and during that four-on-four the Tips struck again. Everett broke two-on-one and Hofer took the shot himself, beating Milic stick side to make it 2-0 at 2:38.

“It was a great goal,” Everett coach Dennis Williams said. “What a play by Dylan Anderson with a quick up to (Jacob Wright), identifying that three guys were on the forecheck for Seattle, and a really heads-up play by Jacob Wright to get it across the ice quickly to Hofer. From there Hofer has one of the best releases on his shot that I’ve seen in some time. It was a huge goal and a big tipping point.”

Swetlikoff iced the contest with 3:56 remaining when his cross-crease pass deflected off Milic and into the net to make it 3-0. Campbell scored into the empty net from 150 feet away with 1:31 remaining to put the final gloss on the scoreline.

Slap shots

Everett continues to be without No. 1 goaltender Braden Holt, who is listed as day-to-day because of non-COVID illness. He hasn’t played since Feb. 11. The Tips were also without Finnish winger Niko Huuhtanen, who missed his second straight game because of undisclosed reasons. … Seattle played without three NHL draft picks. Defenseman Tyrel Bauer is out with a lower-body injury, defenseman Samuel Knazko is still recovering after winning a bronze medal with Slovakia at the Winter Olympics, and forward Matthew Rempe was serving the second game of a two-game suspension for a kneeing major penalty.

Silvertips 4, Thunderbirds 0

Everett 0 1 3 — 4

Seattle 0 0 0 — 0

1st Period-No Scoring. Penalties-Schaefer Sea (interference), 0:34; Sutter Evt (interference), 7:11; served by Svejkovsky Sea (face off violation), 8:49; Gut Evt (cross checking), 13:57; Davidson Sea (roughing), 13:57; Hofer Evt (roughing), 19:39; Roulette Sea (roughing), 19:39.

2nd Period-1, Everett, Campbell 17 (Roest, Swetlikoff), 10:18. Penalties-Hofer Evt (interference), 5:06; Sutter Evt (roughing), 13:05; Swetlikoff Evt (high sticking), 16:13; Swetlikoff Evt (tripping), 19:31.

3rd Period-2, Everett, Hofer 23 (Wright, Anderson), 2:38. 3, Everett, Swetlikoff 23 (Campbell, Hemmerling), 16:04. 4, Everett, Campbell 18 18:29 (EN). Penalties-Ciona Sea (tripping), 1:05; Gut Evt (high sticking, high sticking), 2:27; Anderson Evt (roughing), 8:51; Korchinski Sea (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 8:51; Schaefer Sea (tripping), 12:43; Campbell Evt (10-minute misconduct), 18:29; Lambos Evt (game misconduct, roughing), 18:29; Rybinski Sea (roughing), 18:29; Schaefer Sea (10-minute misconduct), 18:29.

Shots on Goal-Everett 12-9-6-27. Seattle 14-22-12-48.

Power Play Opportunities-Everett 0 / 4; Seattle 0 / 8.

Goalies-Everett, MacInnes 16-3-0-3 (48 shots-48 saves). Seattle, Milic 19-12-2-1 (26 shots-23 saves).

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